Imperial Household Agency: Osaka-no-Uchi-no-Misasagi (Mausoleum of Emperor Jomei)
Location
Sakurai, Nara
Shape
Octagonal mound
Width across octagonal tier
42 m
Period
Early 7th c.
Designation
IHA-managed tomb
IHA designation
Managed by the IHA (mound closed to the public)
Overview
Emperor Jomei's mausoleum at Ossaka, Sakurai. The IHA classifies it as upper-round/lower-square, while some archaeological interpretations regard the upper mound as octagonal.
Finds & research
Details of the burial facilities and grave goods are unknown.
Official status & archaeological view
Official status
Managed by the IHA as the Osaka-no-Uchi Mausoleum of Emperor Jomei, the 34th emperor; the official form is upper-round/lower-square.
Attribution (jitei): the Imperial Household Agency's determination of whose tomb it manages — separate from heritage designation.
Archaeological view
Occupant archaeologically unconfirmed. An octagonal mound set on a trapezoidal square platform (jo-hakkaku-kaho): the octagonal upper part measures ~42m across the flats. It is estimated to date to the early 7th century (around Emperor Jomei's reburial in 643) and regarded as the first imperial mausoleum to adopt the octagonal form, although one view suggests the octagonal upper part may have been remodelled at a secondary burial in 664. A dry moat surrounds it. Emperor Jomei was the father of Prince Naka no Oe (later Emperor Tenji), Princess Hashihito, and Prince Oama (later Emperor Tenmu), giving him an important place in ancient Japanese history. The form illustrates the transition of imperial burial practice from the keyhole shape to square and then octagonal forms. Reportedly no haniwa were used. According to a survey by the Archives and Mausolea Department of the Imperial Household Agency, the lower tier of the octagonal part appears to be faced with stacked slabs of Haibara stone, and the slopes of the square platform also appear to be covered with facing stones.
Field notes
Per the IHA, it is about a 24-minute walk from Kintetsu Yamato-Asakura Station, and worship is generally possible year-round from 8:30 to 17:00. The goryoin (mausoleum seal) is kept at the Unebi Mausolea Office in Kashihara, Nara, where visitors can use it free of charge (reception 8:30–17:00; staff may be unavailable on weekends, holidays, 29 Dec–3 Jan and some other days).