Imashirozuka Kofun



Imashirozuka Kofun (今城塚古墳) is a Kofun period keyhole-shaped burial mound, located in the Gungeshinmachi neighborhood of the city of Takatsuki, Osaka in the Kinai region of Japan. The tumulus was designated a National Historic Site of Japan in 1958, with the area under protection expanded in 2006. It is the largest kofun in the Yodo River basin and one of the largest constructed in the first half of the sixth century. Although it has not been sanctioned by the Imperial Household Agency, there is a credible theory that it is the true tomb of the 26th Emperor Keitai.

Overview
Imashirozuka Kofun is located near the center of the Mishima Plain, orientated to the west. It is 350 meters long and 340 meters wide and was surrounded by a double moat. The central tumulus is accompanied by several baicho auxiliary tumuli and is 190 meters long. Historical characteristics such as the mound's shape and haniwa found on site, as well as evidence found in the Kojiki, Nihon Shoki, Engishiki, and other historical documents suggest that it is the tomb of a "great king" of the sixth-century Yamato regime. This time corresponds to that of the semi-legendary Emperor Keitai. A committee of historians and archaeologists recommended that it be designated as Emperor Keitai's burial place; the Imperial Household Agency, however, demurred as it had already designated the Ōta Chausuyama Kofun in Ibaraki, Osaka, some 1.3 kilometers to the west, as that emperor's mausoleum. The decision conflicts with a view holding that the Ōta Chausuyama Kofun, having been built in the mid fifth century, predates Emperor Keitai's reign.

The Imashirozuka Kofun was widely thought to have been ravaged in the Sengoku period when Oda Nobunaga built a fortress on the site for attacking the Miyoshi clan in his 1568 invasion of Settsu Province; archeological evidence indicates that the damage was caused by a landslide-like collapse of the mound triggered by the 1596 Keichō–Fushimi earthquake.

The city of Takatsuki City has been conducting archaeological excavations since 1997 to obtain information for developing the site into an archaeological park. A large quantity of haniwa have been recovered, including 170-cm tall house-shaped one—the largest discovered in Japan, elaborate warrior haniwa, and haniwa depicting falconers, wrestlers, shrine maidens, seated boys, horses, chickens, and other animals. These haniwa were mostly from the inner levy dividing the two moats. Some of the artifacts are on display at the nearby Imashirozuka Ancient History Museum.

The Araike haniwa production site is located about 1.5 kilometers west of Imashirozuka Kofun. It is one of the oldest and largest haniwa workshops known and was in operation for about a century from the mid-fifth to the mid-sixth century. Excavations have confirmed three large haniwa workshops, 18 kilns, and a village for craftspeople. The was added to the National Historic Site designation in 2006. It is a 25-minute walk from Settsu-Tonda Station on the JR West Kyōto Line or Tomita Station on the Hankyu Kyoto Main Line.