Decorated kofun

Decorated kofun (装飾古墳, sōshoku kofun) is the term used for kofun or ancient Japanese tombs ornamented with painted or carved decoration. The tombs take the form of tumuli or earthen mounds piled over stone chambers as well as caves excavated from the living rock. The decoration may be on the inner walls, on stone screens, on sarcophagi or, in the case of cave tombs, around the entrance on the exterior. Of the 161,560 ancient burials identified to date, around two hundred and fifty are so decorated.[1][2][3][4][note 1]

Motifs

Decorative motifs include the chokkomon (an X-shape forming triangular zones that intersect irregular curves), circles, concentric circles, triangles, human figures, horses, birds, boats, swords, shields, and quivers.[5][note 2]

List of decorated kofun

This list is of the decorated kofun of ancient Japan, all of which are located in Fukuoka prefecture.[6][7][8]

Image	Kofun	Municipality	Date	Tomb style	Decoration	Designation	Coordinates	Database
	Urayama Kofun浦山古墳Urayama kofun	Kurume	450-500	keyhole	incised (and red) concentric circles, chokkomon, kagitemon, triangles in a continuous pattern	Historic Site	33°17′06″N 130°32′09″E
	Nichirinji Kofun日輪寺古墳Nichirinji kofun	Kurume	475-525	keyhole	relief and incised (and red) concentric circles, chokkomon, kagitemon	Historic Site	33°19′14″N 130°29′54″E
	Yamanoshita Kofun山ノ下古墳Yamanoshita kofun	Kurume		round	red; indistinct			[8]
	Shimobaba Kofun下馬場古墳Shimobaba kofun	Kurume	575-600	round	red and blue concentric circles, triangles, and shields	Historic Site	33°18′50″N 130°37′22″E
	Tōkō-ji Kenzuka Kofun東光寺剣塚古墳Tōkō-ji Kenzuka kofun	Fukuoka	525-575	keyhole	incised boats		33°34′26″N 130°25′58″E
	Sakurakyō Kofun 2桜京古墳 (２号古墳)Sakurakyō nigō kofun	Munakata	550-600	keyhole	red and green triangles, in a continuous pattern	Historic Site	33°50′38″N 130°29′43″E
	Haburakan Cave Tomb Cluster埴生羅漢山横穴墓群Haburakan yokoana bogun	Nakama	575-650	cave	incised boats		33°48′57″N 130°41′55″E
	Seto Cave 14瀬戸14号横穴Seto jūyongō yokoana	Nakama		cave; replica at the Nakama City Museum of History and Folklore (中間市歴史民俗資料館)	red boats, human figures, horses, and birds		33°49′04″N 130°41′59″E
	Doinouchi Cave土居の内横穴Doinouchi yokoana	Nakama		cave	incised boats		33°49′08″N 130°42′01″E
	Furutsuki Cave Tomb Cluster (Cave 9)古月横穴墓群 (９号横穴)Furutsuki yokoana bogun	Kurate	550-650	cave	whitened and incised indistinct grid pattern	Historic Site	33°48′14″N 130°40′09″E
	Takehara Kofun竹原古墳Takehara kofun	Miyawaka	550-600	round	black and red human figure, horse, dragon, fans, boat, waves	Historic Site	33°43′59″N 130°36′38″E
	Ōzuka Kofun王塚古墳Ōzuka kofun	Keisen	525-575	keyhole	red, green, yellow and black circles, concentric circles, triangles, birds, circular patterns with twin feet, vegetal motifs, quivers, bows, swords, shields, riders	Special Historic Site	33°35′19″N 130°39′49″E
	Togami Kannonzuka Kofun砥上観音塚古墳Togami Kannonzuka kofun	Chikuzen	575-600	round	red circles, boats, riders		33°28′52″N 130°36′23″E
	Kitsunezuka Kofun狐塚古墳Kitsunezuka kofun	Asakura	600-625	round	incised circles, concentric circles, boats, horses		33°23′17″N 130°42′46″E
	Miyajidake Kofun宮地嶽古墳Miyajidake kofun	Asakura		round	red and blue circles		33°23′55″N 130°43′42″E
	Gorōyama Kofun五郎山古墳Gorōyama kofun	Chikushino	550-600	round	red, black, and green quivers, bows, boats, houses, horses, birds, human figures, riders	Historic Site	33°27′07″N 130°32′43″E

See also

• Kofun period
• Takamatsuzuka kofun
• Kumamoto Prefectural Ancient Burial Mound Museum

Notes

1. "Japanese terms: tumuli (墳丘墓, funkyū-bo); cave tombs (横穴墓, yokoana-bo); wall painting (彩色壁画, saishiki hekiga); incised lines (線刻, senkoku); relief carving (浮彫, ukibori); sarcophagus (石棺, sekkan)
2. Japanese terms: chokkomon (直弧文, chokkomon); circles (円文, enmon); concentric circles (同心円文, dōshin-enmon); triangles (三角文, sankaku-mon); boats (船, fune); rings with feet (双脚輪状文, sōkyakurinjō-mon)

References

1. Kobayashi Yukio (1964). 装飾古墳 [Decorated Kofun] (in Japanese and English). Heibonsha. pp. 124–8.
2. Kidder, J. Edward (1964). Early Japanese Art: the Great Tombs and Treasures. Thames and Hudson. pp. 110–170, 272–324.
3. 兵庫県の遺跡・遺物数の全国的な位置 [Numeric Comparison of Historic Sites in Hyōgo Prefecture with National Totals] (PDF) (in Japanese). Hyōgo Prefecture. Retrieved 10 August 2013.
4. 装飾古墳データベース [Decorated Tomb Database] (in Japanese). Kyushu National Museum. Archived from the original on 16 August 2013. Retrieved 10 August 2013.
5. 文様 [Decorated Tomb Database: Motifs] (in Japanese). Kyushu National Museum. Archived from the original on 7 December 2009. Retrieved 10 August 2013.
6. Otomasu Shigetaka (1974). 装飾古墳の文様 [Decorated Kofun and their Motifs] (in Japanese). Kodansha. pp. 152–160.
7. 古墳一覧 [List of Kofun] (in Japanese). Kyushu National Museum. Archived from the original on 4 December 2013. Retrieved 12 August 2013.
8. National Museum of Japanese History, ed. (1993). 装飾古墳の世界 [Special Exhibition: Decorated Tombs in Japan] (in Japanese). Asahi Shimbun.

External links

• (in Japanese) Decorated Tomb Database