Megalithic mound (tumulus with integral stones)
Eta Anakannon Kofun
Datedc. 501–600 CE
Photo Saigen Jiro · CC0Source file on Wikimedia Commons
Overview
About this site
Overview
The Eta Anakannon kofun (江田穴観音古墳) is a late Kofun period burial mound in the Eta neighborhood of the town of Nagomi, Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan. It was designated a National Historic Site of Japan in 1944.
The tomb takes its name from a statue of Kannon Bosatsu that was enshrined in the passageway. From the grave goods it is estimated to have been built in the late 6th century.
Read on Wikipedia2 min readCC BY-SA 4.0
Where it sits in time
The site's dated range, placed against world reference points.
The scale is logarithmic: each step to the left is about ten times older than the last.
Article
Eta Anakannon Kofun
It stands at an elevation of approximately 27 meters at the southern end of the Suwahara Plateau, on the left bank of the downstream Kikuchi River.
DescriptionSources for this section
- Wikipedia (English): Eta Anakannon KofunCC BY-SA 4.0
Sources for this section
- Wikipedia (English): Eta Anakannon KofunCC BY-SA 4.0
The Eta Anakannon Kofun is an enpun (円墳) circular tumulus with a diameter of approximately 17 meters and a height of approximately 3.5 meters, with a seven-meter diameter flattened surface on the top. It stands at an elevation of approximately 27 meters at the southern end of the Suwahara Plateau, on the left bank of the downstream Kikuchi River. Because it is located on the slope of the plateau, its exact size is unclear.
The tumulus contains a multi-chambered horizontal-type burial chamber consisting of a front chamber and a back chamber, with the entrance facing south-southeast. All the stone materials are monoliths of cut tuff originating from Mount Aso. The tumulus was constructed for multiple burials: in the rear chamber three platforms for coffins are arranged in a U-shape, and in the front chamber two platforms were located to the left and right.
FindsSources for this section
- Wikipedia (English): Eta Anakannon KofunCC BY-SA 4.0
Sources for this section
- Wikipedia (English): Eta Anakannon KofunCC BY-SA 4.0
Grave goods found in archaeological excavations include gold rings, glass magatama, gilt bronze apricot leaves which were part of a horse harness, and fragments of Sue ware pottery, from which the late 6th century date is estimated.
ConservationSources for this section
- Wikipedia (English): Eta Anakannon KofunCC BY-SA 4.0
Sources for this section
- Wikipedia (English): Eta Anakannon KofunCC BY-SA 4.0
Because fires have been lit in the rear chamber for many years, both the rear chamber and the front chamber are covered in soot, making it difficult to see the decorations on the stone chamber walls. Decorative patterns made with red pigments have been found in the passageway, indicating that this was originally a decorated kofun. Traces of a decorative border remain on the front of the second entrance gate (antechamber).
VisitingSources for this section
- Wikipedia (English): Eta Anakannon KofunCC BY-SA 4.0
Sources for this section
- Wikipedia (English): Eta Anakannon KofunCC BY-SA 4.0
The Nagomi Town History and Folklore Museum is located nearby.
Tradition and region
About this kind of monument
Japanese kofun tumuli
Kofun are the great burial mounds of ancient Japan, built mainly between the middle of the third century and the early seventh century CE. The period takes its name from them. The most distinctive form is the keyhole-shaped mound (zempō-kōen-fun), with one square end and one round end seen from above, but there are also plain round mounds, double-rectangle mounds and square mounds. Orientation is not fixed: in the Mozu group at Sakai, some round parts face north and others east.
The largest is Daisenryō kofun at Sakai in Osaka, the biggest kofun in Japan, thought to have been built over some twenty years in the middle of the fifth century. By common acceptance it is the tomb of Emperor Nintoku, and the Imperial Household Agency treats it as such, but this cannot be confirmed because the mound has not been excavated. It stands in the Mozu group, which once had more than a hundred tombs of which fewer than half remain; the group and the neighbouring Furuichi cluster were inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2019. The mounds were built on a plateau overlooking Osaka Bay, near the ancient coastline.
Dating rests on mound shape, pottery and grave goods. Haniwa, which means "clay circle", are terracotta cylinders and figures of houses, animals and people that were arranged in rings and rows around and on top of the mounds. Smaller kofun are very numerous and sit in groups in every region of Japan.
When visiting, look for the moat that surrounds the larger mounds, for the stepped outline of terraces, and for reconstructed haniwa in museums and parks beside the tombs.
Paraphrased from Wikipedia: Kofun, Wikipedia: Daisen Kofun, Wikipedia: Haniwa, Wikipedia: Mozu Tombs · CC BY-SA 4.0
From the article
Dated moments in the story
- 1944
The tumulus was designated a National Historic Site of Japan in 1944. The name of the tomb comes from the fact that a statue of Kannon Bosatsu was enshrined in the passageway.
