Umami Kofun Park: A Landscape of Tombs, Flowers and Walking Paths
Explore a 56-hectare park inside the 250-plus-tomb Umami cluster, with a restored mound, a free archaeology gallery, seasonal gardens and family spaces.
Verified site photographs are being prepared.Discover Umami Kofun Park: A Landscape of Tombs, Flowers and Walking Paths
Umami Hillside Park occupies part of the Umami Kofun cluster, one of the great burial landscapes of the Nara Basin. Nara Prefecture describes more than 250 tombs across the wider area, mostly built in the fourth and fifth centuries. Within the park, visitors can reach several mounds, including Nagareyama Kofun, reconstructed to evoke its appearance about 1,600 years ago and accessible up to its summit. A park museum uses models and displays to explain the ancient landscape, while gardens and broad paths make this a full-day outdoor destination rather than a single tomb stop. The grounds cross Kawai and Koryo, so choose the entrance and bus stop for the specific area you want to visit.
Start with the scale of the Umami cluster
The park is only part of a wider landscape of more than 250 tombs across the Umami hills. Nara Prefecture says many date to the fourth and fifth centuries and names tombs preserved in or near the park, including Ikegami, Otomeyama, Kurazuka, Nagareyama, Besshoshita and Kitsunezuka. Between Besshoshita and Otomeyama, the four-burial Katabi group preserves smaller mounds and later seventh-century burials; Kawai Town records its individual forms and finds. Two park tombs are designated historic sites; the neighbouring Suyama Kofun is a Special Historic Site outside the park boundary. These distinctions matter when planning a route and describing what is actually inside the grounds.
Walk up Nagareyama Kofun
The official Nara tourism guide says Nagareyama was restored to evoke its form at construction around 1,600 years ago and that visitors can climb to the top. It is a rare place to appreciate the profile and scale of a kofun from the mound itself. Keep to the established route and do not step onto protected surfaces outside visitor access.
Use the park museum to read the landscape
The central park museum explains local nature and tomb construction through models, video and displays. It helps visitors interpret shapes they encounter outdoors, including how burial mounds were built and what objects accompanied the dead. Admission to the park and museum is free according to the prefecture. The museum is a separate indoor stop with its own Monday and year-end closure schedule.
Choose a route across the large grounds
The park covers 56.2 hectares and has north, central and south areas. The north has large play equipment and a lawn; the central area contains the museum and access toward Nagareyama Kofun. Its named seasonal landscapes include the Rose Garden along Hana-no-Michi, the Water Lily Pond by Dandan Plaza and Carillon Hill; the prefecture's flower guide also tracks iris and other seasonal displays. These distinct zones make it possible to combine water, flowers, archaeology and open hillside instead of treating the park as one undifferentiated lawn. Near 1,000 parking spaces are distributed among four lots, and the prefecture lists a bus from Kintetsu Gojōdo Station to the central entrance or a short walk from Ikebe Station to the north-side greenway entrance. Allow time for the distance between areas.
Plan around the museum and park rules
The open park has no weekly closure and no admission fee. The museum closes Mondays (or the next weekday when Monday is a holiday) and from December 28 through January 4; emergency weather closures may occur. Pets are prohibited, as are ball games, fishing and barbecues. Bicycles are restricted to the greenway cycle route. Wheelchairs can be borrowed at three service points without advance reservation, and the prefecture says the main paths are barrier-free. Commercial filming or event activity requires prior consultation and permission.
What to look for
Walk up Nagareyama Kofun, restored to evoke its ancient form
A free park museum explains tombs and local ecology
56.2 hectares of gardens, family spaces and protected archaeology
Photo notes
Respect signs around protected mounds and avoid climbing any area outside the visitor route. The prefecture requires prior permission for business photography, events and commercial filming. No reuse permission for park or prefectural photographs has been confirmed for MyNara.
Make a day of it
Explore guides close to this map point, then check the actual route before travelling. Distances below are straight lines, not walking distances or travel times; map points may not be entrances.
Sources & editorial status
Original MyNara draft based on the linked sources. Sources reviewed 24 October 2026. Opening arrangements, prices and offers may change; use the operator's current information before travelling.
- Nara Prefecture — tombs preserved in and around the park and the wider Umami cluster
- Nara Prefecture — Katabi Kofun Group and its position between Besshoshita and Otomeyama
- Kawai Town — individual Katabi mound records and archaeological finds
- Nara Prefecture — current park Q&A for admission, closures, access, rules and wheelchair loans
- Nara Prefecture — park use, 982-space parking capacity and seasonal gate times
- Nara Prefecture — named flower areas and seasonal displays, including Rose Garden, Water Lily Pond and Carillon Hill
- Nara Prefecture — park overview, areas, gardens and Nagareyama Kofun
- Nara Prefecture — park access and public transport routes
- Nara Prefecture — current downloadable park and kofun maps; commercial filming permit guidance