Nanakoshiyama Kofun, Fujioka

Shichikoyama Kofun This ancient tomb is believed to date back to the 6th century. It's planted with cherry trees, making it a scenic spot. There was an entrance leading up the mountain. 🚪 What surprised me was the numerous stone statues just after the summit, all of which had their heads removed. It's unclear when they were destroyed or whether they were for religious purposes, but they were in a strange state. The stone statues at the summit showed signs of repair. It takes about 30 minutes to walk around the entire tomb. The stone chamber appears to have not been discovered. Fujioka City Shichikoyama Kofun is a three-tiered keyhole-shaped tomb built in the first half of the 6th century. It is one of the largest 6th-century tombs in eastern Japan, measuring 150 meters in length, 115 meters wide at the front, 85 meters in diameter at the rear, and 16 meters high at both the front and rear. The excavated artifacts include cylindrical haniwa, morning glory-shaped haniwa, figurative haniwa of people and horses, as well as Sue ware and Haji ware. The cylindrical haniwa in particular is a rare large item, measuring 40 centimeters in diameter and 110 centimeters in height, with seven protruding bands around it.

I apologize for the abruptness, but do you all think that all "keyhole-shaped burial mounds" are the same shape, despite differences in size? That's incorrect. In fact, just like fashion, there are trends and outdated styles in their shapes (lol). The Nanokoshiyama Kofun, which appeared in the first half of the 6th century, the late Kofun period, had an avant-garde shape unprecedented in this region, showcasing to the surrounding powerful clans that it was a "fashionable keyhole-shaped burial mound" (lol) directly imported from the central government. So what's different? Actually, the balance between the front and rear sections is completely different. There's a keyhole-shaped burial mound, the Shiraishi Inariyama Kofun, built a century earlier and roughly the same size (about 150m), located very close by, so let's look at the difference in proportions. First, the Nanokoshiyama Kofun has a small face, deep-set features, and a sleek style (lol). Specifically, the circular section is smaller and the mound is higher compared to the square section. Numerically, the circular mound section is 87m wide, while the square mound section is 106m wide, making the square section wider. The height of the square section is 16m, the same as the circular section. On the other hand, the Shiraishi Inariyama Kofun, a model from 100 years ago, has a circular mound section width of 92m and a square mound section width of 86m, with the face being larger. The height of the circular mound section is 13.5m, while the square mound section is 8.5m, indicating a shorter nose. While the square mound section tends to become larger with each newer type of keyhole-shaped burial mound, the Nanokoshiyama Kofun can be considered the ultimate form of this trend. To eyes accustomed to earlier keyhole-shaped burial mounds, it must have appeared bizarre. The origin of this trend is the "Haji Nisanzai Kofun," believed to be the tomb of a great king, located within the Mozu Kofun Group in Osaka. This is a massive burial mound with a mound length of 300m, but what's interesting is that the Nanokoshiyama Kofun is not merely "similar," but a perfect mirror image. It's impossible to achieve this through mere imitation, like "It seems this style is popular in the city..." This suggests that the person buried in the Nanokoshiyama Kofun had strong connections with the central government, receiving blueprints and dispatching engineers. Although it's scaled down to half the size to reflect the country's power, I imagine the person buried there was quite proud, thinking, "This is the cutting edge style!" and boasting to those around them (lol). It's only about a 10-minute walk, so please do visit the Shiraishi Inariyama Kofun as well and enjoy the differences in their forms.

According to the Fujioka History Museum pamphlet, Nanakoshiyama Kofun is a keyhole-shaped burial mound built in the first half of the 6th century, and is one of the largest burial mounds built in eastern Japan during the 6th century. Furthermore, a ground-penetrating radar survey conducted in 2018 revealed that the mound is approximately 150m long, and that a horizontal stone chamber nearly 20m long exists in the circular rear section, making it one of the largest burial mounds with a horizontal stone chamber in eastern Japan. In addition, the cylindrical haniwa (clay figures) unearthed in past excavations are extremely large, exceeding 40cm in diameter and 1m in height. Such large cylindrical haniwa with multiple protruding bands are rare, found only in a limited number of burial mounds in Gunma Prefecture. This is the second keyhole-shaped burial mound I've seen, following the Shiraishi Inariyama Kofun I saw earlier. This one is covered in trees, so you really can't appreciate its keyhole shape unless you see it from above. The Shiraishi Inariyama Kofun (ancient burial mound) appears to have been built on a hill, but this one is built on flat ground, making it feel even larger. It's mind-boggling to think that this was built by human power alone. It must have required a large population and a prosperous country. I wonder if they were paid wages. What kind of lives did the people of that time lead? Although this area was also overgrown with weeds, I was able to follow the footprints and reach the top of the burial mound. However, it's covered in trees, so while it's quite high, the view isn't particularly good, and you can't really tell it's shaped like a keyhole from here.

I visited Shichikoshiyama Kofun, featured on the TV program "Kofun no Jidai," because the cherry blossoms were so beautiful. 🌸 This kofun is the largest and tallest I've ever visited. ★I've only ever seen Tenjinyama Kofun, the largest in eastern Japan, from the road in my hometown of Ota City, so I'd like to visit it by mountain bike someday. There were more cherry blossom-viewing visitors than I expected, and the cherry blossoms were near full bloom, so I was lucky to visit!♪ [Reference] Gunma Prefecture is home to many gigantic keyhole-shaped tombs, some even surpassing those in the Kinai region. Shichikoshiyama Kofun in Fujioka City, Gunma Prefecture, is said to be the burial site of Kamitsukeno no Okuma, a powerful local clan leader from the early 6th century.

There's a parking lot at the Shichikoshi Gate, and although it's close, I thought it was the temple's parking lot, so I parked at the Fujioka History Museum and walked there. ^^; The tumulus isn't designed so that you can walk around it in one go, so you end up returning the same way. There are a row of headless Jizo statues (?) near the entrance, and a headless Kannon statue (?) at the top of the mountain. It might be a little scary to go alone. I'd like to go during cherry blossom season.