＜prologue＞
I started a blog called “The Baby Boomer Generation’s Miscellaneous Blog”（Dankai-sedai no garakutatyou:団塊世代の我楽多（がらくた）帳） in July 2018, about a year before I fully retired. More than six years have passed since then, and the number of articles has increased considerably.
So, in order to make them accessible to people who don’t understand Japanese, I decided to translate my past articles into English and publish them.
It may sound a bit exaggerated, but I would like to make this my life’s work.
It should be noted that haiku and waka （Japanese short fixed form poems） are quite difficult to translate into English, so some parts are written in Japanese.
If you are interested in haiku or waka and would like to know more, please read introductory or specialized books on haiku or waka written in English.
I also write many articles about the Japanese language. I would be happy if these inspire more people to want to learn Japanese.
my blog’s URL:団塊世代の我楽多（がらくた）帳 | 団塊世代が雑学や面白い話を発信しています
my X’s URL:団塊世代の我楽多帳（@historia49）さん / X
１．Mozu and Furuichi Kofun Tumulus Group” to be registered as a World Cultural Heritage site
The registration of the Mozu and Furuichi Kofun Tumulus Group as a World Cultural Heritage site is now almost certain at the World Heritage Committee meeting to be held in Azerbaijan from the end of June to July this year (2019).
There are four types of tombs in this tumulus group: round, square, backward-facing, and backward-rear.
It consists of 49 tumuli, including the “Mausoleum of Emperor Nintoku,” the largest forward-rear round burial mound in Japan. Thus, during the “Kofun Period” (mid 3rd century to 7th century), about 160,000 kofun tumuli, including yokoana (horizontal holes), were built all over Japan.
２．What is the “Hakusourei”?
The “Kofun Period,” during which such a vast number of burial mounds were created, came to an end with the “Taika-no-Hakusourei”, issued in 646 as part of the “Taika-no-Kaihin” (Taika Reform).
This “Hakusourei” was a decree following the ancient Chinese custom to limit the size of mausoleums that could be built according to the status of the king’s subjects and common people in order to lighten the sacrifice of the people, to prohibit the martyrdom or burial of men and horses, and to limit the time spent on the construction of an emperor’s mausoleum to seven days or less.
Note that in China, Cao Cao (155-220), the hero of the Three Kingdoms, issued the “Hakusourei” in 205 during the late Later Han Dynasty (Three Kingdoms Period). He was the man who destroyed the Later Han Dynasty and founded the Wei Dynasty of the Three Kingdoms Period.
３．Background of the “Hakusourei”
（１）The Early Yamato Regime (Yamato Imperial Court)
In the early Kofun period, the Yamato regime required huge tombs as “symbols of power. This is the same concept as the pyramids in Egypt. From the great kings to local powerful families, huge tombs were actively built.
（２）The reign of Emperor Tsugitai
During the reign of Emperor Keitai (450? – 531), who was from the Echizen region (some say he was from the Omi region), the centralization of power progressed. ～In the reign of Emperor Keitai (450?-531), centralization of power progressed, and it gradually became less and less meaningful to build huge tombs as symbols of power.
（３）The Reign of Emperor Suiko
The construction of giant burial mounds in the Kinai and Eastern provinces was completed by the early 7th century, especially after Prince Shotoku (574-622), who became regent of Emperor Suiko (554-628) in 593, established laws such as the Crown Twelve Ranks and the Seventeen-Article Constitution.
（４）The Era of Emperor Monmu
After the construction of the huge forward-rear round tombs was completed, smaller square and round tombs became the norm. In the mid-7th century, under Chinese influence, people began to be buried in “octagonal tombs,” and at the end of the 7th century, “cremation” was introduced and Emperor Monmu (683-707) was buried in an octagonal tomb after being cremated. After this, the construction of kofun tombs came to an end.
Incidentally, it is said that Fujiwara Kamatari (614-669), a central figure in the Taika Reformation and whose tomb is quietly located in the Abuyama burial mound straddling Takatsuki and Ibaraki cities, also wanted a simple funeral so as not to overburden the people.