A photographic introduction to items from the collection

Sending the dead to a burial mound
(Shinsaku Sugiyama)

1. Rituals from death through to burial

The Kofun period (4th through 6th centuries) in Japan is a period noted for its singular devotion to mourning the dead. Today, there remain burial mounds ("kofun" from which the period gets its name) as seen in the large keyhole-shaped tombs on top of large mounds.

It appears that burial in these mounds did not occur several days after death, as is the current practice with regard to burial. There is an account in the Nihon Shoki of an emperor not being buried in a burial mound until several years after his death. The rituals that took place in the intervening period were called "mogari". Atsumu Wada has suggested that this length of time was not the result of requiring several years before a burial mound could be completed, but that rather it arose because it took this long to decide who would hold the funeral rites, which is to say, who would be the emperor's successor (Note 1).

More importantly, however, we need to understand that the Japanese of the Kofun period held a number of rituals between death and burial that were based on a solicitous attitude toward funerals. Even today, there are cases in which someone who has been declared dead by a doctor has come back to life. It's quite possible, therefore, that in the ancient period there were many instances in which someone who appeared dead came back to life. When it was believed that a person had died, the people of this period held a ritual called "tama-furi" ("tama-yobi") in which they prayed for the revival of the deceased. Following this, when it became clear that this prayer would not be answered, they moved on to the "tama-shizume" ritual in which they prayed for the repose of the dead.

Relics excavated from the Ishigami No.2 burial mound in Chiba Prefecture attest to the existence of such rituals during the Kofun period. They include a stone pillow made from talc, which was an imitation of a pillow made of wood or other organic matter, "rikka" - pairs of "magatama" beads tied together and attached on a rod, and stone knives that were replicas of knives in their sheaths. The Ishigami No.2 burial mound is a round burial mound with a diameter of approximately 30 meters, and at the apex remains were found of a wooden coffin measuring around six meters in length. In two places inside the coffin there were two stone pillows, and a total of 18 "rikka", stone knives and other items. Assuming that the head was laid on the stone pillow, two skeletons would have been buried lying in the center of the coffin with their legs together and their respective heads facing in opposite directions.

Yutaka Numazawa, who conducted a survey of these remains, observed that there were marks made from mouse bites on one of the two sets of "rikka" made up of nine items and one set of stone knives (Note 2). However, just under half of each of the two sets of "rikka" scattered around each of the two stone pillows in the center of the wooden coffin were mixed with one another. The bite marks tell us that the same combinations of "rikka" were not used before they were buried with the deceased. Mice have the habit of chewing on hard objects to grind down their teeth to prevent their teeth from becoming too long, which stops them from being able to eat. If the two sets of "rikka" as they were found in the coffin had been used simultaneously in the same combinations before they were buried, it would have been unnatural to find those that had been bitten by mice and those that had not. What is more, the presence or absence of bite marks depended on whether the "rikka" are of a certain shape or not. The following is a rational explanation for the reason behind the occurrence of such a phenomenon.

Photo 1: Stone pillow made of talc (northern end) excavated from the No.2 Ishigami burial mound and "rikka" with bite marks made by mice (When in use, the "rikka" stood in holes around the rim of the stone pillow) Photo 2: Stone pillow made of talc (southern end) excavated from the No.2 Ishigami burial mound and "rikka" without bite marks made by mice (When in use, the "rikka" stood in holes around the rim of the stone pillow)

A wooden coffin measuring approximately six meters in length was prepared for the burial of two people. However, they did not die at the same time as each other. When the first to die was believed to have died, the "tama-furi" ritual was held in which "rikka" were placed on the stone pillow to pray for the revival of the deceased (Photo 1). When it was confirmed that the person had died, the "rikka" were removed. Next, the mourners moved on to the "tama-shizume" ritual in which stone knives were used to pray for the repose of the dead, and when that was over the stone knives were also removed. Following the completion of these rituals for the first to die the second of the two died, and the same rituals were held using a different stone pillow and different "rikka" and knives (Photo 2).

Photo 3: "Rikka" with bite marks made by mice (two on right) and "rikka" without bite marks (two on left) excavated from the Ishigami No.2 burial mound (Arrows indicate location of bite marks) Photo 4: Stone knives excavated from the Ishigami No.2 burial mound (northern side) (Some feature bite marks made by mice, while others do not)

Because the "rikka" and stone knives that were used for the rituals for the first to die were probably taken away and stored in a separate place, they were not bitten by mice. Rituals were held twice before burial took place, once with a set of items that did not have bite marks and once with another set. However, because the stone pillows lay under the heads the entire time, they were both bitten by mice.

