| Location | Nara Pref. |
|---|---|
| Shape | Keyhole-shaped mound |
| Mound length | 130 m |
| Period | Late 3rd–early 4th c. |
130m keyhole mound in Yanagimoto, Tenri City. Dated to the late 3rd–early 4th century, predating the main Yamato kofun group (Andonzan, Shibuyamukaiyama) and representing a major royal-level tomb of the period. Nationally renowned for yielding a record 33 triangular-rimmed deity-beast mirrors in a single excavation. The well-preserved vertical-shaft stone chamber is reconstructed in full scale at the adjacent Tenri City Kurozuka Kofun Exhibition Hall. National historic site.National historic site (designated 1999). The Tenri City Kurozuka Kofun Exhibition Hall (free admission) displays a full-scale stone chamber replica and excavated artifacts. Kurozuka is located in the same Yanagimoto district as Hashihaka (about 800m to the northeast) and Andonzan Kofun (Emperor Sujin's mausoleum), forming the political heartland of 3rd–4th century Yamato. The "Were the sankakunen mirrors made in China or Japan?" debate continues, and this mound's mirrors are key evidence. Nearest station: JR Yanagimoto (Mahoroba Line), about 5 minutes on foot.
Excavations by Tenri City Board of Education and the Kashihara Archaeological Research Institute (1997–98). The defining find: 33 triangular-rimmed deity-beast mirrors (the highest single-site total from a formal excavation in Japan) plus 1 inner-flower-pattern mirror (34 total). A rectangular vertical-shaft stone chamber with wooden outer coffin structure, plus a sarcophagus, ironware, beads, and lacquerware. The 33 triangular-rimmed mirrors are almost all "same-mould" (dohan) mirrors distributed across early Kofun sites nationwide — the primary evidence for reconstructing the Yamato polity's mirror-distribution network. Stone chamber and mirror replicas exhibited at Kurozuka Exhibition Hall, Tenri City.