Otori matsuri is one of the November events held in Tokyo every year. It has the same roots as the Tori-no-ichi Rooster market-and-festival in Asakusa.
Tori means chicken, or in this case, Rooster, to be exact. The market-and-festival is held on Rooster days, which are calculated according to the old Chinese-based Jikkan-Junishi zodiac calendar (十干十二支).
While the Tori-no-ichi festival in Asakusa is the most famous of them all, you can still feel the atmosphere and experience it at the Musahino Hachimangu in Kichijoji, about an hour away from Asakusa!
This was my first time at this festival, so I wasn’t sure what to expect, but it was lively and pleasant, and wasn’t overly crowded!
There were 2 rows of stalls lining the main path, and many people and families with young children.
Kumade
Kumade means rake in Japanese, but the kanji used is 熊手, which if you look at them individually means bear (熊) and hand (手). I have sneaky feeling that someone might have taken inspiration from a bear paw when naming this simple piece of farming equipment. But that’s just my guess. 🙂
But the Kumade sold at this festival is far from humble! They are full of decorations and symbolism! They are good luck charms that businesses put up to rake in good luck and business.
Look closely and you will see Owls, the Seven Lucky Gods, the Japanese Mallet of Luck, and other auspicious symbols.
The stallholders welcome their customers, attend to them with big smiles, and when a sale is made, they celebrate it with a Tejime (手締め), and more specifically, with a Sanbonjime (三本締め). The same one that is done during Bonenkai parties.
But these are not the only types of stall. There are altar shrine stalls, food stalls, and game stalls as well!
And further in, people queue for their turn to pray. It reminded me of the lines we usually see during the New Year period, when people go to the shrines to pray.
Last year’s Kumade
Musashino Hachimangu isn’t a really huge shrine, so when I got to this area, I thought I had seen everything. I made a U-turn to go back the way I came, and then I noticed a very colourful and decorative pile of something – I wasn’t able to identify what it was at first.
It was to the side of the performance stage so not easily visible from the main path. It was a pile of the previous year’s Kumade.
Like with omamori (お守り), Japanese good luck charms, people bring their old Kumade back to the shrine the next year. The shrine then disposes of them with the respect their deserve.
Festival details
So if you are in Tokyo in Autumn, and are looking for November events to go to, remember that you can check out this Otori matsuri in Kichijoji.
And since the dates change every year, try searching for 武蔵野八幡宮 大酉祭 + year (eg. 武蔵野八幡宮 大酉祭 2022).
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