Satellite tomb "Ko" of Daisen Kofun: a round mound 56m across and 9.3m high, built into its middle embankment where that bank widens into a stage-like platform toward the outer moat. Raising a mound on a bank between two moats is highly unusual: in the whole Mozu-Furuichi complex only this mound and Daianjiyama Kofun do so, which is why both are seen as bound especially closely to Daisen. The mound appears to have been built in two tiers. It is a constituent monument of the Mozu-Furuichi Kofun Group World Heritage Site, inscribed in 2019. General entry is not permitted because the mound is managed by the Imperial Household Agency.
Finds & research
Details of the burial facility and grave goods are unknown.
Official status & archaeological view
Official status
Managed by the IHA as "Satellite Tomb Ko (No. 1 in the ko-otsu sequence)" of the Nintoku Mausoleum. The IHA uses both the iroha syllabary and the ko-otsu-hei order to catalog satellite tombs; "Ko" designates the first in this second catalog. Daisen Kofun has numerous satellite tombs.
Attribution (jitei): the Imperial Household Agency's determination of whose tomb it manages — separate from heritage designation.
Archaeological view
Dated to the middle of the Middle Kofun period (first half of the 5th century). The human and horse figures among the haniwa recovered from Daisen's outer moat are said to have come from just north of this mound, and may originally have stood on it. The only other mound on the middle embankment is Daianjiyama (62m), catalogued as "Otsu".
Field notes
The official World Heritage site gives about a 6-minute walk northwest from Mikunigaoka Station (JR Hanwa Line / Nankai Koya Line). The mound is managed by the IHA and cannot be entered; view it from the surrounding streets.