A keyhole mound 96m long with a front section 10m high. It was built on an alluvial fan below a ridge extending east from the Habikino hills, with its front section facing west. The mound has two tiers and a projection on the north side of the waist. It originally had two moats; the outer moat is preserved underground. Its grave goods and haniwa date its construction to around the end of the 5th century. A National Historic Site, it is a constituent monument of the Mozu-Furuichi Kofun Group World Heritage Site, inscribed in 2019.
Finds & research
A 1991 excavation found a pit-style stone chamber measuring 4.3 by 2.2m and 1.9m high in the rear circle, containing a boat-shaped coffin made from stone brought from Kyushu. More than 3,500 objects were recovered (Habikino City's site profile; the Fujiidera and Habikino preservation plan gives more than 3,700 grave goods), including bronze mirrors, long swords, a cuirass, iron arrowheads, beads, horse gear, quiver fittings and gold and silver ornaments with strong continental influences. Decorated swords up to 1.2m long were among them. Excavation in fiscal 2022 found an Iwami-style wooden object surviving to about 352cm; Habikino City identifies it as Japan's largest wooden haniwa.
Official status & archaeological view
Official status
Administered by Habikino City as a national historic site. It was designated a National Historic Site in 1974 and incorporated into the "Furuichi Kofun Group" designation in 2001.
Archaeological view
The boat-shaped coffin was made of Kyushu (Aso) stone. The beads were found in great quantities, and the gold and silver ornaments are strongly marked by influence from the Korean Peninsula. Some of the swords reach 1.2m and carry elaborate gold and silver decoration, and are taken to be ceremonial rather than practical. The Agency for Cultural Affairs regards these ceremonial swords as expressions of the occupant's authority. Dated to the late Middle Kofun period — around the end of the 5th century — relatively late in the Furuichi sequence. The occupant is unknown. The 1991 excavation, a survey of the rear circle, was conducted by Habikino City.
Field notes
The official World Heritage site gives about a 15-minute walk west from Kintetsu Furuichi Station (Minami-Osaka Line).