is a group of late ''

Kofun period The is an era in the history of Japan from about 300 to 538 AD (the date of the introduction of Buddhism), following the Yayoi period. The Kofun and the subsequent Asuka periods are sometimes collectively called the Yamato period. This period is ...

'' burial mounds located in the

Matsushiro is the capital and largest city of Nagano Prefecture, located in the Nagano Basin (Zenkoji Daira) in the central Chūbu region of Japan. Nagano is categorized as a core city of Japan. Nagano City is the highest prefectural capital in Japan, with ...

neighborhood of the city of

Nagano Nagano may refer to: Places * Nagano Prefecture, a prefecture in Japan ** Nagano (city), the capital city of the same prefecture *** Nagano 1998, the 1998 Winter Olympics *** Nagano Olympic Stadium, a baseball stadium in Nagano *** Nagano Universi ...

in the Chubu region of

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. The site was collectively designated a National Historic Site of Japan in 1997.

Overview

The Ōmuro Kofun Group is a large

necropolis A necropolis (plural necropolises, necropoles, necropoleis, necropoli) is a large, designed cemetery with elaborate tomb monuments. The name stems from the Ancient Greek ''nekropolis'', literally meaning "city of the dead". The term usually im ...

consisting of over 500 tumuli spread across two valleys on the south side of the Chikuma River at an elevation of 350 to 500 meters approximately six kilometers southeast of Nagano city. The tombs were built over a 250-year period from the 5th to the 8th centuries. They have been grouped by archaeologists into five groups ( Kanaiyama, Kitatani, Kajo, Omurodani, and Kitayama) by their geographic location, stretching across an area of roughly 2.5 square kilometers. There is only one keyhole-shaped ''kofun'' (), but at least 330 smaller circular-shaped ''kofun'' () made of stacked river stones from the Chikuma River. Most of these circular-shaped ''kofun'' have a diameter of approximately ten meters, and there is no other burial mound cluster in Japan where there are so many such circular-shaped ''kofun'' in such a small area. These mounds can be divided into 40 different variations, some with a scallop-shaped stone

burial chamber A chamber tomb is a tomb for burial used in many different cultures. In the case of individual burials, the chamber is thought to signify a higher status for the interred than a simple grave. Built from rock or sometimes wood, the chambers could a ...

, or with a triangular gabled burial chamber ceiling. Theories that these tombs were built by immigrants to Japan from the ancient Korean states of

Goguryeo Goguryeo (37 BC–668 AD) ( ) also called Goryeo (), was a Korean kingdom located in the northern and central parts of the Korean Peninsula and the southern and central parts of Northeast China. At its peak of power, Goguryeo controlled most ...

Baekje Baekje or Paekche (, ) was a Korean kingdom located in southwestern Korea from 18 BC to 660 AD. It was one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea, together with Goguryeo and Silla. Baekje was founded by Onjo, the third son of Goguryeo's founder Jum ...

remain controversial. Excavated

grave good Grave goods, in archaeology and anthropology, are the items buried along with the body. They are usually personal possessions, supplies to smooth the deceased's journey into the afterlife or offerings to the gods. Grave goods may be classed as a ...

s include Sue ware and

Haji ware is a type of plain, unglazed, reddish-brown Japanese pottery or earthenware that was produced during the Kofun, Nara, and Heian periods of Japanese history. It was used for both ritual and utilitarian purposes, and many examples have been found ...

pottery, bronze mirrors, armor, swords, horse fittings and jewelry. The number of horse bones found was unusually large, and included the skull of a horse which was buried in the vestibule of one of the horizontal burial chambers. The site is now an

archaeological park An archaeological site is a place (or group of physical sites) in which evidence of past activity is preserved (either prehistoric or historic or contemporary), and which has been, or may be, investigated using the discipline of archaeology and ...

with a museum, the displaying some of the artifacts discovered.

Access

*By car, 15 minutes from the Nagano IC on the

Jōshin-etsu Expressway The is a national expressway in Japan. It is owned and operated by East Nippon Expressway Company. Naming is a kanji acronym consisting of 3 characters, each representing the former names of the prefectures that the route traverses. consists ...

*By bus, 20 minutes on foot from (there are sign posts from the bus stop). From

JR East The is a major passenger railway company in Japan and is the largest of the seven Japan Railways Group companies. The company name is officially abbreviated as JR-EAST or JR East in English, and as in Japanese. The company's headquarters are ...

Nagano Station is a railway station in the city of Nagano in Nagano Prefecture, Japan. The station is operated by East Japan Railway Company (JR East) and the private railway operator Nagano Electric Railway (Nagaden). Lines Nagano Station is served by the f ...

, take the Nagaden Bus, No. 8, the Suzaka-Yashima Line, departing from the south exit of Nagano Station.

Gallery

大室古墳群244号墳石室内部.JPG, Burial chamber of Tomb 244 大室古墳群168号墳合掌形石室.JPG, Tomb 168 大室古墳群238号墳.JPG, Tomb 238 大室古墳群240号墳.JPG, Tomb 240 大室古墳群240号墳石室内部.JPG, Burial chamber of Tomb 240 大室古墳群176号墳.JPG, Tomb 276 大室古墳館.JPG, Ōmuro Kofun Museum

References

External links

Nagano city cultural heritage database

Matsushiro tourist information site

{{in lang, ja Kofun History of Nagano Prefecture Nagano (city) Historic Sites of Japan

Overview

Access

Gallery

See also

References

External links