I visited this kofun or ancient burial site in November 2000. The site area is huge which tends to under emphasise its height. Known in the West as the Nintoku Keyhole Pyramid called after the Emperor Nintoku (313 to 399 CE and the 16th Emperor) whom oral history attributes the mausoleum to. However, as the site is in the control of the the Royal Household it has never been excavated and its exact origins are therefore uncertain. Access is not permitted other than from a viewing place by the fence line which overlooks the tree covered mound but the central key hole shaped lake in the middle of the mound is not visible from there. There are several other kofun in a nearby park - round and keyhole shaped mounds. Similar smaller kofun have been excavated in other parts of Japan and the grave goods show strong links to Korean culture of the time. A flood during the Meiji era exposed some artifacts from the Nintoku pyramid and these were similar to artifacts from the Korean Peninsula. This has raised questions about the pyramid occupant's ethnicity and could rewrite Japanese Imperial Household history if excavations occurred which seems unlikely. I took the train from Osaka to the suburb of Mozu for the short walk to see these Japanese pyramids.
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