I was a little confused when I first read this. I have not been able to find 天武雲剣 in either the 神道史大辞典 (Large Dictionary of Shinto History) or on the Internet. Only the second kanji of the name 天武雲剣 is different from 天叢雲剣: the latter is read as Ame-no-Murakumo-no-Tsurugi and is translated as the “Sword of the Gathering Cloud of Heaven.”: This sword, one of the Three Imperial Regalia, occupies a prominent place in Shinto mythology and is the shintai at Atsuta Shrine in Nagoya. It was given to Yamato-Takeru by his aunt, Yamatohime-no-mikoto, the founder of Ise Jinja. Yamato-Takeru was the one who dedicated the two swords which became 天武雲剣 to Otori Jinja. (Perhaps some readers more erudite than myself can help clear up my confusion). Shrine legend tells us that after this Yamato-Takeru’s spirit manifested itself in the form of a white bird and is venerated as Torimyojin “Bird Deity”.

In 806 the shrine’s main hall was completed and it is to this year that the shrine dates its origin. A map drawn in 1457-1460 when Edo Castle was being constructed under Ota Dokan’s guidance, and the oldest map of Edo, identifies this shrine as Torimyōjin. The map only shows nine shrines. In the Edo Meishi Zue published in 1834-1836 the shrine is identified as Otori Daimyo Jinja. The current shrine buildings date to 1962, and its 1200th anniversary was celebrated in 2006. The shrine’s celebration of the Tori-no-Ichi (酉の市) festival is one of the most popular in the city. Tori, rooster, is the tenth sign of the Chinese zodiac, and Tori days occur every twelve days in November. This year the festival will be celebrated on Wednesday Nov 12th and Monday Nov 24th. Otori Jinja held its first Tori-no-Ichi festival in 1836.