A 200m-long keyhole mound (190m in some sources), the seventh largest in the Furuichi area. It was built at the end of a plateau extending east from the Habikino hills, with its front section facing west and rising 23.3m. The mound has three tiers and a projection only on the north side of the waist. Its broad front section is higher than the rear circle and is thought to reproduce the form of Nisanzai Kofun at roughly two-thirds scale. A moat, an embankment about 20m wide and an outer boundary ditch surround it; the outer ditch is preserved underground. The Imperial Household Agency administers it as the Shiratori mausoleum of Yamato Takeru. It became a constituent monument of the Mozu-Furuichi Kofun Group World Heritage Site, inscribed in 2019.
Finds & research
Details of the burial facility and grave goods are unknown. Excavation found a closely spaced row of cylindrical haniwa on the first-tier terrace. Sue ware appears to have been placed on the projection, providing evidence of rituals performed there.
Official status & archaeological view
Official status
Officially designated "Shiratori-no-Misasagi" (White Bird Mausoleum) by the IHA, attributed to the legendary hero Yamato Takeru no Mikoto. Part of its surrounding bank was added to the National Historic Site "Furuichi Kofun Group" in 2021 as the "Hakuchoryo Kofun surrounding bank" (with a further addition in 2022).
Attribution (jitei): the Imperial Household Agency's determination of whose tomb it manages — separate from heritage designation.
Archaeological view
The occupant has not been archaeologically identified. The IHA attribution to Yamato Takeru does not establish the occupant. Haniwa types date its construction to the late 5th century. The 200m length is the figure given by Habikino City, the official World Heritage website and the Agency for Cultural Affairs. Its front section spreads wide and rises higher than the rear circle, and the mound is thought to have been built as a roughly two-thirds scale version of Nisanzai Kofun in the Mozu area. The name "Shiratori" (White Bird) refers to the legend that after Yamato Takeru's death, his spirit transformed into a white bird and flew away.
Field notes
The official World Heritage site gives about a 12-minute walk southwest from Kintetsu Furuichi Station (Minami-Osaka Line). The mound is managed by the IHA and cannot be entered; view it from the surrounding streets.