Ōtori Shrine

photo by Jerry fish tkc · CC BY-SA 3.0

photo by Edomura no Tokuzo (江戸村のとくぞう) · CC BY-SA 4.0

The tori-no-ichi was born here: the fair is open 24 hours in November, and the rest of the year the shrine is deserted.

For three days in November the shrine stays open day and night and fills with stalls selling kumade, the lucky rakes, with queues that at peak times reach half an hour just to get in. The rest of the year the grounds go back to being a small neighbourhood shrine, almost deserted and free.

According to tradition, the shrine is the birthplace of the tori-no-ichi (酉の市): the fair of kumade lucky rakes held on the days of the rooster (酉の日) in November, days that come round every twelve according to the old zodiac calendar, two or three times depending on the year. For the rest of the year it remains a small shrine in the Senzoku neighbourhood, with no other distinctive feature recorded in the sources read.

ℹ️ Free entry to the grounds, with no published closing time on ordinary days; on tori-no-ichi days (in 2026, 7 and 19 November) it stays open 24 hours a day, from midnight to midnight (official site, verbatim ‘午前０時から午後２４時まで’). No admission ticket on any day. An unofficial guide, but one dedicated to accessibility, reports a ramp for wheelchair entry. On market days the crowds are huge, with queues of up to half an hour just to get in; the rest of the year the shrine is almost deserted.

🚉 Iriya · 10 min walk

Sources: otorisama.or.jp · otorisama.or.jp

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