Mochida Kofun Group
( Photo by Takanabe Town Board of Education )

　Mochida Kofun Group is located at an elevation of around 50 m on a plateau on the left bank of the Omaru River, north of present day Takanabe Town, Koyu District, extending approximately 0.8 km east-west and 1 km north-south. There are a total of 85 extant mounds, including 9 keyhole-shaped burial mounds, 1 scallop-shaped burial mound, and 75 circular burial mounds. When including those mounds that have since disappeared, this burial mound group is conjectured to have consisted of more than 90 mounds.
　The construction of kofun in this group appears to have continued steadily without any major periods of inactivity, with mounds having being constructed over the long-term on an ongoing basis from the first half of the 4th century (Early Kofun) until the first half of the 7th century (Final Kofun). During the first half of the 4th century/mid-4th century, the large keyhole-shaped burial mounds Mound No.48 (mound length: approx. 85 m) and Mound No.1 (Hakarizuka; mound length: 120 m) were built here. Mound No.1 (Hakarizuka), which dates to the mid-4th century, is thought to have been a keyhole-shaped burial mound belonging to the ruler of one of the largest clan confederacies in Kyushu at the time.