Ikeda Kofun: A Royal Burial Mound of Northern Tajima
Site at a Glance
- Rating
- 3.4
- Popularity
- Very Low
- Country
- Japan
- Primary era
- Classical
- External website
- Open
- Eras represented
- Classical
- Civilizations
- Yamato
- Site type
- Burial
- Remains
- Burial Mound
On this page6 sections
History
Ikeda Kofun is a large Japanese burial mound in Asago, Hyogo Prefecture, Japan, built around the beginning of the fifth century during the middle Kofun period, an era of monumental tomb construction that lasted approximately from the third to the seventh century. It is regarded as the first royal tomb associated with the political integration of northern and southern Tajima, a historical region corresponding roughly to northern Hyogo. It is the largest kofun in Tajima and ranks fourth in size among the kofun of Hyogo Prefecture.
Royal Tombs of Tajima
Ikeda Kofun followed the earlier royal tombs of southern Tajima, including Wakimizu Kofun and Shiro no Yama Kofun. Its regional position was later inherited by Chasuriyama Kofun and Funamiya Kofun, placing the mound within a sequence of tombs connected with the changing political organization of Tajima.
Damage and Archaeological Investigation
The mound was partly levelled during construction of the Sanin Main Line around 1907. Residential development then affected the surrounding tomb area, and National Route 9, including the Wadayama Bypass, later crossed the center of the mound and substantially damaged its original form.
Ikeda Kofun was first recognized academically in the latter part of the Shōwa 30s, corresponding to the late 1950s and early 1960s. More than ten investigations have taken place since 1971 and have continued into the present. The site was first designated a municipal historic site before becoming a Hyogo Prefectural Historic Site on March 22, 2013. Excavated artifacts received designation as National Important Cultural Properties in 2019.
Remains
Mound Form and Surface Features
Ikeda Kofun stands at the eastern foot of Mount Okurabe in the northern part of the Wadayama Basin. It is a keyhole-shaped mound, with a circular rear section and a projecting rectangular front section facing northeast. Built in three stages, it measures approximately 136 meters in length. Earlier estimates placed its length at 141 meters, but a 2007 investigation of the rear section revised that figure downward; the exact length remains uncertain because the front section has not been sufficiently investigated.
Stone revetment covered the mound surface, and rows of cylindrical haniwa, clay objects placed on and around burial mounds, stood alongside figured examples representing waterfowl, houses, shields, jars, and lids. Twenty-three waterfowl-shaped haniwa are represented among the finds, the largest number recovered from a single kofun in Japan. Projecting platforms were also built on both constricted sides of the mound.
Moat and Burial Evidence
A shield-shaped surrounding moat, a deliberately excavated ditch encircling the mound, was constructed around Ikeda Kofun. In Tajima, Ikeda Kofun and Funamiya Kofun are the two tombs associated with the combination of haniwa, stone revetment, and a surrounding moat.
The burial facility has not been identified. Fragments of a long-chest-shaped stone coffin remain at several locations, including the Takada area about four kilometres northwest of Ikeda Kofun. This coffin type is associated particularly with royal tombs, and its use at Ikeda Kofun has been proposed. The Takada fragments were moved to and displayed at the Hirano public hall.
From the southeast, the road crossing the mound divides the visible remains into the rear section on the left, partly occupied by a bamboo grove, and the front section on the right. The mound’s form and haniwa have been noted as comparable to Ichinoyama Kofun, traditionally identified as the mausoleum of Emperor Ingyo, who is traditionally counted as Japan’s nineteenth emperor.
