Cultural assets

Nishizuka Tumulus

Monuments (historical sites) / Wakasa / 【Collective term of cultural properties】Kaminaka ancient burial mounds

Nishizuka Tumulus is one of several ancient burial mounds (kofun) found in the Wakasa region. It was built in the late fifth century, when such structures were erected as tombs for clan leaders, nobility, and other powerful figures. The kofun is located in a rice field in the Wakibukuro neighborhood in the town of Wakasa, to the west of Jonozuka Tumulus, the largest mound in the area. Nishizuka Tumulus is designated a National Historic Site.

The keyhole-shaped burial mound is 74 meters long and 6.7 meters tall. The diameter of the back circular section is about 39 meters, while the front square section is slightly wider at 47 meters. The kofun has a three-tiered structure and was once covered with stones, lined with ceremonial clay objects called haniwa, and surrounded by a moat that measured about 20 meters across. Most of the circular section remains, but only a small portion of the square section has survived.

In 1916, the mound’s inner chamber was discovered by chance when sediment was extracted for construction of the Obama Line of the former Japanese National Railways (currently operated by JR West). The government carried out an official excavation, which uncovered a horizontal stone burial chamber painted with red pigment on the inside. The chamber was 5.46 meters long, 1.3 meters wide, and 1.5 meters tall.

Numerous grave goods were found within the chamber, many of which had been brought from mainland Asia. The items included beads of various shapes and sizes, gold earrings, gilt bronze belt fittings, small silver bells, horse tack, iron weapons, armor, and bronze mirrors with decorative motifs of deities and divine beasts from Chinese mythology. The excavated items are stored in the Imperial Household Archives.

Analysis of the grave goods suggests that Nishizuka Tumulus may have been a burial mound related to the Kashiwade no Omi clan, governing officials who were responsible for supplying food from Wakasa to the emperor’s court, which was located in present-day Nara Prefecture. The discovered items included luxurious and valuable markers of high status, indicating that the mounds were built for people of great importance with ties to the capital, such as the Kashiwade no Omi clan.

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Japan Heritage Utilization Promotion Council of Obama City and Wakasa townFukui Prefecture, Obama City, Wakasa town

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