The IHA-designated site at Aburasaka, Nara. Its current official form is a round hill.
Finds & research
The Nara National Research Institute for Cultural Properties' national cultural-property database (data from Nara City) lists cylindrical haniwa; burial facilities and grave goods are not publicly detailed.
Official status & archaeological view
Official status
Managed by the IHA as the mausoleum of Emperor Kaika, the 9th emperor; the official form is a round tumulus (enkyu).
Attribution (jitei): the Imperial Household Agency's determination of whose tomb it manages — separate from heritage designation.
Archaeological view
The IHA visitor page calls the official form a round hill, while its research division's survey report describes the mausoleum as a keyhole mound about 100 m long. The two IHA sources differ on form. A 2022 article in a bulletin of the Historiographical Institute, University of Tokyo, states that the Genroku-era designation covered only the round mound on the hilltop and that the present keyhole-like shape was created when the whole hill was remodelled during the Bunkyu-era mausoleum restoration of the 1860s.
Field notes
Per the IHA, it is about an 8-minute walk from JR Nara Station or Kintetsu-Nara 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).