Ueyama Kofun

The mound lies at the western end of the hills extending from Amakashi-no-oka, at the southern end of the Nara Basin. The surrounding area holds a number of important ancient tombs of the 6th and 7th centuries, including the Maruyama Kofun about 500 meters to the west and the Shōbuike Kofun about 700 meters to the southeast.

It is a hōfun (方墳), a rectangular burial mound, measuring 40 meters east-to-west and 27 meters north-to-south and between three and six meters in height, although it may originally have been an enpun (円墳), a circular kofun. It was built by partly carving out the southern slope of a natural hill, and a U-shaped moat surrounds its east, west and north sides. The construction method and shape are typical of the ancient tombs of the Asuka region from the end of the 6th century to the first half of the 7th century.

The tumulus is a twin-chamber tomb, with two horizontal-entry stone burial chambers, one on the east side and one on the west side. The east chamber is 13 meters long and opens to the south. Its antechamber is 6.5 meters long and 3.0 to 3.2 meters wide, and the remaining ceiling height is 3.1 meters, the ceiling stone having been lost. The entrance passageway is 6.5 meters long, 1.9 meters wide and 2.2 meters high. A hollowed-out house-shaped stone coffin made of tuff from Mount Aso was placed in the antechamber. In the drainage ditch were found gilt bronze ornamental fittings from horse harnesses and a crystal three-ringed ball hilt from an iron sword.

The west chamber is also 13 meters long and opens to the south. It measures 5.2 by 2.5 meters and is 4.5 meters high, although most of its ceiling stones have also been lost. The passageway is 7.8 meters long, 2.3 meters wide and 2.0 meters high. The coffin is lost, but fragments of Aso tuff were found in the chamber, suggesting that a stone coffin may have been placed there. In the center of the chamber a stone support serves as the door separating the chamber from the passageway. Sue ware was excavated.