Megalithic mound (tumulus with integral stones)
Kawarakezuka Kofun
Datedc. 400–500 CE
Photo Saigen Jiro · CC0Source file on Wikimedia Commons
Overview
About this site
What the sources say
Kawarakezuka Kofun (土器塚古墳) is an middle Kofun period (early 5th century) enpun (円墳)-style round kofun burial mound, located in the Nakaizumi-Kōnodai neighborhood of the city of Iwata, Shizuoka in the Tōkai region of Japan. The tumulus was designated a Shizuoka Prefecture Historic Site in 2002.
Read on Wikipedia3 min readCC BY-SA 4.0
Age sources
How old this site is, and who says so.
Range across all claimsc. 400–500 CE
EstimatedWhat this badge means
A reading of this site: what its style says, or a statement published about it.
- 400 CEStylistic datingThe mound is assigned to the early 5th century within the middle Kofun period.Source: en.wikipedia.org
- 401–500 CEWikipedia: Kawarakezuka Kofun (infobox)Source: en.wikipedia.org
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.
The full article
Kawarakezuka Kofun: the whole story
In briefSources for this section
- Wikipedia (English): Kawarakezuka KofunCC BY-SA 4.0
Sources for this section
- Wikipedia (English): Kawarakezuka KofunCC BY-SA 4.0
Kawarakezuka Kofun is a middle Kofun period round burial mound in the Nakaizumi-Kōnodai neighborhood of Iwata, Shizuoka, in Japan’s Tōkai region. It is also called Maruyama and was designated a Shizuoka Prefecture Historic Site in 2002.
The circular mound has a diameter of 36 meters and a height of five meters. Its lower third was carved from natural ground, while its upper two-thirds was built from earth. A moat seven meters wide and one meter deep surrounds it. Limited excavation in 2000 identified a burial pit measuring 7-8 meters long and 1one meters wide along its east-west axis.
The burial facilities remain unclear. Archaeologists found a tubular bead and a rectangular piece of leather-bound armor near the top of the mound. The mound is dated stylistically to 400 CE to 400 CE, placing it in the early 5th century and the middle Kofun period.
Its name comes from a local legend in which Prince Kaisei, also called Prince Kaijō, and his retainers discarded large amounts of pottery, which formed the mound. Nearby mounds include the Kannonyama Kofun, Kabutozuka Kofun, and Kyomizuka Kofun. Their distribution suggests a connection to the Haji clan, the Kuni no miyatsuko governors of Tōtōmi Province.
The Kawarakezuka Kofun is situated on a fluvial terrace at the southwestern edge of the Iwatabara Plateau in western Shizuoka Prefecture.
OverviewSources for this section
- Wikipedia (English): Kawarakezuka KofunCC BY-SA 4.0
Sources for this section
- Wikipedia (English): Kawarakezuka KofunCC BY-SA 4.0
The Kawarakezuka Kofun is situated on a fluvial terrace at the southwestern edge of the Iwatabara Plateau in western Shizuoka Prefecture. The name originates from a local legend about a Prince Kaisei (or Prince Kaijō), in which the prince and his retainers discarded large amounts of pottery, creating the mound. It is now also commonly known as "Maruyama". The tumulus is circular, with a diameter of 36 meters and height of five meters. The lower third of the mound was carved from the natural ground, while the upper two-thirds were constructed from earth. A moat seven meters wide and one meter deep surrounds the mound. A limited archaeological excavation was conducted in 2000. While the burial facilities are unclear, a burial pit measuring 7-8 meters long and 1one meter wide along its east-west axis has been identified at the top of the mound. A tubular bead and a rectangular piece of leather-bound armor have been found nearby.
Several other burial mounds, including the Kannonyama Kofun, Kabutozuka Kofun, and Kyomizuka Kofun, are distributed in the area, suggesting a connection to the Haji clan, the Kuni no miyatsuko governors of Tōtōmi Province..
