An important Saki-group example whose burial facility and grave goods can be studied from restoration records and replicas made after looting, despite normal restrictions on Imperial mausoleums.
Finds & research
Objects looted in 1916 were recovered, photographed, traced, and replicated in plaster before the originals were reburied in the chamber. Records preserve mirrors and stone objects, and a shield-shaped haniwa was accidentally found in 1971.
Two views on the occupant
Archaeological view
A 207m keyhole mound at Misasagicho, Nara, dating to the end of the Early Kofun period. Restoration records after a 1915 looting document a square summit platform, rows of cylindrical haniwa, and a pit chamber measuring 8.55m by 1.09m internally.
Imperial Household Agency view
The Imperial Household Agency designates and manages it as Saki-no-Terama Mausoleum of Hibasuhime, empress of Emperor Suinin. It was reassigned to the present attribution in the early Meiji period, which is distinct from archaeological identification.
Field notes
The mound is closed as an Imperial mausoleum. View it from public roads and authorized worship areas around the exterior.