A Final Kofun-period tomb. Its chamber, built of cut granite and thick unglazed tiles and finished with plaster inside, contained a dry-lacquer coffin. The deceased was a man about 60 years old, resting on a beaded pillow and clothed in brocade. Textual evidence including the Tonomine Ryakki makes Fujiwara no Kamatari a leading attribution, but the identity is unconfirmed.
Finds & research
Finds included a pillow of blue and green glass beads strung on silver wire, brocade, and a cap embroidered with gold thread. Analysis of surviving X-rays indicates that the man fractured ribs and other bones several months before death. A 2024 X-ray study strengthened—but did not prove—the possibility that the cap was the high-ranking daishokkan crown.
Two views on the occupant
Archaeological view
Discovered in 1934 during construction of a Kyoto University seismological facility, the site lies on a ridge about 210m above sea level on the mid-slope of Mount Abu. It has no earthen mound; a shallow circular ditch about 2.5m wide defines an 82m-diameter burial precinct. The 82m measurement is not a mound length. A dry-lacquer coffin stood in the central chamber.
Imperial Household Agency view
This is not an Imperial Household Agency mausoleum. It was designated a National Historic Site on August 30, 1983. Identification of the occupant as Fujiwara no Kamatari is a leading theory, not a confirmed fact.
Field notes
After the discovery investigation, the body and objects were reburied in their original arrangement. There is no parking; access involves an approximately 2km uphill walk from the nearest bus stop.