The Kofun Period

The Kofun Period, dated from roughly 300 to 538 CE, takes its name from the massive earthen burial mounds, kofun, built for the rulers of the period, the largest of which, the keyhole-shaped Daisen Kofun traditionally attributed to Emperor Nintoku, rivals the Great Pyramid of Giza in footprint. The period saw the consolidation of the Yamato polity in the Kinai region into the dominant power on the Japanese archipelago, laying the political foundation for the later unified Japanese imperial state, alongside growing contact with the Korean kingdoms and China that brought Buddhism, Chinese writing and continental court customs into Japan by the period's end. Grave goods recovered from the largest kofun, including bronze mirrors, iron weapons and haniwa clay figures arranged around the mounds, provide much of what is known about the period's elite culture in the absence of extensive contemporary written records. The period closes with the traditional date for Buddhism's official introduction to Japan in 538 CE, opening the following Asuka Period.