Mozu-Furuichi Kofun Group: Mounded Tombs of Ancient Japan

<p><span>Located on a plateau above the Osaka Plain, this property includes 49 <em>kofun</em> (“old mounds” in Japanese). These tombs were for members of the elite. These <em>kofun </em>have been selected from among a total of 160,000 in Japan and form the richest material representation of the Kofun period, from the 3rd to the 6th century CE. They demonstrate the differences in social classes of that period and show evidence of a highly sophisticated funerary system. Burial mounds of significant variations in size, <em>kofun</em> take the geometrically elaborate design forms of keyhole, scall