Sengenyama Kofun

Sengenyama Kofun (浅間山古墳) is a Kofun period keyhole-shaped burial mound located in what is now the city of Takasaki, Gunma Prefecture in the northern Kantō region of Japan. It was designated a National Historic Site of Japan in 1927.[1]vIt is the second largest kofun in Gunma Prefecture after the Ōta Tenjinyama Kofun (Ōta), and third in the Kantō region after the Ota Tenjinyama Kofun and the Funatsukayama Kofun (Ishioka, Ibaraki). It is estimated to have been built around the end of the 4th century and the beginning of the 5th century and is part of a group of 13 kofun which were concentrated in the vicinity, forming the Kuragano kofun cluster.

Sengenyama Kofun
浅間山古墳
Sengenyama Kofun
Sengenyama Kofun
Sengenyama Kofun (Japan)
LocationTakasaki, Gunma, Japan
RegionKantō region
Coordinates36°17′56.21″N 139°2′2.26″E
Typekofun
History
Foundedlate 4th to early 5th century
PeriodsKofun period
Site notes
Public accessYes (Park}
image from above

Overview

The Sengenyama tumulus is located on a plain to the southeast of the city center of Takasaki on the left bank of the Karasu River near the confluence of the Kabura River. The tumulus has a total length of 170.5 meters, with a posterior circular portion in three tiers and an anterior rectangular portion two tiers, and is orientated to the southeast. The surface was originally covered in fukiishi and both cylindrical haniwa and figurine haniwa (shaped as people and houses) have been recovered. In design, it closely resembles the Sakimisasagiyama Kofun in Nara, indicating a close connection with the Yamato kingdom. During the Meiji period, local inhabitants dug into the tumulus searching for the burial chamber, but discovered only vermillion painted fragments of stone and clay, and no grave goods. The chamber itself may have been a pit-shaped clay-lined hole.

The tumulus was surrounded by a double moat, with the inner moat having a width of 20 to 30 meters and the outer moat having a width of 56 to 65 meters.

Within the same Kuragano Kofun Cluster are a number of other very large keyhole-shaped tumuli, including the Ōtsurumaki Kofun (123 meters long), which has a separate National Historic Site designation, and the Kotsurumaki Kofun (87.5 meters).

  • Overall length: 171.5 meters
  • Posterior circular portion: 105 meter diameter x 14.1 meters high
  • Anterior rectangular portion: 66.3 meters long x 74.8 meters wide x 5.5 meters high

The tumulus is about 15 minutes on foot from Kuragano Station on the JR East Takasaki Line.

See also

References
  1. "浅間山古墳" (in Japanese). Agency for Cultural Affairs. Retrieved August 20, 2020.

Media related to Sengenyama-kofun (Takasaki) at Wikimedia Commons

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