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The is a megalithic tomb ( kofun) located in Sakurai, Nara Prefecture, Japan. The Hashihaka kofun is considered to be the first large keyhole-shaped kofun constructed in Japan and is associated with the emergence of the Yamato Kingship.
The Imperial Household Agency designates the Hashihaka kofun as the tomb of Princess Yamato Totohi Momoso, the daughter of the legendary Emperor Kōrei. Researchers in 2013 conducted the first-ever on-site survey of the Hashihaka kofun after being granted access by the Imperial Household Agency. The actual burial site is unknown, but the Imperial Household Agency has designated it as the tomb of Oichi no Haka, the seventh Kōrei princess, Princess Yamato Totohi Momoso. Also, since the research of Shinya Kasai, there is a theory that it may be the tomb of Himiko, the queen of Yamatai (Yamataikoku). The moat around the site has been designated as a historic site by the government, Part of the pond has been selected as one of the 100 best reservoirs as "Chopenaka Great Pond.
The name Hashihaka translates as "chopstick grave" and refers to a mythical love affair between Princess Yamato Totohi Momoso and the kami of sacred Mount Miwa, which ended with the princess stabbing herself to death with a chopstick.川口謙二編著『日本神祇由来事典』（柏書房、1993年）
The date of construction was determined by Archaeology dating of earthenware (Haji pottery) excavated from the surrounding dugouts and by radiocarbon dating According to , there is a theory that places the date in the middle to late 3rd century, close to the year of death of Himiko (not far from 248) in the Yamataikoku. On the other hand, some date it to the mid-4th century or later, because recent carbon-14 dating methods have shown that the date is estimated to be 50–100 years older than the actual date, and because the size and style of the tomb is different from that described in the Wajinden ( Wei Jiwa-jin Den, Treatise on the Wa People).
Currently, the Imperial Household Agency manages the tomb as a mausoleum, and researchers and the public are not allowed to enter the tumulus freely. Wajaku-no-Tsukihime-no-Mikoto is the sister of Emperor Kōgen, the grandfather of Emperor Sujin in Nihon Shoki ( The Chronicles of Japan). Oichi is the name of the place where the tomb is located. In the Kojiki ( Records of Ancient Matters or An Account of Ancient Matters), she is named Yamato Tomomosobime.
In the world of archaeology, the theory that "Queen Himiko = Wajaku-no-Hyakusohime-no-mikoto" was proposed by Shinya Kasai, who had advocated the theory of the Yamatai Internal Theory since the Taishō period, and later developed into the theory that "the tomb of Chopstick Tomb = Himiko's tomb", which was pioneering research leading to the discussions of today.
The Nihon Shoki also describes the construction as follows.
There is also a theory by Hiroshi Tsuchihashi that the tombs of the Haji clan, a group that created ancient burial mounds, became Hashihaka Kofuns from the tombs of the Haji clan, or Haji tombs, because of the large gap between the introduction of chopsticks to Japan (7th century) and myths about them.
The current size of the mound is approximately long, with the rear portion measuring approximately in diameter and high, and the front portion measuring approximately wide and high. The volume is approximately . Based on the results of a survey of the surrounding area, it is possible that it was originally larger.
Some researchers (e.g., Yoshiro Kondo) have pointed out that the posterior portion was built in four stages, with a small hill (about in diameter and high) placed on top of the four-stage construction, which is thought to have contained a special vessel platform. The front part is said to have four steps in front, although the side steps are not clear. Incidentally, five-tiered construction (four-tiered construction with a small circular hill on the rear part) is only found in the Hashihaka Kofun mound, while four-tiered construction (three-tiered construction with a small circular hill on the rear part) is found in the Nishidonotsuka tomb (Yamato tumulus group), Andonyama tumulus (Yanagimoto tumulus group), Shibuyamukiyama tomb (Yanagimoto tumulus group), Sakurai Chausuyama tomb (Torimiyama tumulus group), Mesuriyama tumulus (Torimiyama tumulus group), and Tsukiyama. All other tombs in the emperor's mausoleum class are considered to have been built in a three-tiered construction (both the rear circle and the front part are built in a three-tiered construction). This may indicate the rating of the person buried in the tomb.
The Museum, Archaeological Institute of Kashihara, Nara Prefecture and the Sakurai City Board of Education have conducted archaeological excavation The discovery of a wide shelter at the foot of the mound and a part of an outer bank more than wide on the outer side of the shelter. In the moat area on the southeast side of the rear circle, a causeway with fukiishi (roofing stones) piled up on both sides was found.
