IGENOYAMA
KOFUN
恵解山古墳
IGENOYAMA KOFUN 恵解山古墳
This large burial mountain was built for a powerful leader of the Kofun period. The Igenoyama Kofun is the largest in Kyoto, measuring 128m long and 30m wide. These large scale tombs where built with tremendous labor efforts that were made possible by the political power of the ruling elites of Japan during the late 3rd to the end of the 6th century, or around the time of the formation of the ancient Japanese state.
The large burial mound is shaped like a keyhole, having one square end and one circular end when viewed from above. These types of burial grounds have become known as “keyhole graves”.
A large number of Haniwa, or clay cylinders, can be seen around the site. These are large hollow, earthenware funerary objects found in Japan. Large quantities of haniwa were carefully placed on top of and around these burial mounds to mark their borders. Also, 700 swords and iron weapons have been found at this site during archaeological digs. It is very rare to find such a large number of weapons from the ancient period in Japan.
There are several scale models and placards around the site which tell the story of this mysterious, ancient burial ground.
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