Kamegamori-Chinjumori Kofun


The Kamegamori-Chinjumori Kofun are a pair of early Kofun period megalithic tumuli located in what is now part of the town of Aizubange, Fukushima in the southern Tōhoku region of Japan. The site was designated a National Historic Site of Japan in 1976.

Overview

The Kamegamori kofun is located in the northern part of Aizu on the west side of Aozu hamlet south of the Aga River, in a rural area surrounded by rice fields. The tumulus is a zenpō-kōen-fun, which is shaped like a keyhole, having one square end and one circular end, when viewed from above. It has a total length of 129.4 meters, with a rectangular portion length of 55.0 meters, and a rear circle diameter of 74.4 meters. It was built in three tiers with a horseshoe-shaped moat and dates from the latter portion of the Kofun period. It is the second largest keyhole-shaped kofun in the Tōhoku region after the Raijinyama Kofun in Miyagi Prefecture. The tumulus has not been fully excavated, but in a trial survey in 1992, fragments of cylindrical haniwa and fukiishi were uncovered. The mounds are covered in a dense growth of cryptomeria and on top of the circular portion of the tumulus is a Shinto shrine and a Buddhist chapel.
The Chinjumori kofun in orientated in the same southerly direction, approximately 100 meets to the south of the Kamegamori kofun. The tumulus is a zenpō-kōhō-fun with the form of "two conjoined rectangles", and has a length of 55.2 meters, with a 26.2 meter rectangular portion, five meters hight, and a 18 meter rear portion, about 2.5 meters high. A portion of a surrounding moat has been found. It was partly excavated form 1990-1991, and is believed to date from slightly earlier than the Kamegamori kofun. It also has a small Shinto shrine on its summit.
The site is approximately 20 minutes by car from Aizu-Bange Station on the JR East Tadami Line. At present, there are no public facilities at the site.