Ōmuro Kofun group

Ōmuro Kofun Group (大室古墳群, Ōmuro kofun-gun) is a group of late Kofun period burial mounds located in what is now part of the city of Nagano in the Chubu region of Japan. The site was collectively designated a National Historic Site of Japan in 1997.[1]

Ōmuro Kofun Group
大室古墳群
Kofun No.244 is the largest in the Ōmuro Kofun Group
Ōmuro Kofun Group
Ōmuro Kofun group (Japan)
LocationNagano, Nagano, Japan
RegionChubu region
Coordinates36°35′23″N 138°13′51″E
Typekofun
History
PeriodsKofun
Site notes
OwnershipNational Historic Site
Public accessYes

Overview

The Ōmuro Kofun Group is a large necropolis consisting of over 500 tumuli spread across two valleys in the Matsushiro neighborhood of Nagano city. The tombs were built over a 250-year period from the 5th to the 8th centuries, and have been grouped by archaeologists into five groups by their geographic location.

There is only one keyhole-shaped kofun, but at least 330 smaller dome-shaped kofun made of stacked river stones from the Chikuma River. Most of these dome-shaped kofun have a diameter of approximately 10 meters, and there is no other burial mound cluster in Japan where there are so many such dome-shaped kofun in such a small area. These mounds can be divided into 40 different variations, some with a scallop-shaped stone burial chamber, or with a triangular gabled burial chamber ceiling. Theories that these tombs were built by immigrants to Japan from the ancient Korean states of Goguryeo or Baekje remain controversial.

The 2.5 square kilometer site is now an archaeological park with a museum displaying some of the artifacts discovered.

Access
  • By car, 15 minutes from the Nagano IC on the Jōshin-etsu Expressway
  • By bus, 20 minutes on foot from Ōmuro Station (大室駅, Ōmuro eki) (there are sign posts from the bus stop). From JR Nagano Stationm, take the Nagaden Bus, No. 8, the Suzaka-Yashima Line, departing from the south exit of Nagano Station.


  • Burial chamber of Tomb 244
  • Tomb 168
  • Tomb 238
  • Tomb 240
  • Burial chamber of Tomb 240
  • Tomb 276
  • Ōmuro Kofun Museum

See also

References
  1. "大室古墳群" (in Japanese). Agency for Cultural Affairs.
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