Aerial view of Aotsuka Kofun The is a

Kofun period The is an era in the history of Japan from about 300 to 538 AD (the date of the introduction of Buddhism), following the Yayoi period. The Kofun and the subsequent Asuka periods are sometimes collectively called the Yamato period. This period is ...

burial mound Burial, also known as interment or inhumation, is a method of final disposition whereby a dead body is placed into the ground, sometimes with objects. This is usually accomplished by excavating a pit or trench, placing the deceased and objec ...

, located in the Aotsuka neighborhood of the city of

Inuyama, Aichi is a city in Aichi Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 73,420 in 31,276 households, and a population density of 980 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . The name of the city literally translates to "Dog Moun ...

in the

Tōkai region The is a subregion of the Chūbu region and Kansai region in Japan that runs along the Pacific Ocean. The name comes from the Tōkaidō, one of the Edo Five Routes. Because Tōkai is a sub-region and is not officially classified, there is ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. It was designated a National Historic Site of Japan in 1983. It is the second largest ''kofun'' found in Aichi Prefecture after the

Danpusan Kofun 250px, Sketch of Danpusan Kofun The is a large keyhole-shaped ''kofun'' burial mound located within the grounds of the Atsuta Shrine complex in the Hayata neighborhood of Atsuta-ku, Nagoya, Japan. The tumulus was designated a National Histori ...

in Nagoya.

Overview

The Aotsuka Kofun is located in the southern part of Inuyama, in western Aichi Prefecture. It is one of tumuli which once formed a ''kofun'' cluster in the surrounding area (most of which have now been destroyed).

Archaeological excavation In archaeology, excavation is the exposure, processing and recording of archaeological remains. An excavation site or "dig" is the area being studied. These locations range from one to several areas at a time during a project and can be condu ...

s have been conducted in 1979 and from 1995 to 1998. The tumulus is a , which is shaped like a keyhole, having one square end and one circular end, when viewed from above. It has a total length of 123 meters and is orientated to face southwest. It consists of a three-tiered posterior circular portion with a diameter of 78 meters and height of 12 meters, and a two-tier trapezoidal anterior portion, with a width of 62 meters, length of 45 meters and height of seven meters. A surviving portion of a moat is on the west side of the tumulus, and on the east side a raised embankment for crossing the now vanished portion of the eastern moat has also survived. An unusual feature of this ''kofun'' is the presence of a rectangular mound on the far end of its anterior portion, which may have been a ceremonial platform. The tumulus was formerly covered in ''

fukiishi ( or "roofing stone") were a means of covering burial chambers and Tumulus, burial mounds during the kofun period of Japan (). Stones collected from riverbeds were affixed to the slopes of raised kofun and other burial chambers. They are consi ...

'' across its entire surface, and had rows of cylindrical and drum-shaped ''

haniwa The are terracotta clay figures that were made for ritual use and buried with the dead as funerary objects during the Kofun period (3rd to 6th centuries AD) of the history of Japan. ''Haniwa'' were created according to the ''wazumi'' technique ...

''. It is believed to have been built in the middle of the 4th century in the early Kofun period. The ''kofun'' is associated with the ''Ni-no-miya'' of

Owari Province was a province of Japan in the area that today forms the western half of Aichi Prefecture, including the modern city of Nagoya. The province was created in 646. Owari bordered on Mikawa, Mino, and Ise Provinces. Owari and Mino provinces w ...

, , which is located 3.5 kilometers to the east. The shrine claims that the ''kofun'' is the grave of its ''kami'', . During the

Sengoku period The was the period in History of Japan, Japanese history in which civil wars and social upheavals took place almost continuously in the 15th and 16th centuries. The Kyōtoku incident (1454), Ōnin War (1467), or (1493) are generally chosen as th ...

