Yagyu Shimozuka Kofun
A small burial mound in a tea-growing landscape, included on a local tourism walking course; chamber entry and exact last approach remain unconfirmed.
Verified site photographs are being prepared.Discover Yagyu Shimozuka Kofun
Yagyu Shimozuka Kofun is a small tomb set among tea fields in the Yagyu uplands. Nara City Lifelong Learning Foundation describes a side-entry stone chamber whose burial room measures about 2.7 metres high, 3.6 metres deep and 1.8 metres wide, and calls it the northernmost kofun in Nara Prefecture. Yagyu Tourism Association places its construction around the seventh century, in the late Kofun period; the visitor sources reviewed do not provide excavation evidence for a more exact date or identify the person buried here. The association also relates a Yagyu family-genealogy tradition that Muneyoshi removed a stone coffin from the mound and reused it as a hand-washing basin, linking the episode to his name Sekishūsai. This is a local historical tradition, not a verified archaeological sequence. The association lists the mound on a village walking course, but its precise entrance and chamber access remain unconfirmed.
A side-entry chamber in a tea-field landscape
The Nara City Lifelong Learning Foundation describes Yagyu Shimozuka Kofun as a tomb in a tea field, with an open side-entry stone chamber. It gives the burial room's approximate dimensions as 2.7 metres high, 3.6 metres deep and 1.8 metres wide, and identifies it as the northernmost kofun in Nara Prefecture. These details explain the site's distinctive setting; they do not confirm that visitors may enter the chamber.
A remembered stone coffin and the name Sekishūsai
The Lifelong Learning Foundation reports a story recorded in the Yagyu family's genealogy, Gyokuei Shui: a stone coffin from the tomb was removed and reused as a hand-washing basin. Yagyu Tourism Association connects this story with the name Sekishūsai, used by Yagyu Muneyoshi. Neither account establishes when the removal occurred or identifies the basin's present location. Treat the connection as local family tradition, not a confirmed archaeological finding or a proven explanation of the name.
Choose a published walking route, then check its current condition
The Yagyu Tourism Association lists Shimozuka Kofun on an approximately 3.6 km, 45-minute loop from Yagyu bus stop via Jūbei's Cedar, Ataya Jizō and Kenzuka. It also lists a longer, one-way Tokai Nature Trail route of about 5.5 km and 80 minutes from JR Kasagi Station through Kasagi-dera and Ataya to Yagyu bus stop. These are whole-route estimates, not time or permission for a visit inside the mound. The pages do not describe the precise last approach, current trail surface, land boundaries, or chamber access. Check local notices and the return transport before setting out; stay on the marked route, do not cross tea fields, and do not enter the chamber without explicit permission.
Check conditions before making a detour
No current admission fee, opening hours, parking, toilet, step-free route, exact mound entrance, chamber permission, or photography policy was found. The map point remains an approximate area locator, not a surveyed entrance. The route page lists Yagyu Tourism Association at 0742-94-0002; ask about current course conditions and the final public approach before setting out. The association's course listing is not landowner permission or confirmation of chamber entry. Check the current Nara Kotsu timetable and return service for the wider Yagyu area.
What to look for
A side-entry stone chamber
A local public-history account describes an open chamber in the small mound and gives its interior measurements.
Tea fields in the Yagyu uplands
The tomb is described in the context of the area's cultivated tea-field landscape.
A local tradition about Sekishūsai
Yagyu sources connect a stone coffin from the mound, later remembered as a hand-washing basin, with a story about Muneyoshi's name Sekishūsai.
Photo notes
No third-party photographs are licensed for MyNara. No general photography policy for this tomb or its surrounding private land was found. Ask before photographing the chamber entrance, farmland, residents or other visitors; do not enter the chamber or cross a field without explicit permission.
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 City Lifelong Learning Foundation — Yagyu stone-Buddha walk; Shimozuka Kofun setting, chamber dimensions and local coffin tradition
- Yagyu Tourism Association — Japanese description of Shimozuka Kofun; approximate late-Kofun date and attributed Sekishūsai tradition
- Yagyu Tourism Association — 3.6 km village loop and 5.5 km Kasagi-to-Yagyu trail list Shimozuka Kofun; route enquiries 0742-94-0002; exact final approach and chamber access not specified (checked 2026-10-24)
- Yagyu Tourism Association — access from JR/Kintetsu Nara, journey estimates and listed one-way fare; attached timetable is revised 2024-04-01
- Nara Kotsu — Bus Navi for date-specific timetables, fares and bus locations; English, Simplified Chinese and Korean interfaces
- Yagyu Tourism Association — published ancient-history course map; named Shimozuka Kofun marker used as the approximate map point, not a surveyed entrance
- Nara Prefectural Library — Yagyu local history archive