A commanding great round mound restored above the Yura River in Ayabe — its projection and haniwa rows recreated so visitors can experience its 5th-century form, among the finest kofun parks in northern Kansai (Kinki).
Finds & research
Three burials; banded armor and a helmet, iron swords, iron arrowheads, a mirror, beads, a quiver thought to have held 38 arrows.
Official status & archaeological view
Official status
National Historic Site (1994).
Archaeological view
Kyoto Prefecture's largest round mound: ~70m across and 10m high in three tiers (~80m with its projection), built in the mid-5th century. Its three summit burials yielded banded armor and a helmet, iron swords, iron arrowheads, a mirror, beads, and a quiver thought to have held 38 arrows. Ayabe City presents it as conveying the great power of a "king of the Yura River" some 1,600 years ago.
Field notes
Open as Kisaichi-Maruyama Kofun Park (since 1993), about 5 min on foot from the Yudono (Kisaichi-Maruyama Kofun Park) stop of the Aya Bus Nishisaka Line from JR Ayabe Station; the summit is climbable.