Fukiishi

What are thought to be proto-fukiishi at Nishidani kofun No. 3 in Izumo, Shimane

Tombs covered with fukiishi appear sporadically in Western Japan from the mid-Yayoi period and continue into the Kofun period.[1] Fukiishi are thought to be one element of the characteristics of the period of kofun at the time that they were making their first appearance; what are thought of as the oldest examples of what was to lead the generally fixed form are seen at Hashihaka kofun and the presumed slightly older Hokeno-yama kofun in the city of Sakurai in Nara Prefecture.[2] Neither fukiishi nor haniwa accompany mounds from before regularization such as at the Makimuku keyhole-shaped kofun group.

The hariishi (貼石) seen at the Yosumi Tosshutsu funkyūbo ("four corner projections type grave mound") in the San'in region in Western Japan are often put forth as an ancestor of fukiishi. The perimeter of the foot of kofun No. 3 of Nishidani kofungun in Izumo in Shimane Prefecture is completely covered with hariishi. The burial mound at the Tatetsuki archaeological site in the city of Sōja in Okayama Prefecture is surrounded with rows of stones; such examples are widely seen in the San'in and the nearby San'yō regions, where examples of burial mounds demarcated by stacks of stone walls are also seen.[3]

In his report on an excavation in 1915 on mound No. 21 of Saitobaru kofungun burial mound group in what is now the city of Saito in Miyazaki Prefecture, historian Ryū Imanishi titled an entry hyōmen no fukiishi ("surface roofing stones")[lower-alpha 1] in which he described the condition of the fukiishi in a ground plan and cross-section.[4]

The term fukiishi came into use as an archaeological term largely due to the influence of Kenji Takahashi's book Kofun to jōbunka ("Kofun and ancient culture", 1922).[lower-alpha 2] Via examples of kofun in the Kinai capital region Takashi described the fukiishi there as serving both practical and decorative purposes: in practical terms the use of pebbles provided protection from the wind, rain, and cold, while the stones served to beautify the mound which was after all built above ground to attract public attention and to impress and rouse piety in visiting worshippers.[5]

Tsukinowa kofun in Misaki, Okayama Prefecture

Jirobēzuka mound No. 1 in Kani in Gifu Prefecture is roofed with fukiishi made up of riverbed stones.

Excavation of fukiishi themselves was nearly nonexistent before World War II. It was only after the war that scientific examination, verification, and surveying of the stones took place.[6]

In 1953, Yoshirō Kondō led a group of specialists, locals, and students in an excavation at the Tsukinowa kofun in Misaki[lower-alpha 3] in Okayama. The group surveyed three quarters of the kofun, with a height of 10 m and a diameter of 60 m. The report published in 1960 gave the extent of distribution, shape and size, petrological analysis, technical analysis of the roofing method, and minute illustration the configuration of the individual stones. The report estimated the number of stones at about 80,000.[7]

In response to the rapid increase in the post-war period of large-scale development that led to in the destruction of historical ruins, urgent excavations were carried out with the goal of thorough examination rather than as the preservation of documentation. As a result of this early research, Shōzō Haraguchi and Tadashi Nishitani published a paper in 1967 on the excavation of tumulus C1 of the Bentenyama kofungun group in Takatsuki in Osaka. The paper notes the results of investigation into the stacking methods, the weight and number of stones per unit area, the collection areas and transportation routes of the stones, and other details.[8] Tadashi Aoki stated that following this report hardly any other resulting from such an accumulation of verifiable details on fukiishi has appeared.[6]

Research into fukiishi has come to require knowledge related to construction technology.[9] To enable the scientific qualification and quantification of research documentation, Hisanori Ishizuka has called for research on:[10]

1. Palaeoecology
2. Soil mechanics
3. Structural engineering
4. Materials
5. Fukiishi construction
6. Structural masonry

The material for fukiishi was often made up of pebbles and stones from dry riverbeds. In the case of pebbles, a variety of stones was used. For example, the late-4th-century Matsuokayama kofun in Kashiwara in Osaka Prefecture was made with andesite flagstones in vertical or sloped piles.[11] Other sites used chert, sandstone, slate, basalt, or other types of stone.

Embankments were often made with soil transported from other areas. Pollen analysis of the fifth- and sixth-century kofuns of the Kuboizumi-Maruyama Historic Sites in Saga has shown clear disparities in the vegetation in the soil of the mound faces and that of the surrounding environment. This example suggests that the borrow pits for the construction of the mounds were in remote locations.[12]

The early 5th-century Nagare-san kofun, of the Umami kofungun group in Kawai in Nara Prefecture
Half of the restored mound is covered with fukiishi.

The purpose of fukiishi is seen, as in Kenji Takahashi's account of 1922, to protect the burial mound while projecting its majesty.[13] As they were used primarily on slopes and rarely on flat surfaces it is also thought they may have served to prevent runoff, and may have contributed to waterproofing and drainage. They may also have been used to imply the mound was sacred, holy ground and clearly differentiate it from adjacent areas.[3] Archaeologist Kazuo Hirose notes the use of fukiishi may be related to a desire to make royalty visible and exhibit the people's connection with royalty, a feature he sees as characteristic of Japanese burial mounds in comparison with those of other Asian countries, and in particular in the case of keyhole-shaped kofun.[14]

Restored kofun at Kumano shrine in Fuchū in Tokyo

The scale of kofun construction peaked in the middle of the Kofun period in the mid-5th century, reflecting the power and influence of the political structure and the social status of the entombed via the form and scale of the tumuli. Towards the close of the 5th century, the construction of large keyhole-shaped kofun and groups of layered kofun waned.

At the beginning of the 6th century, the scale of most keyhole-shaped kofun west from the Kantō region became smaller, the smaller Baichō ("satellite") tumuli began to disappear, and fukiishi began to be used infrequently. Three-tiered kofun saw a strong decrease in favour of two-tiered ones. Outside of the Kantō region, haniwa stopped being used.[15] From the end of the 6th century to the beginning of the 7th, the tumuli of the monarchs changed from square hōfun tumuli to octagonal hakkaku-fun tumuli.[16] Amongst these, jōenkahōfun dome-shaped grave mounds made with fukiishi, such as Musashi Fuchū Kumano Jinja Kofun in Fuchū in Tokyo, are noteworthy. Nevertheless, during this era kofun were quickly ceding the role of central ritual building to Buddhist temples, and the adoption of rammed earth construction techniques stands out.

With regards to kofun of the final period, gaigo resseki[lower-alpha 4] stones lined up to trace the line of the mound are recognized, and what could be called fukiishi are almost never seen.[17] Gaigo resseki were not piled on the mounds as fukiishi were, nor were the construction techniques of fukiishi applied to them. Aoki has pointed out that this was modeled on the decoration techniques of the foundations of Buddhist temples.[18]

• Burial mounds with fukiishi
• 
  Goshikizuka in the evening
• 
  Restored Kamezuka Kofun in Ōita
• 
  Kamezuka from the south
• 
  Restored Ōdome Arako Kofun in Kasugai, Aichi
• 
  Shionjiyama Kofun in Osaka
• 
  Shionjiyama Kofun

• Media related to Fukiishi at Wikimedia Commons
• Goshikizuka and Ōtoshiyama Kofun website (in Japanese)
• Kofun Moody's (in Japanese)