Rare Red Sarcophagus in Shimane Japan – Kofun Period Cave Tomb – Yata Yokoana 矢田横穴群 Part 1

#sarcophagus #kofunperiod #kofun

This is one of dozens of 6th-7th Century Kofun Period cave tombs (“Yokoana”/横穴 in Japanese) hiding within very dense forest covering hillsides around an area called Yato in Yasugi, Shimane Prefecture (島根県安来市矢田町). They seem to be rather unknown to Japanese kofun enthusiasts, let alone us gaijin, and aren’t that easy to find or access (I actually got lost in the forest for 30 minutes or so), so it was really cool to be able to visit them.

The highlight of these cave tombs are the very rare painted sarcophagi. The cave in this video features a sarcophagus which was originally painted red, paint which remains to a large extent to this day – it’s an absolute rarity to see sarcophagus/kofun paint remnants at all these days, let alone to this extent.

There is also another cave tomb in the same forest supposedly near the red one which houses a sarcophagus painted in green. I couldn’t find it on the day I found the red one but I will without a doubt definitely go back one day to try and find it as an archaeological report (which I should have read before the first visit) gave me more info as to where it should be – I probably walked right past it to be honest. I saw 10-15 empty cave tombs also but was too caught up in my green sarco mission to film them but I’ll probably get them into a video down the track also.

There are also two non-painted sarcophagus bearing caves in this area, one of which will be seen in a video coming soon.

More info Japanese: http://museum-database.shimane-u.ac.jp/marugoto/1168

Location: https://maps.app.goo.gl/tXBznx74YXXpDJUK8

***************************************************************

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 : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kofun

Ideally I’d like to build a kofun appreciation community of sorts, but that is just a dream right now. You can hit me up on:

https://www.facebook.com/japankofun/
https://www.instagram.com/japankofun/

2 Comments

  1. Thanks for sharing. Looking at the sarcophagus, would it be safe to assume that grave robbers broke into it and looted the contents…

  2. Thanks for the work you do 🙂 It's a shame that there are so many documentaries on TV about the Egyptian ones and not about the Japanese kofun.. anyway have you returned to Japan or are you in Australia?

Write A Comment