, the tumulus was fortified as a castle by the forces of

Toyotomi Hideyoshi , otherwise known as and , was a Japanese samurai and ''daimyō'' (feudal lord) of the late Sengoku period, Sengoku and Azuchi-Momoyama periods and regarded as the second "Great Unifier" of Japan.Richard Holmes, The World Atlas of Warfare: ...

during the 1584

Battle of Komaki and Nagakute The , also known as the Komaki Campaign (小牧の役 ''Komaki no Eki''), was a series of battles in 1584 between the forces of Hashiba Hideyoshi (who would become Toyotomi Hideyoshi in 1586) and the forces of Oda Nobukatsu and Tokugawa Ieyasu ...

. The site is now open to the public with the exterior of the tumulus restored to its appearance at the time of construction, with a row of replica pot-shaped ''haniwa'' as part of the Aozuka Kofun Historical Park, which also has an on-site museum. It is located about a 30-minute walk from Gakuden Station on the

Meitetsu Komaki Line The is a railway line in Aichi Prefecture, Japan, operated by the private railway operator Meitetsu (Nagoya Railroad), connecting Kamiiida Station in Nagoya with Inuyama Station in Inuyama, Aichi, Inuyama. The track from Kamiiida Station, Kamii ...

Oagata Shrine

Inuyama Oagata Plum Blossoms Over Shrine Rooftops

Ōagata Shrine (大縣神社) is a

Shinto shrine A Stuart D. B. Picken, 1994. p. xxiii is a structure whose main purpose is to house ("enshrine") one or more kami, , the deities of the Shinto religion. The Also called the . is where a shrine's patron is or are enshrined.Iwanami Japanese dic ...

located in

. It is the Ninomiya, or a second ranked shrine in

, ranked below

Masumida Shrine is a Shinto shrine in the Masumida neighborhood of the city of Ichinomiya in Aichi Prefecture, Japan. It is the ''ichinomiya'' of former Owari Province. The main festival of the shrine is held annually on April 3. Enshrined ''kami'' The ''kami'' ...

. It is located close to

Tagata Shrine Tagata Shrine (田縣神社) is a small shrine located in Komaki City, Aichi Prefecture, Japan, near Nagoya Airfield. Tagata Shrine is famous for its Harvest Festival Hōnensai, a fertility festival that some foreign tourists have dubbed "penis ...

(田縣神社) the shrine famous for hosting the "penis festival"

Hōnensai is a fertility festival celebrated every year on March 15 in some locations in Aichi Prefecture, Japan. ''Hōnen'' means ''prosperous year'' in Japanese, implying a rich harvest, while a ''matsuri'' is a festival. The Hōnen festival and cerem ...

. Oagata shrine has a similar yonic festival the Sunday before this festival Aotsuka Kofun is located on the grounds of the shrine, 3.5 kilometers to the west of the

honden In Shinto shrine architecture, the , also called , or sometimes as in Ise Shrine's case, is the most sacred building at a Shinto shrine, intended purely for the use of the enshrined ''kami'', usually symbolized by a mirror or sometimes by a sta ...

. The shrine claims that the ''

kofun are megalithic tombs or tumulus, tumuli in Northeast Asia. ''Kofun'' were mainly constructed in the Japanese archipelago between the middle of the 3rd century to the early 7th century AD.岡田裕之「前方後円墳」『日本古代史大辞 ...

'' is the grave of its ''

kami are the Deity, deities, Divinity, divinities, Spirit (supernatural entity), spirits, mythological, spiritual, or natural phenomena that are venerated in the traditional Shinto religion of Japan. ''Kami'' can be elements of the landscape, forc ...

'', . During the

, the tumulus was fortified as a castle by the forces of

during the 1584

. The deity is sometimes identified as

Amatsuhikone Amatsuhikone (天津日子根命,天津彥根命, which means little lad of Heaven) in Japanese mythology is the third son of Amaterasu. In many versions, he is born from Amaterasu's jewels in her hair. In other versions he is born from the vine us ...

References

External links

Aichi Prefecture Cultural Properties
{{Kofun infobox Beppyo shrines Myōjin Taisha Kokuhei Chūsha Sexuality in Shinto Shinto shrines in Aichi Prefecture Important Cultural Properties of Aichi Prefecture History of Aichi Prefecture Inuyama, Aichi Historic Sites of Japan Zenpokoenfun

Overview

Oagata Shrine

See also

References

External links