What is Tori-no-ichi?
Tori-no-ichi, the “Rooster fair”, is held every November on the days of the Rooster at Ōtori shrines and a few temples. People come to pray for good luck and thriving business, and the grounds fill with stalls selling the lucky kumade, bamboo rakes decked with charms. It has been a sign of the year’s end since the Edo period, above all around Tokyo.
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Tori-no-ichi in 2026: First Tori Nov 7 (Sat), Second Tori Nov 19 (Thu).
1.When it is held
A Rooster day comes round every 12 days, so November has two of them in some years and three in others. The first is called ichi-no-tori, the second ni-no-tori and the third san-no-tori.
- 2026: First Tori Nov 7 (Sat), Second Tori Nov 19 (Thu)
- 2027: First Tori Nov 2 (Tue), Second Tori Nov 14 (Sun), Third Tori Nov 26 (Fri) (a year with a third Tori)
These are the Rooster days of November. Opening hours and eve-of-festival events differ from shrine to shrine, so check each shrine’s notices before you go.
2.Choosing a kumade
A kumade is a lucky charm for “raking in” fortune. It is decorated with an Okame mask, gold coins, rice bales, cranes and turtles, pine, bamboo and plum.
- Start small: the custom is to buy a slightly larger rake each year, so that your business and luck grow bigger too.
- Haggle, with style: it is the done thing to bargain the price down and then leave the difference with the stall as a tip.
- Te-jime: once you buy, the stallholders send you off with a rousing chant and rhythmic clapping.
3.Where to hang it
Hang the kumade somewhere high, such as on the household shrine shelf or above the front door. To invite fortune in, some say it should face the entrance, or south or east; opinions vary. After a year, return it to the shrine’s collection point and welcome a new one.
4.The legend of the third Rooster day
There is a saying that “a year with a third Rooster day has many fires”. Nobody is quite sure why. Some say it spread as a reminder to be careful with fire as winter came on, others that it was a warning against late nights out.
5.The Rooster and the twelve animals
A Rooster day is a day whose zodiac animal is the Rooster. The eto of the days go round in 60, so the twelve animals alone come round every 12 days. You can check today’s eto on the daily calendar.
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