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''Kofun'' are tomb mounds, erected mainly from the late 3rd century to the early 7th century. Outside of this historical period, the term ''funkyûbo'' 墳丘墓 is used instead.
''Kofun'' are tomb mounds, erected mainly from the late 3rd century to the early 7th century. Outside of this historical period, the term ''funkyûbo'' 墳丘墓 is used instead.
This mode of burials for local or regional elites, along with the technology or techniques for doing so (e.g. earthmoving, quarrying and carving of stone, construction of stone burial chambers, etc.) is believed to have come from cultural interactions with communities on the Korean Peninsula, where similar burial modes were practiced. Though they resemble natural hills, and were initially built atop natural hills for more impressive size, ''kofun'' are manmade mounds, built up over burial chambers. From the fifth century on, they began to be built up from flat areas of land, though some of the latest ''kofun'', from the sixth century, were built on mountainsides. ''Kofun'' can be found in a wide variety of sizes and shapes, though the most famous and distinctive ones are keyhole-shaped, with a circular section connected to a fan-shaped section, and are quite impressive in size. The largest and most famous ''kofun'' are mainly concentrated in the [[Kinai]] region (in and around [[Nara]], [[Osaka]], and [[Kyoto]]), but roughly 150,000 tomb-mounds have been identified throughout much of [[Honshu|Honshû]], [[Shikoku]], and [[Kyushu]].
Large ''kofun'' were typically located at some distance from the settlement, and were topped or ringed with clay figurines known as ''[[haniwa]]''. The tombs themselves generally contained one or more burial chambers, with stone coffins and a variety of burial goods, including swords, helmets, armor, saddles, mirrors, and a variety of tools and ornamental or luxury objects.
==Types of Kofun==
==Types of Kofun==
==References==
==References==
*Conrad Schirokauer, David Lurie, and Suzanne Gay, ''A Brief History of Japanese Civilization'', Wadsworth Cengage (2013), 11-13.
*Piggott, Joan. ''The Emergence of Japanese Kingship''. Stanford University Press, 1997.
*Piggott, Joan. ''The Emergence of Japanese Kingship''. Stanford University Press, 1997.
