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Nintoku-tennō, also known as Ohosazaki no Sumeramikoto was the 16th Emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession.Delmer Brown and Ichirō Ishida (1979). 9780520034600, University of California Press. . ISBN 9780520034600 Due to his reputation for goodness derived from depictions in the Kojiki and Nihon Shoki, he is sometimes referred to as the Hijiri-no-mikado.
While his existence is generally accepted as fact, no firm dates can be assigned to Nintoku's life or reign. He is traditionally considered to have reigned from 313 to 399,Ponsonby-Fane, Richard. (1959). The Imperial House of Japan, p. 36. although these dates are doubted by scholars.
Although the Nihon Shoki states that Nintoku ruled from 313 to 399, research suggests those dates are likely inaccurate.Parry, Richard Lloyd. "Japan guards the Emperors' secrets; Ban on digs in ancient imperial tombs frustrates archaeologists", The Independent (London). 12 November 1995. William George Aston notes that if they were factual, Nintoku would be 312 years old in his 78th year of reign assuming that the traditional accounts are correct. Outside of the Kiki, the reign of Emperor Kinmei ( – 571 AD) is the first for which contemporary historiography has been able to assign verifiable dates. The conventionally accepted names and dates of the early Emperors were not confirmed as "traditional" though, until the reign of Emperor Kanmu between 737 and 806 AD.
Hidehiro Okada identifies him with Dei of Wa,岡田, 2008 a king who preceded the better known Five kings of Wa.
Empress ( Kōgō): 磐之媛命, poet and daughter of 葛城襲津彦 (first)
Empress ( Kōgō): 八田皇女, Emperor Ōjin's daughter (second)
Consort ( Hi) : 日向髪長媛, Morokata no Kimi Ushimoroi's daughter
Consort: 宇遅之若郎女, daughter of Emperor Ōjin
Consort: 黒日売, daughter of 吉備海部直
The Nintoku-ryo tumulus is one of almost 50 tumuli collectively known as "Mozu Kofungun" clustered around the city, and covers the largest area of any tomb in the world. Built in the middle of the 5th century by an estimated 2,000 men working daily for almost 16 years, the Nintoku tumulus, at 486 meters long and with a mound 35 meters high, is twice as long as the base of the famous Great Pyramid of Pharaoh Khufu (Cheops) in Giza.
The Imperial tomb of Nintoku's consort, Iwa-no hime no Mikoto, is said to be located in Saki-cho, Nara City. Iwa-no hime no Mikoto's misasagi -- map (upper right) Both kofun-type Imperial tombs are characterized by a keyhole-shaped island located within a wide, water-filled moat. Imperial tombs and mausolea are cultural properties; but they are guarded and administered by the Imperial Household Agency (IHA), which is the government department responsible for all matters relating to the Emperor and his family. According to the IHA, the tombs are more than a mere repository for historical artifacts; they are sacred religious sites. IHA construes each of the Imperial grave sites as sanctuaries for the spirits of the ancestors of the Imperial House.
Nintoku is traditionally venerated at a memorial Shinto shrine ( misasagi) at Osaka. The Imperial Household Agency designates this location as his mausoleum. It is formally named Mozu no Mimihara no naka no misasagi.Ponsonby-Fane, p. 419.
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