Lastly, when the time arrived to bury both people, the "rikka" and stone knives that had been put away were brought out again and were casually divided more or less evenly in two and placed around the two stone pillows inside the wooden coffin. Consequently, it was coincidental that two sets of "rikka" (Photo 3) and two sets of stone knives (Photo 4), with some items in each set with bite marks and some without, were discovered.

2.Decoration of space where the dead repose

By the 6th century, it had become the general custom for the area inside a burial mound where the dead were buried to be a stone chamber deep inside the mound accessed by way of a corridor leading from the mound entrance. This type of stone chamber is known in Japanese as a "yokoana-shiki sekishitsu". There are examples in Kyushu where carvings and colors have been used inside a stone chamber to decorate the space where the dead repose.

Inside a "yokoana-shiki" stone chamber of this type inside the No.1 Sengonko burial mound in Kumamoto Prefecture, stone slabs surround the area where the human remains were laid. Carved into these slabs and colored red are concentric circles and triangles and quivers (long narrow cases for holding arrows). (Photo 5) Such decorations show an intention to protect the dead.

Another "yokoana-shiki" stone chamber in the Ozuka burial mound in Fukuoka Prefecture features a picture with a similar pattern. In the upper part of the chamber there are inlaid circles colored yellow to represent stars, thought to portray the world in which the dead live. It could be said that it is the oldest representation in Japan of a constellation made from a mass of circles on a ceiling. On the walls to the right and left of the entrance there are drawings of a total of five horses ridden by people colored red and black (Photo 6). Although there is one theory that these horses are the vehicles that take the spirits of the dead to the next world, it is more natural to view these horses as having been animals adored by the people buried here while they were alive.

However, in the case of the drawing of the sun, moon and birds resting on a boat (Photo 7) on the back wall of a "yokoana-shiki" stone chamber in the Mezurashizuka burial mound in Fukuoka Prefecture, the predominant view is that it represents a scene of transporting spirits from this world to the next.

Photo 5: Full-size replica of the "yokoana-shiki" stone chamber inside No.1 Sengonko burial mound Photo 6: Full-size replica of the "yokoana-shiki" stone chamber inside the Ozuka burial mound.
Photo 7: Life-size model of the back wall of the "yokoana-shiki" stone chamber at the Mezurashizuka burial mound

3.Farewelling the dead

When the dead were buried, mourners performed a ritual in which they paid a final farewell to the dead.

In Kanto during the 6th century, it was customary for members of the funeral procession heading toward the place of burial to arrange rows of haniwa (clay figurines) at the foot of the burial mound to commemorate the life of the deceased. Especially distinctive among the human haniwa from various parts of Kanto illustrating different regional characteristics are coarsely produced male and female figures seen primarily in the northern part of Chiba Prefecture (Photo 8).

If the two double circles carved into the chest on the male haniwa (left, Photo 8) were representations of breasts, the puzzle remains of a woman having been dressed in male clothing.

Photo 8: Male haniwa (left; site of excavation unknown) and female haniwa (right; purported to have been excavated in Nagareyama City) Photo 9: Raised platter mounted with bowls excavated from the Ogetayama burial mound

Offerings of food were also made to the dead. There is the example of Sue ware (Photo 9) excavated from the Ogetayama burial mound in Ehime Prefecture, which is a unique item formed from seven bowls with lids on top of a raised platter. According to Yukio Kobayashi, this is not something that would have been used everyday, but rather it was made especially for a ritual in which food would have been placed in the bowls (Note 3).

In the Setouchi region, jars and raised bowls with small, haniwa-like human and animal figures attached to the outer surfaces were placed in front of the stone chamber. This illustrates the regional nature of a new ritual held by people from another land. Sharing a final meal with the dead began much earlier before this, and is a custom that continues today.

Note 1: Atsumu Wada, Basic Study of Mogari, "Anthology - Terminal Period Kofun", 1973, Hanawa Shobo
Note 2: Yutaka Numazawa, Issues Concerning the No.2 Ishigami Burial Mound, "Higashi-terayama Ishigami Iseki", 1977, Chiba Prefecture Cultural Center
Note 3: Yukio Kobayashi, Yomotsu hegui, "Studies of Kofun Culture",1976, Heibonsha

Shinsaku Sugiyama (Archaeology, Research Department)