An ancient tomb resides inconspicuously in a Tokyo park - Asukayama Kofun - 飛鳥山1号墳
Located in Tokyo's Kita Ku (北区), Asukayama Park is quite interesting. The highlight for me is of course our tomb from the 7th Century, but it's also a popular sakura viewing spot, and it was also the former residence of this guy: - and some buildings where he lived still exist there today.
Most interesting for me though is our kofun - and in fact it is one of apparently six kofun that once existed on the little mountain that now hosts the park. Some small items were discovered in the tomb we see here - including glass beads that may have come from China.
Best of all, is that this place is only 30 minutes walk from where I live - having a kofun pretty much in the same neighbourhood is one reason I came to Japan to live. It's such an awesome thing to have this history on my door step.
Music : More info about the kofun (in Japanese) : Really interesting article about the park's history here (in English) :
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Q: What am I watching here ?
A: You are watching footage of a kofun/古墳 - kofun are tombs in Japan that were created during the Kofun Period (roughly between the 3rd and 7th Century AD) - this era was preceded by the Jomon and Yayoi periods, and followed by Asuka, Nara and so on. These tombs were built as burial chambers for people from Japanese imperial families and other people of higher status in society during those days. The most well-known and generally largest tombs are found around Kyoto and Osaka, but they are found all over Kansai, Kanto, Tohoku etc., and even in other parts of Japan such as Shikoku and Kyushu. Figures vary greatly, but some sources state there are over 160000 of these kofun in Japan. At times you will see haniwa on and around kofun - haniwa are terracotta figures which were made in various shapes, including being formed as people and animals. Have a read of the the Wikipedia article for more information :
I also have a Facebook page where I post these videos. Feel free to contact me via that page if you want to connect regarding anything about kofun, particularly their promotion to tourists to Japan. Ideally I'd like to build a kofun appreciation community of sorts, but that is just a dream right now -