A tomb belongs to Emperor Nintoku in Mozu (Image via: The Japan Times)

Osaka Tombs for UNESCO World Heritage

UNESCO planned to take burial mounds in Osaka prefecture to be one of Japanese World Heritage sites. According to the Japan’s Cultural Heritage Agency, the UNESCO advisory panel reached them and suggested that these burial mounds be the next World Heritage sites on UNESCO list. 

Osaka was known as a political area in the Kofun period, and therefore International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) – an organization based in Paris, France - admired these tombs for their sophisticated cultural practices of burial and as an early display of social structure of Osaka prefecture in the ancient period.

The burial mounds spread from Mozu (Sakai city) to Furuichi (from Habikino to Fujidera), four tombs area in Mozu & three in Furuichi. These burial mounds belong to Kofun period that can be traced back until the middle of 1st century (500 AD), or Yamato Period (710 AD).

There are 49 various Kofun tombs with various shapes. The most unique one and the most spacious tomb is Emperor Nintoku’s burial mound, also called as Daisen Kofun. It spans approximately 486 meters in length. Aerial view of the mound shows the tomb has the shape of keyhole.

The second largest burial mound in the sites belongs to Emperor Ojin’s tomb – also known as Kondagobyoyama Kofun - in Furuichi area. It has the length of 425 meters.

Expected on 30 June’s World Heritage Summit in Azerbaijan, these burial mounds in Osaka will have the consent from UNESCO in the pocket.

Source: http://the-japan-news.com/news/article/0005738510