Japan Ancient Tumulus Clusters Registered as World Heritage

July 7, 2019

Tokyo- The UNESCO World Heritage Committee on Saturday approved the registration of the Mozu-Furuichi Kofungun ancient tumulus clusters in Osaka Prefecture, western Japan, as a World Heritage site.

Japan's Cultural Affairs Agency announced the decision, made at the committee's meeting in the Azerbaijani capital of Baku.

Mozu-Furuichi Kofungun comprises a total of 49 kofun tumuli built between the late fourth century and the late fifth century in the Mozu area in the city of Sakai and the Furuichi area straddling the cities of Habikino and Fujiidera.

The clusters include the grave mound purportedly for Emperor Nintoku, which is the largest keyhole-shaped tumulus in Japan at 486 meters in length.

No academic conclusion has been reached as to who is buried under the tumulus, also known as Daisen Kofun, which is among the world's three biggest tombs along with the pyramid of Pharaoh Khufu in Egypt and the tomb of Qin Shi Huang in China.

The clusters have great historical value, as the diverse shapes and sizes of the tumuli represent the differences in authority and power of those buried under them.

Of the tumuli, 29 belong to past Emperors or other people related to the Imperial Family and are thus maintained by the Imperial Household Agency.

The International Council on Monuments and Sites, or ICOMOS, recommended the registration of the tumuli as a World Heritage site in May. The advisory panel to UNESCO said the site has prominent universal value, as they show the burial tradition and sociopolitical structure of Japan's ancient Tumulus period.

ICOMOS also requested that Mozu-Furuichi Kofungun be protected from the impact of development in nearby areas.

The tumulus clusters are the 19th Japanese cultural property on the World Heritage list, following the inscription last year of a set of hidden Christian sites in Kumamoto and Nagasaki prefectures, southwestern Japan.

The latest addition increases the total number of World Heritage sites in Japan, including natural properties, to 23.

The clusters are the first World Heritage site in Osaka Prefecture. The registration is forecast to produce annual economic effects of 100 billion yen in the prefecture, with visitors seen increasing by 5.6 million, according to the Sakai Urban Policy Institute.

Earlier this year, the central government submitted a recommendation to list as World Heritage natural assets the islands of Amami Oshima and Tokunoshima in the southwestern prefecture of Kagoshima, the northern part of the Okinawa Island in the prefecture of the same name and Iriomotejima, another island in Okinawa.

Following a review by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), another advisory body, the World Heritage Commission is expected to consider their registration next year. Jiji Press