Hazukayama Kofun

Hazukayama Kofun is a large burial mound in 新宮, 慶徳町, 喜多方市, 福島県, on a hill at the western edge of the 会津盆地. It is a 前方後円墳, or keyhole-shaped kofun, facing northeast. The mound is 61.2 metres long, with a circular rear section measuring 33.2 metres in diameter and a front section 27.6 metres long. It is the northernmost tomb in the 宇内青津古墳群 and the second largest after 亀ヶ森古墳.

The burial facilities include one 箱式石棺 and two 木棺. Excavation found human remains in the stone coffin, together with a bronze mirror and numerous iron objects inside and around the coffins. The human remains were preserved in nearly complete condition. The large quantity of iron objects is especially notable because it was the first such find from a middle-period kofun in 東北地方. A nearby residence site, 古屋敷遺跡, has been proposed as the home of a powerful local leader who was buried here.

The mound was probably built around the middle of the 古墳時代, and its dating is a typological estimate of 250 CE to 650 CE. 東北学院大学 carried out repeated excavations from 2011年度 through 2018年度. The finds and the use of a 箱式石棺 suggest a strong connection with ヤマト王権, challenging the accepted view that relations between 会津地方 and ヤマト王権 were weak from the early to middle kofun period.

Hazukayama Kofun is not designated as a 史跡. In later periods, 新宮城 was built beside its eastern side in the medieval period, and the burial area may have been used by the 新宮氏. A 礫石の経塚 was also built on the summit of the circular rear section during the 江戸時代. Monuments of this kind in Japan are known as kofun, the great burial mounds built mainly between the middle of the third century and the early seventh century CE.

Hazukayama Kofun is a megalithic mound (tumulus with integral stones) in Japan. A typological estimate: 250 CE to 650 CE. No English Wikipedia article exists for it; the full text below is the Japanese article "灰塚山古墳", shown in the original language.