Archaeological excavation conducted from 1994 to 1995 confirmed the existence of a large depression, called the "outer moat-like structure," about deep and wide, on the outer side of the outer moat, surrounding the mound, moat, and outer moat. It is estimated that the site is located in the same area. This is presumed to be a depression topography caused by earth removal from the mound from which the soil used to build the mound was collected.
The burial facility is unknown, but a basalt slab was found at the foot of the mound, suggesting that a pit-type stone chamber may have been constructed, and if this burial mound is Himiko's tomb, it contradicts the statement in Wajinden that "there is a sarcophagus, but no burial chamber". The stone is known to be from Shibayama in Kashiwara, Osaka Prefecture. Therefore, it is not the stone from Mount Osaka (Mount Nijō) mentioned in the Emperor Sujin.
However, the earthenware was not found in the tomb itself, and even if the carbonized material on the earthenware found at the bottom of the moat outside the designated mausoleum area is dated to the late third century, it does not represent the date of construction of the tomb, since there are remains from the Jōmon to at the site where this tomb was excavated, and even if it were the late 3rd century, it would be later than Himiko's death date.
During the 109th excavation of the Garui Site conducted by the Sakurai City Board of Education in 2000, a wooden wheel stirrup (harness) was found in the upper layer of the overlying soil (plant layer) inside the moat. The Nunome I earthenware excavated at the same time dates it to the early 4th century, which may have contributed to the influx of equestrian culture into the Japanese archipelago and to the East Asia, the understanding of the spread of equestrian culture in the region is now older and more revised than before. The excavation is not directly related to the chronology of the construction of the tomb itself, since it was excavated from the soil layer deposited after the moat had ceased to function and had begun to be buried.
The oldest stirrups that can be identified are only on one side of the Haniwa excavated from burial mounds in Xianbei state and Eastern Jin in 302 and 322. Thus, the stirrup was invented around 290–300. The Chinese character for stirrup, "金編に登", derives from the fact that early stirrups were made of metal and used only as a foothold for horse riding. Wooden stirrups appeared after iron stirrups. The oldest known wooden stirrup is said to be a wooden-core, iron-plated stirrup from Cheonan Doi-dong in the early Baekje period (early 4th century) on the Korean peninsula. Onoyama Setsu, in his book Early Horse Equipment Discovered in Japan, classifies wooden-core, iron-plated stirrups into two types: old-style and new-style. According to this classification, the stirrup excavated from the moat around the tomb of Hashihaka Kofun cannot be confirmed because the lower part is missing, but judging from the remaining parts, the stirrup is considered to be of the new style.
The first half of the 4th century was shortly after the invention of the stirrup in China, and small iron stirrups can be found in Terracotta Army from this period, but they functioned only as footrests for horse riding. The oldest wooden stirrups excavated on the Korean peninsula, dating from the Baekje period (first half of the 4th century), show dramatic improvements, such as the addition of iron plates to the wooden form, making them suitable for horse riding. Wooden stirrups are not found in mural tombs around Goguryeo, where they are thought to have been developed, until the 5th century or later. It is doubtful that the stirrups were introduced to the Korean peninsula in the first half of the 4th century, and since Baekje did not become a centralisation until the mid-4th century, it is more likely that the wooden stirrups were introduced in the mid-4th century or later. Furthermore, considering the time when these stirrups were introduced to Japan, it is preferable to date the wooden abumi from the Chopedombs burial mound to the late 4th or 5th century at the earliest, and the fact that they are later in date also supports this.
Although introduced as the oldest front-rear circular mound in Japan, there are many other front-rear circular mounds, including the Hokenoyama tumulus, the Garasu Katsuyama tumulus, the Garasu Yatsuka tumulus, the Kammon tumulus group (Kammon No. 5 and Kammon No. 4), and the Tsujihata tumulus. Unlike the shape of these mounds, which are known as the "garashiko-type front-recessed circular mounds," the Hashihaka Kofun Tumulus is a typical front-recessed circular mound with an enlarged square mound, and is generally considered to have been constructed from the late 3rd century to the early 4th century.
In April 2018 (Heisei 30), the Archaeological Institute of Kashihara, Nara Prefecture, examined 26 jar-shaped earthenware and jar-shaped Haniwa terracotta figures excavated from the anterior section and 54 fragments of funerary ritual pottery excavated from the top of the posterior circle, and found that while the pottery in the anterior section is local soil, the soil in the posterior circle is very similar in character to that of the Kibi region. This suggests that the finished products manufactured in the Kibi area were arranged in the posterior part and that the power of the Kibi area was very powerful and played an important role in the construction of the Hashihaka Kofun tumulus.
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