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Akatsuchiyama Kofun Tomb
Late 4th ~ Early 5th Century
Stand on an ancient tomb, and look out over the land where Japan began.
Akatsuchiyama Kofun tomb overlooks the Nara Basin from northern Tenri City, where the Wani Clan, one of Japan’s earliest and most powerful clans, once resided. It is thought that a powerful member of the Wani Clan was buried here in this tomb.
Constructed sometime from the late 4th century to the early 5th century, what makes this keyhole-shaped tomb particularly special is that we can both walk across the top of it, and see what kind of items were excavated from it. On its southeast side is a flat extension called a “tsukuri-dashi”. It was from this extension that a line of terracotta clay houses were excavated, and it is thought that these houses represented the living compound of the person buried in this tomb. Today, these terracotta clay houses have been recreated along with other items excavated from the tomb, such as pots and a bird, and are on display on this flat extension. The items give us a glimpse of the world at that time, allowing us to imagine why each item was chosen, and what kind of person may have been buried here.
Access
By train: Akatsuchiyama Kofun tomb is about 2 km east of JR Ichinomoto Station on the Manyo Mahoroba Line.
By bus: Akatsuchiyama Kofun tomb is a little more than 1 km east of the Ichinomoto bus stop on the Nara Kotsu Bus Line.
Environment
Akatsuchiyama Kofun tomb is located in Tenri’s Ichinomoto Town. To the west of the tomb is a housing community and Wanishita Jinja shrine, and to the east is the Sharp Tenri Facility, which features the Sharp Technology Innovation Museum. Below the tomb, we can see the Nara Basin, and the Meihan Expressway.
In addition to the many places with connections to the Wani Clan, such as Wanishita Jinja shrine and Ichinomoto Takatsuka Park, Ichinomoto Town also has places like Utazuka and Ariwara Jinja shrine, which are connected with two of the Thirty-Six Immortals of Poetry, Kakinomoto no Hitomaro and Ariwara no Narihira.
Point
Whether it’s your first kofun tomb or your 100th, we are confident you will enjoy Akatsuchiyama Kofun tomb! For beginners, it is a great place to start, as we can climb to the top of the mound, see the shape of the tomb, and also see what was excavated from it. For kofun tomb enthusiasts, the “tsukuri-dashi” flat extension on the southeast side of the tomb is a rare find!
Map
Information
| Course： |
Ichinomoto Course
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|---|---|
| Address： | 2920-1 Ichinomoto Town, Tenri City, Nara Prefecture |
| Admission： | Free |
| Parking： | No |
| Rest Area： | No |
| Toilet： | No |
| Contact： | |
| Website： | |
| Social Media： |
Photo Gallery
