Around the 2nd half of the 4th century, large “key-hole-shaped” tombs were successively constructed in the Kinki regions and political centers in other parts of Japan.

These keyhole shaped tombs were different from ordinary tombs being much larger in size – the largest tomb, Emperor Nintonku’s tomb is spatially larger than the largest of the Giza pyramids in Egypt. They were also more complex in structure than the tombs of the earlier Yayoi period.

The haniwa are unique and distinctive in the world, for the captivating joyful expressions and whimsical expressions of daily life...despite the burial and death associations.

SO WHO WERE THE TOMB-BUILDERS?

From 421 the Five Kings of Yamato frequently sent representatives to the southern dynasty on the Korean peninsula with requests for military titles to legitimize their power both in Japan and the Korean peninsula.

On the iron rich Korean peninsula, kings were growing increasingly powerful in the kingdoms of Paekche, Silla, and Kaya -- the loose federation of small kingdoms. As their power grew, the production of objects made of iron and precious metals increased.

So the Japanese kings formed alliances with the Kaya and other Korean powers. As Japanese kings became allied to the Korean kingdoms, they gained access to iron resources and political clout. They changed their relationship with the local rulers in Japan to one based on military rank. One sign of status of the kings was the size of their tombs.

5,000 of these tombs remain today in Japan.

PHOTOS: Collection of the Tokyo National Museum (photographed with permission) 

This picture (left) is Daisen Kofun, thought to be the tomb of Emperor Nintoku, who ruled from the late 4th to 5th century. It is the largest tomb (in spatial terms) in the world.

PHOTO: National Land Image Information (Color Aerial Photograph), Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.

This display shows the beginning of the Kofun period in the 3rd century focusing on the emergence of the cylindrical haniwa, literally “clay circles”. The haniwa evolved from a special kind of jar and stand, into various other kinds of terra-cotta tomb ornaments. The haniwa were placed half buried all around the tomb mounds, and solemn funerary rites seem to have been performed.