Ushizuka Kofun
牛塚古墳 · Ushizuka-Toyagi Kofun · Mibu Ushizuka · Ushizuka Scallop Tumulus
Early–Middle Kofun c.450 CE (Asuka preceding)·Kofun (Kinai–Kanto diffusion)·🇯🇵 Tochigi Prefecture, Shimotsuga District, Mibu Town, on Mibu Plateau, Japan
About
About Ushizuka Kofun
Task ‘Ushivika’ resolves to Kanto's Ushizuka (Ushitsuka) scallop-shaped hotategai-kofun at Mibu — scheduled National Historic Site 1926, early Kofun (c.450 CE) keyhole→scallop transition mound. N. Nakajima–Tochigi Education 1973–79 trenches: fen-shaped 67 m long (posterior 41 m diam, 6 m high; anterior curtailed), surrounding double moat (inner 9 m, outer 4 m), clay-covered stone chamber with box cist, vermilion-coated Sue ware, iron sword, and haniwa cylinders. Ushizuka demonstrates Kanto woodland–Kanto plain Kofun diffusion from Kinai (Makimuku) adapted to plateau marsh soils and is the only Tochigi scallop kofun retaining double moating.
Why it mattersOnly Kanto double-moat hotategai scallop kofun — transitional keyhole→scallop form proving Kinai-to-Kanto diffusion adapting to Kanto marsh.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Why scallop truncated anterior — ritual or Kinai hierarchy?
- 02Vermilion source — Chinese or Japanese?
Theories
- 01Ushizuka as Kanto frontier adoption of Makimuku-derived Yamabe? keyhole principle
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- c.450 CE mid-Kofun transition (hotategai scallop)
- Period
- Early–Middle Kofun c.450 CE (Asuka preceding)
- Culture
- Kofun (Kinai–Kanto diffusion)
- Builders
- Kanto chiefdom under Kinai Yamakura? influence
- Purpose
- Mibu chieftain princely barrow with marsh-plateau double moat prestige adaptation
- Rediscovered
- 1926 National Historic Site designation; 1973–79 Tochigi Education trench
- Excavation
- Partially excavated
c.450 CE
Scallop tumulus founded — posterior mound 41 m, truncated anterior, box-cist chamber, vermilion
c.500 CE
Double moat and haniwa perimeter complete; Satrug? closure
1926
Designated National Historic Site
1973–79
Tochigi Ed excavations define hotategai double-moat typology
On the ground
Structures & features
36.4800° N · 139.6700° E · 110 m · 2 mapped features
Ushizuka Posterior Mound and Box Cist
moundPosterior 41 m mound 6 m high with stone box cist (vermilion, Sue ware, iron sword) at core
36.4803° N · 139.6703° EUshizuka Double Moat and Outer Bank
moatInner moat 9 m and outer 4 m moat circuits with mid-bank haniwa cylinder row
36.4797° N · 139.6697° E
Gallery