★ World HeritageHabikino / Fujiidera, OsakaKeyhole-shaped mound
Minegazuka Kofun
(Outside IHA jurisdiction)
Location
Habikino / Fujiidera, Osaka
Shape
Keyhole-shaped mound
Mound length
96 m
Period
Around the end of the 5th c.
Designation
National Historic Site
World Heritage
Mozu-Furuichi Kofun Group (UNESCO)
Overview
A keyhole mound 96m long with a front section 10m high. It was built on an alluvial fan below a ridge extending east from the Habikino hills, with its front section facing west. The mound has two tiers and a projection on the north side of the waist. It originally had two moats; the outer moat is preserved underground. Its grave goods and haniwa date its construction to around the end of the 5th century. A National Historic Site, it is a constituent monument of the Mozu-Furuichi Kofun Group World Heritage Site, inscribed in 2019.
Finds & research
A 1991 excavation found a pit-style stone chamber measuring 4.3 by 2.2m and 1.9m high in the rear circle, containing a boat-shaped coffin made from stone brought from Kyushu. More than 3,500 objects were recovered, including bronze mirrors, long swords, a cuirass, iron arrowheads, beads, horse gear, quiver fittings and gold and silver ornaments with strong continental influences. Decorated swords up to 1.2m long were among them. Excavation in fiscal 2022 found an Iwami-style wooden object surviving to about 352cm; Habikino City identifies it as Japan's largest wooden haniwa.
Two views on the occupant
Archaeological view
The 1991 excavation recovered more than 3,500 grave goods from the burial in the rear circle: a pit-style stone chamber 4.3 x 2.2m and 1.9m high, holding a boat-shaped coffin of Kyushu (Aso) stone. From it came bronze mirrors, long swords, a cuirass, iron arrowheads, great quantities of beads, horse gear and quiver fittings, together with gold and silver ornaments strongly marked by influence from the Korean peninsula. Some of the swords reach 1.2m and carry elaborate gold and silver decoration, and are taken to be ceremonial rather than practical. The extraordinary quantity and quality of the grave goods are considered commensurate with a royal burial; the mound is evaluated as the tomb of the supreme power-holder in the terminal phase of the Furuichi group. Dated to the late Middle Kofun period — the very end of the 5th century or the start of the 6th — relatively late in the Furuichi sequence. The occupant is unknown, but some researchers suggest a figure connected to the power transition around Emperor Keitai's accession.
Imperial Household Agency view
Not managed by the IHA. Administered by Habikino City as a national historic site. Not listed in the IHA register. Excavation in 1991 was conducted by the Habikino City Board of Education. It was designated a National Historic Site in 1974 and incorporated into the "Furuichi Kofun Group" designation in 2001.