History Kofun Period (250-538)

Kofun

Kofun are large tombs of mounded earth built mainly for deceased members of the ruling elite during the fourth to the seventh centuries. Ranging in size from fifteen metres in diameter to 32.3 hectares in area, these tombs are the greatest single source of information on the social and political organisation and material culture of the Kofun Period.

Early Kofun-period tombs

The appearance of tomb mound buildings at the end of the third century in Japan was so sudden that early archaeologists thought the tombs reflected either conquest or influence from outside the archipelago. The identity of the contributing society was sought among the tomb-building cultures of China and northern Korea. However, in 1952, Japanese archaeologist Kobayashi Yukio demonstrated that there were no similarities in the mound shape of the burial chambers between Japan and the continent.

In the 1970s, two kinds of mounded burials from the preceding Yayoi Period were identified: a square, ditched grave (方形周溝墓 hōkei shūkōbo) found near village sites on level grounds not thought to be the prototype of the great tomb mounds, and a mounded grave (墳丘墓 funkyūbo) discovered on hilltops regarded by some to be the direct predecessor of tomb mounds. Regardless of which theory holds true, tomb mound-building is considered to have originated in native burial practices.

The earliest tomb mounds of the Kofun period were constructed in the Kinai Region (畿内, comprising Kyōto , Nara, and Osaka). From there, the tomb building spread to northern Kyūshū through the Inland Sea region in the early fourth century. Early tombs had either round or keyhole-shaped mounds. Keyhole tombs may have either front-square and rear-round mounds (前方後円墳 zempō-kōen-fun) or front-square and rear-square mounds (前方後方墳 zempō-kōhō-fun). The front mounds may have originally served as a place for funerary rites; the central burial is usually in the rear mound.

The first tombs were constructed on existing hilltops overlooking agricultural land. Burial facilities consisted of a wooden coffin buried directly in the summit of the mound or placed in a stone chamber of the tateana sekishitsu (竪穴式石堂, lit. vertical hole, stone chamber) style. A pit was sunk into the top of the mound to construct a stone chamber lined with brick-sized stones. A floor of smooth clay was prepared for the wooden coffin. Then, ceiling rocks were laid to seal the chamber; finally, the earth was mounded over the top. Clay cylinders and funeral sculptures (埴輪 haniwa) were often placed on the tomb summit over the grave. Typically, the tomb's surface was paved with rocks.

The early tombs' funerary goods, mainly ceremonial, included iron weapons and armour, indicating that the individuals buried there bore considerable religious and military influence. Chinese-made bronze mirrors, necklaces of curved magatama and cylindrical beads made of jade and jasper, jasper ornaments and koto bridges, as well as jasper bracelets, were commonly discovered.

In the late fourth century, tomb building expanded further into eastern and northern Japan, as well as western coastal areas. The tombs assumed a greater variety of shapes, including square or gourd-shaped forms, which were formed by two round mounds joined together. Alternate burial facilities were also developed: large stone coffins were placed in the pit-style chambers or directly into the ground, and wooden coffins were embedded in prepared clay enclosures rather than stone chambers. For funerary goods, the imported bronze mirrors were joined by locally produced mirrors. There also began a trend to make jasper reproductions of functional objects, such as sheathed knives, iron axes, and adze heads, and to place these in the tombs instead of the originals.

Middle Kofun-Period tombs

In the fifth century, the character of the tombs underwent drastic changes. Instead of being built on natural hillocks, they were mounded up from flatter terrace surfaces. Wide moats became a standard feature, dramatically increasing the area of the tombs (e.g. the Daisen-Kofun, the tomb of Emperor Nintoku in Ōsaka, or the Ōjin Mausoleum). Accessory mounds (陪塚 baichō) often accompany the highest-status tombs of this period, acting as depositories for tremendous volumes of funerary goods. Their contents attest to both the ruler's limitless access to society's resources and new contacts with the Korean peninsula at this time. One of the accessory tombs of the Ōjin Mausoleum, the Ariyama tomb, alone held over 3,000 iron swords and tools. Funerary goods of imported gold ear ornaments, Sue ware, and horse trappings from the continent gradually contributed to the replacement of delicate jasper ornaments by coarse soapstone imitations, a decrease in the number of bronze mirrors deposited in the tombs, and the disappearance of haniwa from Kinai-region tombs.

