Kofun

Kofun (古墳, from Sino-Japanese "ancient burial mound") are megalithic tombs or tumuli in Northeast Asia.

Inside the tightly assembled rocks, white lime plasters were pasted, and colored pictures depict the 'Asuka Beauties' of the court as well as constellations.

The wall paintings have been designated national treasures and the grave goods as important cultural property, while the tumulus is a special historic site.

Another prevalent type of Yayoi period tomb is the Yosumi tosshutsugata funkyūbo, a square mound with protruding corners.

Bronze mirrors, iron swords, magatama, clay vessels and other artifacts were found in good condition in undisturbed tombs.

Some scholars assume that the person buried in the Hashihaka kofun was the shadowy ancient Queen Himiko of Yamataikoku, mentioned in Chinese historical texts.

The construction of gigantic kofun was the result of the relatively centralized governmental structure in the Nara Basin, possibly the origin of the Yamato polity and the Imperial lineage of Japan.

[citation needed] There remain questions about who were buried in these tombs such as nobility, aristocracy, warriors or mercenaries.

Keyhole-shaped kofun disappeared in the late 6th century AD, probably due to the drastic reformation in the Yamato court.

Nihon Shoki records the introduction of Buddhism during this era, which led to cremation becoming the primary funerary means of the nobility.Keyhole Kofun, or Zenpokoenfun, are a notable type of Japanese ancient tomb consisting of a square front part (前方部) and a circular back part (後円部).

There is a specific style exemplified by Yadani Kofun and Jinyama Tumulus Cluster and Rokuji Kozuka Kofun and Tomisaki Kofungun of Ōzuka-Senbōyama Sites as yosumi-tosshutsugata (四隅突出形), which is square or rectangular, with protrusions on each of its four corners; however, it is unique in that it is not a true rectangle, but has a narrow waist, similar to a "two conjoined rectangles" type (zenpō-kōhō-fun [ja] (前方後方墳)).

The yosumi-tosshutsugata style is unique to the late middle Yayoi period and is most prevalent in western Japan in areas influenced by the Izumo culture.

[23]Joenkahofun [ja] (上円下方墳) is a rare kind of kofun with a round dome top and a square bottom.

[27][28][29]This list includes the "Mozu-Furuichi Kofun Group: Mounded Tombs of Ancient Japan,"[30] which was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site on 6 July 2019.