One of the largest mound groups in Shiga, strung along the hill ridge on the east shore of Shiotsu Bay and spanning Takatsuki-cho and Kohoku-cho in Nagahama. The Agency for Cultural Affairs considers the people buried here to have been groups involved in water transport on Lake Biwa.
Finds & research
From Komatsu Kofun: TLV and linked-arc mirrors, bronze arrowheads, iron goods and other items.
Official status & archaeological view
Official status
National Historic Site (2003).
Archaeological view
A group of 132 mounds extending about 3km north–south along the ridge east of Shiotsu Bay. The Agency for Cultural Affairs counts eight keyhole, eight square-fronted, square-backed, 79 round, and 37 square mounds, built from the beginning of the Kofun period through its 7th-century end. Nishinoyama is the largest, a keyhole mound about 90m long. Among the oldest is Komatsu, a square-fronted, square-backed mound about 60m long that yielded TLV and linked-arc mirrors, bronze arrowheads, iron objects, and pottery used in rituals.
Field notes
Nagahama City’s site brochure describes public transport from JR Takatsuki Station toward Nishino and a walking approach. The pin marks the approximate center of the group; Nishinoyama Kofun↗ within the group has its own pin.