A new type of tomb chamber called yokoana-shiki-sekishitsu (横穴式石堂, lit. "horizontal hole, stone chamber") was also transmitted from the Korean peninsula in the fifth century. Equipped with a corridor entrance, this type of chamber was oriented so that one could walk into it, rather than being accessible only through the ceiling, as in the pit-style chamber. A level surface was provided on the mound to construct a corridor-style chamber, and the stone chamber was then built upon the flat surface. The entrance to the corridor was positioned to open onto the slope of the mound. Finally, the earth was piled over the chamber, embedding it in the centre of the mound, e.g. the Ishibutai Kofun (石舞台古墳) in Asuka, Nara Prefecture. The corridor allowed the tomb to be used not just once but several times, and in the late Kofun period, family tombs became quite popular.

Late Kofun-Period tombs

Tombs of the sixth and seventh centuries shrank in size and increased in number as they came to be used by a greater segment of the population, and not just rulers. Entire hillsides were devoted to cemeteries of small, round mounds averaging 15 metres in diameter and each containing a corridor-style chamber, e.g. the Iwase Thousand-mound Tomb Cluster (岩橋千塚古墳群), the Saitobaru Kofun Cluster (西都原古墳群 Saitobaru kofun-gun) in Miyazaki Prefecture, and the Yame Tomb Cluster (八女古墳群 Yame kofun-gun) in Fukuoka Prefecture.

Funerary goods of this period are increasingly utilitarian, reflecting disparities in social status or occupation of the interred. Sue and Haji ware containing food provisions for the afterlife, personal weapons and jewellery, and tools such as blacksmith's irons, etc., were the primary deposits.


Regional differences in construction and decoration are the hallmarks of these latter-day tombs. In northern Kyūshū , stone figures carved of local tuff (volcanic rock) replaced many haniwa images on the mounds, while bold geometric designs and animate figures were painted on the interior walls of the chambers. The tombs of eastern Japan retained the grandeur of the fifth-century keyhole mounds of the Kinai region. The Kantō Plain was home to a robust frontier society in the late Kofun period, and its warriors, believed to be under the influence of the Yamato court, were buried in style in large, mounded tombs. Haniwa manufacture, dying out in the Kinai, was transplanted to the Kantō area and flourished in its new home. Haniwa images reached their peak of expression at this time, reflecting the frontier mix of lavishly ornamented horses, fully armoured warriors, stylishly attired nobles, farmers, singers, and dancers of common origins. Funerary goods included gorgeous gilt bronze horse trappings, excellent iron weapons, and even bronze vessels from the Korean peninsula.


With the introduction of Buddhism in the mid-sixth century, an increasing number of the central elite began to build temples instead of tombs for posterity. Although elaborate examples, such as the Ishibutai and Takamatsuzuka tombs, are known from this period, imperial proscriptions governing the size and ostentation of tombs, combined with new Buddhist attitudes, led to a gradual decline in tomb-building during the seventh century. Many people from the late fifth to eighth centuries were interred in cave-like yoko-ana tombs in response to restrictions on space, labour, and sumptuary requirements.

Kofun society

The Kofun Period witnessed the rise of the Yamato court, a chieftainship that evolved into the ruling imperial dynasty over much of Kyūshū and Honshū. There was also an increasing influx of immigrants from China and Korea, many of whom were ancestors of prominent Japanese clans. The introduction of Buddhism into Japan in 538 is generally considered the beginning of the Asuka Era, a historical period that followed.

References:

• Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric, Japan Encyclopedia, Harvard University Press 2005

Related links:

• Towering tumuli of the Kofun era (Heritage of Japan)
• Japanese Royal Tomb Opened to Scholars for First Time (National Geographic News)
• Haniwa (Japan Reference)