A group spread across the hills of Mano, Otsu. Many mounds lie within Kasugayama Prefectural Park, where visitors can explore the long history of the group, including its nationally designated E section.
Finds & research
Late mounds in group E include horizontal stone chambers. The Agency for Cultural Affairs and Shiga Prefecture guides do not specify grave goods for the group as a whole.
Official status & archaeological view
Official status
National Historic Site (1974; the E group).
Archaeological view
One of western Shiga’s largest mound groups, with about 220 mounds. The Agency for Cultural Affairs divides it into six groups and designates 23 mounds of group E as a National Historic Site. Its account says the group began in the 5th century, was built most intensively in the later 6th century and ended in the early 7th; group E began with a 65m keyhole mound of the 5th century, split into two sub-groups after two large round mounds were built, and saw mounds with horizontal stone chambers built in the later 6th century. A Shiga Prefecture park guide instead dates two leading keyhole mounds to the late 4th century and the others from the mid-6th to early 7th century. A connection to lineages related to the Wani clan is proposed.
Field notes
The mound group extends through Kasugayama Park (Mano-Taniguchi, Otsu), with paths through its kofun zone. The pin marks an approximate location within the park. The nationally designated group E lies southeast of the pin and includes the keyhole mound Kasugayama E-1.