Imperial Household Agency: Takabatake Tomb of Prince Nakano
Also known as: Katahira-Otsuka Kofun
Location
Ukyo-ku, Kyoto
Shape
Keyhole-shaped mound
Mound length
65 m
Period
End of 5th c.
Designation
IHA-managed tomb
IHA designation
Managed by the IHA (mound closed to the public)
Overview
A fully preserved keyhole mound amid the houses of Uzumasa, in the same district as Hebizuka and Amazuka.
Finds & research
Burial facility and grave goods are unknown in the public record; an IHA observation of fence works found no remains or artifacts.
Official status & archaeological view
Official status
Managed by the IHA as the Takabatake Tomb of Prince Nakano (d. 867), son of Emperor Kanmu.
Attribution (jitei): the Imperial Household Agency's determination of whose tomb it manages — separate from heritage designation.
Archaeological view
A keyhole mound about 65m long (per the table in Iseki-gaku Kenkyu no. 18 and the Kyoto City chronology chart; a 2004 leaflet of the Kyoto City Archaeological Research Institute gives 75m). Kyoto City's 2021 report places it at the end of the 5th century (the same 2004 leaflet suggests the mid-6th century) and at the start of the local sequence of large keyhole chiefly tombs in the Uzumasa–Sagano area. Kyoto City dates the kofun to the end of the 5th century, about four centuries before Prince Nakano's death in 867, so the designated occupant and archaeological date do not coincide.