Source
See it in 3D
An interpretive reconstruction of the monument, standing on the real ground at its exact point, under the sun for that place and season. Drag to look around it.
The reconstruction is ours, not a survey: it shows what a monument of this type looks like, at the size the record gives for this one.
Photographs
6 photographs, each with its author and licence
More photographs
Lore
Evidence & Lore
What the sources actually support — and, kept apart, what has been claimed.
What the evidence supports
Dates
Est. 4000–1200 BCEHow this date was established: Type comparisonTypological estimate, not a date for this site: a megalithic mound in Japan is normally dated between 4000 BCE and 1200 BCE (Atlas typological table).Source for this date
Measured facts
- Period
- Late Kofun periodSource: Period
- Type
- Burial moundSource: Type
- Location
- Eta, Nagomi, Kumamoto Prefecture, JapanSource: Location
- Heritage designation
- National Historic Site of JapanSource: Heritage designation
- Designation year
- 1944Source: Designation year
- Name origin
- A statue of Kannon Bosatsu was enshrined in the passagewaySource: Name origin
Where it stands
Japan
The pin marks the monument itself — its exact point.
- Coordinates
- 32°58′36″ N, 130°36′21″ EFor a GPS or map app: 32.97676, 130.60587
Access is as our sources describe it; we have not visited the site to check.
Nearby
The closest sites in the Atlas, by straight line.
Eta Funayama Kofun4000–1200 BCE- Megalithic mound (tumulus with integral stones)Tsukabōzu Kofun250–650 CE
- Megalithic mound (tumulus with integral stones)Eianji Higashi Kofun - Eianji Nishi Kofun4000–1200 BCE
- Megalithic mound (tumulus with integral stones)Daibō Kofun4000–1200 BCE
Iwabaru Kofun cluster4000–1200 BCE
Chibusan-Obusan Kofun4000–1200 BCE
Chibusan Kofun250–650 CE
Benkei-ga-ana Kofun4000–1200 BCE
Sources
Every record behind this page, with the link it came from.
2 sources behind this page
- 01Wikidata Q127163728wikidata.org
- 02Wikipedia (en)en.wikipedia.org
Image files
- Eta Anakannon Kofun, funkyu.jpgSaigen JiroCC0
- Eta Anakannon Kofun, 3D-B.jpgSaigen JiroCC0
- Eta Anakannon Kofun, 3D-N.jpgSaigen JiroCC0
- Eta Anakannon Kofun, genshitsu-2.jpgSaigen JiroCC0
- Eta Anakannon Kofun, genshitsu-3.jpgSaigen JiroCC0
- Eta Anakannon Kofun, sendou-2.jpgSaigen JiroCC0
Report a correctionWrong date, name, photograph or source? Tell us and it will be put right.
Lore, kept apart
Legends and claims
These are stories and claims reported by the sources. They are not evidence, and they never stand in for the dating above.
- Tradition
The Eta Anakannon Kofun is an enpun (円墳) circular tumulus with a diameter of approximately 17 meters and a height of approximately 3.5 meters, with a seven-meter diameter flattened surface on the top.
The Eta Anakannon Kofun is an enpun (円墳) circular tumulus with a diameter of approximately 17 meters and a height of approximately 3.5 meters, with a seven-meter diameter flattened surface on the top. It is situated at an elevation of approximately 27 meters at the southern end of the Suwahara Plateau on the left bank of the downstream Kikuchi River and is located on the slope of the plateau, so its exact size is unclear. Theb tumulus contains a multi-chambered horizontal-type burial chamber consisting of a front chamber and a back chamber, with the entrance facing south-southeast. All the stone materials are monoliths of cut tuff originating from Mount Aso. Grave goods found in archaeological excavations include gold rings, glass magatama, gilt bronze apricot leaves which were part of a horse harness, and fragments of Sue ware pottery, from which the tumulus is estimated to have been built in the late 6th century. Because fires have been lit in the rear chamber for many years, both the rear chamber and the front chamber are covered in soot, making it difficult to see the decorations on the stone chamber walls, but decorative patterns made with red pigments have been found in the passageway, indicating that this was originally a decorated kofun. Traces of a decorative border remain on the front of the second entrance gate (antechamber).The tumulus was constructed for multiple burials. In the rear chamber, three platforms for coffins are arranged in a U-shape, and in the front chamber, two platforms were located to the left and right. The Nagomi Town History and Folklore Museum is located nearby.
Source
Around this place
The ten nearest sites, by compass
Credit
Text, licence and sources
Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Eta Anakannon Kofun" (English), licensed CC BY-SA 4.0; authors are listed in the page history. Reused under CC BY-SA 4.0. Read on Wikipedia · Edit history and authors
- Wikipedia (English): Eta Anakannon KofunCC BY-SA 4.0
- Wikidata Q127163728CC0