Nisanzai Tumulus: Adorning the tail end of the Mozu Tumulus Cluster

With a mound 290 meters in length, Nisanzai Tumulus is Japan’s eighth largest keyhole-shaped burial mound. Its name is thought to derive from the Japanese word misasagi, meaning imperial mausoleum. Its broad base makes it the most skillfully and beautifully executed tumulus in the Mozu cluster, and located near it are three smaller tumuli thought to be baicho (smaller mounds located in close proximity to major tumuli). It is thought to have been constructed sometime between the middle and end of the fifth century, making it the most recent addition to the Mozu Tumulus Cluster.