Imperial Household Agency: Mausoleum of Empress Hibasu-hime
Location
Nara
Shape
Keyhole-shaped mound
Mound length
207 m
Period
Late 4th c.
Designation
IHA-managed tomb
IHA designation
Managed by the IHA (mound closed to the public)
Overview
An important Saki-group example whose burial facility and grave goods can be studied from restoration records and replicas made after looting, despite normal restrictions on Imperial mausoleums.
Finds & research
In 1916, the looted objects were recovered, recorded in photographs and rubbings, and replicated in plaster before the originals were reburied in the chamber. Records preserve mirrors, stone objects and other items, and a shield-shaped haniwa was accidentally found in 1971.
Official status & archaeological view
Official status
The Imperial Household Agency designates and manages it as Saki-no-Terama Mausoleum of Hibasu-hime, empress of Emperor Suinin. It was reassigned to the present attribution in the early Meiji period.
Attribution (jitei): the Imperial Household Agency's determination of whose tomb it manages — separate from heritage designation.
Archaeological view
A keyhole mound at Misasagicho, Nara, 207m long according to the Museum of the Archaeological Institute of Kashihara and the Nara Palace Site Historical Park guide, or 203m according to Nara City, dating to the end of the Early Kofun period. After the tomb was looted in 1916 (1915 according to Nara City), the Imperial Household Ministry restored it; records of that work document a square platform on the rear summit, rows of cylindrical haniwa, and a pit-style stone chamber measuring 8.55m by 1.09m internally, among other features. The attribution does not rest on archaeological identification of the occupant.
Field notes
The mound is closed as an Imperial mausoleum. View it from public roads and authorized worship areas around the exterior.