Imperial Household Agency: Narasaka-no-E-no-Misasagi (Mausoleum of Empress Iwanohime)
Location
Nara
Shape
Keyhole-shaped mound
Mound length
219 m
Period
Mid–late 5th c.
Designation
IHA-managed tomb
IHA designation
Managed by the IHA (mound closed to the public)
Overview
A large keyhole mound in the eastern Saki group.
Finds & research
Investigations of external features identified rows of cylindrical haniwa on the inner embankment and morning-glory haniwa, among others. The central burial facility and grave goods are unknown.
Official status & archaeological view
Official status
The Imperial Household Agency designates and manages it as Narasaka-no-E Mausoleum of Iwanohime, empress of Emperor Nintoku.
Attribution (jitei): the Imperial Household Agency's determination of whose tomb it manages — separate from heritage designation.
Archaeological view
An approximately 219m keyhole mound at Sakicho, Nara. Nara City places its construction after Konabe (early 5th century) and Uwanabe (mid-5th century), suggesting a mid-to-late 5th-century date. A 2024 report by the Nara National Research Institute for Cultural Properties places it, on the basis of its haniwa, in the late Middle Kofun period (the later stage of phase IV), the latest of the royal-tomb-class mounds in the eastern Saki group. Its moat and inner and outer embankments have been identified. The central burial facility is unexcavated. The occupant has not been archaeologically verified.
Field notes
The mound is closed as an Imperial mausoleum. View it from surrounding public roads and authorized worship areas.