Kofun
Kofuns (古墳) are megalithic tombs or burial mounds mainly present in Northeast Asia. Many of these tombs were discovered during the early 3rd century of ancient Japan.
History[edit | edit source]
Enormous tombs of different shapes, these mounds persisted until the late 7th century to early 8th century. Throughout the following centuries, there were fascinations with key-shaped mounds as they were noted along the archipelago. By the 18th century, many of the tombs were believed to hold the tombs of ancient emperors or even their close relatives. Along with the sarcophagus, a variety of artifacts and weapons were frequently associated with these tombs, such as horse harnesses by the 5th century and haniwa-clay cylinders. In some tombs, murals of the Sun in the form of a spiral were draped, too.[1]
By the late 16th century, the Kakushiba ikki led by Tsuyu had built a secret base within Old Kofun in Izumi Settsu to house the Imperial Regalia, entrusted by Emperor Go-Nara. Yet, the Kakushiba ikki member and mercenary Hattori Hanzō unknowingly revealed the location to a buyer, who belonged to the Shinbakufu, a group led by deposed shogun Ashikaga Yoshiaki. Thus, the Shinbakufu attacked the kofun, resulting in the near destruction of the league and two of the Imperial Regalia being stolen. With Tsuyu, Hanzō, and Momochi Sandayu as the only survivors, Tsuyu entrusted the last regalia to her husband Fujibayashi Nagato while she left to find the others.[2]
By 1581, Nagato had traveled to Mihata Kofun and stored the Yasakani no Magatama as part of his devotion and promise to his wife. However, when Oda Nobunaga led an invasion to Iga and Hanzō having told him of the Shinbakufu's plans,[2] he sent his daughter and shinobi Fujibayashi Naoe with his Hidden Blade to the chamber. However, upon recovering the Jewel, she was attacked by Shinbakufu member and samurai Ido Yoshihiro, who knocked her out with his kanabō and stole the Regalia.[3]
In 1582, Naoe, having recently founded her own Kakushiba ikki, came across and entered the Old Kofun, where she saw the aftermath of the Shinbakufu's attack. Within the tomb, she recovered both an Assassin's outfit and an old journal belonging to Tsuyu's mentor, Alvaro Catarribera.[4] She also acquired the Amaterasu's Blessing trinket after finding and looting the tomb's chest.[5]
Outside, her ally and fellow Kakushiba ikki member Yasuke waited for her and helped her translate the journal, which detailed that Catarribera had tasked Tsuyu to safeguard the Imperial Regalia and how she established additional outposts in Ōmi, Yamato, and Kii. Naoe resolved to investigate these hideouts and left.[4] While traveling through Japan, Naoe and Yasuke found and entered multiple kofuns, where they acquired numerous weapons and items from the tombs' chests.[5]
Known kofuns[edit | edit source]
- Ancient Tomb of Nanjo in Yamashiro, Japan
- Azuchi-Hyōtanyama Kofun in Ōmi, Japan
- Chasuriyama Kofun in Tamba, Japan
- Daisen-ryō Kofun in Izumi Settsu, Japan
- Ishibutai Kofun in Yamato, Japan
- Jōnozuka Kofun in Wakasa, Japan
- Makino Kurumazuka Kofun in Izumi Settsu, Japan
- Megalithic Vault in Yamato, Japan
- Mihata Kofun in Iga, Japan
- Shimosato Kofun in Kii, Japan
- Takagi Kofun in Harima, Japan