Tombs of the Kofun Period
c. 250 A. D. - 552 A. D., Japan
The Kofun (tr: 'tomb') period is marked by the massive burial mounds (or tumuli) in which
lords, chieftans, emporers, or other VIPs were buried. During this 'proto-historic' period, approximately
20,000 tumuli were constructed. These tombs are important historical and cultural treasures.
Typically, the burial chamber contains symbolic artifacts of the period, and the surface of the
tomb is ringed with haniwa . One presumes, based on the haniwa
figures, that the actual placing
of the body in the chamber was an event of great ceremonial proportions, involving music and
dancing. Following the custom of the
the time, the body was first left to decompose, before placing the bones in the burial chamber.
The mounds are typically key-hole shaped, or 'zempo-koan' (== 'square-front, round-back').
Some later tombs, such as the
Ueshiba , are scallop-shaped. The larger ones usually are surrounded by
a moat.
The following list is a list of some of those tumuli.
They are arranged by period (early, middle, late kofun) and
marked by geographical area. Here I have used the classifcation of
Miki ;
== Kinai area (Nara, Osaka, and Kyoto Prefectures );
== Kanto area (Tokyo and surrounding area ).
- Early (late 4th. Century)
-
- Sakurai Chausuyama
- Sakurai City, Nara Prefecture0
- Hiwasuhime no Mikota Mausoleum
- Osaka Prefecture
- Assumed to be the burial place of Empress Hibasu-hime no Mikoto;
- Referenced in the Nihon Shoki .
- Goshikizuka Tomb
- Kobe, Hyogo Prefecture
- Known as the the "thousand-jar tomb"
Middle (early 5th. Century)
- Nintoku Mausoleum
- Osaka Prefecture
- This is the largest of all the tumuli; it is 2695 feet in length, and covers 80 acres.
Emporer Nintoku
started building it when he was 66, and it was finished 20 years later.
"The burial mounds (or tumuli) are properly called 'misasagi' in Japanese, but are more commonly called 'kofun'
(ko-FOON = 'old-grave'; KO-fun means sexual excitement). If you get excited about burial mounds, the huge
key-shaped and moated tumulus of Emperor Nintoku (4th century) is in Sakai city, southeast of Osaka
(Mozu station on the JR Haniwa line from Tennoji); but don't expect to get in. "
Randy's Japan page.
-
The tomb.
-
Model of the tomb.
- Ojin Mausoleum
- Osaka Prefecture
-
- Clay sculptures of sea creatures ( whales, squid
octopus, porpoises, river fish) found in the moat. They are solid clay figurines, not
hollow haniwa.
Late (late 5th C., early 6th C.)
Burial chambers change from pit-style to corridor type; haniwa shift from
summit to slopes.
-
Niigawa Senzuka Kofun.
- Akabori Chausuyama Tomb
- Gumma Prefecture
- Ueshiba Tomb
- Gumma Prefecture.
-
Takamatsuzuka, Kyushu [Fukuoka Prefecture]
Other sites (time/place unknown (by me) )
Asuka Kofun
Kofun