How this page was madeSources for this section
- Wikipedia (English): Kawarakezuka KofunCC BY-SA 4.0
Sources for this section
- Wikipedia (English): Kawarakezuka KofunCC BY-SA 4.0
The summary at the top of this page was written by MiniMax-M3 (2026-11-08) from the cited Wikipedia article “Kawarakezuka Kofun”. The numbers in it were checked automatically against the source text. The rest of the page is the article itself, the structured records and computed distances.
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
- 2000
A limited archaeological excavation was conducted in 2000. While the burial facilities are unclear, a burial pit measuring 7-8 meters long and 1one meter wide along its east-west axis has been identified at the top of the mound.
Source - 2002
The tumulus was designated a Shizuoka Prefecture Historic Site in 2002.
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
1 photograph, each with its author and licence
Lore
Evidence & Lore
What the sources actually support — and, kept apart, what has been claimed.
What the evidence supports
Dates
How this date was established: Artefact styleThe mound is assigned to the early 5th century within the middle Kofun period.Source for this date
Measured facts
- Type
- Enpun-style round kofun burial moundSource: Type
- Location
- Nakaizumi-Kōnodai, Iwata, Shizuoka, JapanSource: Location
- Heritage status
- Shizuoka Prefecture Historic SiteSource: Heritage status
- Heritage designation
- Prefectural Historic SiteSource: Heritage designation
Where it stands
Japan
The pin marks the monument itself — its exact point.
- Coordinates
- 34°43′10″ N, 137°50′37″ EFor a GPS or map app: 34.71940, 137.84350
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.
Mikuriya Kofun Group250–650 CE
Shorinzan Kofun250–650 CE- Megalithic mound (tumulus with integral stones)Shinpōinyama Kofun group4000–1200 BCE
Teradani Chōshizuka Kofun4000–1200 BCE
Yonezuka Kofun Cluster250–650 CE
Daimon'ōtsuka Kofun250–650 CE- Megalithic mound (tumulus with integral stones)Senninzuka Kofun250–650 CE
Akamonue Kofun250–650 CE
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Sources
Every record behind this page, with the link it came from.
2 sources behind this page
- 01Wikidata Q134952821wikidata.org
- 02Wikipedia (en)en.wikipedia.org
Image files
- Kawarakezuka Kofun, funkyu.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
Its name comes from a local legend in which Prince Kaisei, also called Prince Kaijō, and his retainers discarded large amounts of pottery, which formed the mound.
Its name comes from a local legend in which Prince Kaisei, also called Prince Kaijō, and his retainers discarded large amounts of pottery, which formed the mound. Nearby mounds include the Kannonyama Kofun, Kabutozuka Kofun, and Kyomizuka Kofun. Their distribution suggests a connection to the Haji clan, the Kuni no miyatsuko governors of Tōtōmi Province.
Source - Tradition
The Kawarakezuka Kofun is situated on a fluvial terrace at the southwestern edge of the Iwatabara Plateau in western Shizuoka Prefecture.
The Kawarakezuka Kofun is situated on a fluvial terrace at the southwestern edge of the Iwatabara Plateau in western Shizuoka Prefecture. The name originates from a local legend about a Prince Kaisei (or Prince Kaijō), in which the prince and his retainers discarded large amounts of pottery, creating the mound. It is now also commonly known as "Maruyama". The tumulus is circular, with a diameter of 36 meters and height of five meters. The lower third of the mound was carved from the natural ground, while the upper two-thirds were constructed from earth. A moat seven meters wide and one meter deep surrounds the mound. A limited archaeological excavation was conducted in 2000. While the burial facilities are unclear, a burial pit measuring 7-8 meters long and 1one meter wide along its east-west axis has been identified at the top of the mound. A tubular bead and a rectangular piece of leather-bound armor have been found nearby. Several other burial mounds, including the Kannonyama Kofun, Kabutozuka Kofun, and Kyomizuka Kofun, are distributed in the area, suggesting a connection to the Haji clan, the Kuni no miyatsuko governors of Tōtōmi Province..
Source
Around this place
The ten nearest sites, by compass
Credit
Text, licence and sources
Text from the Wikipedia article "Kawarakezuka 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): Kawarakezuka KofunCC BY-SA 4.0
- Wikidata Q134952821CC0