Tumulus, or Kofun, period
- On the Web:
- Smarthistory – Art in Japan (Apr. 16, 2025)
About 250 ce there appeared new and distinctive funerary customs whose most characteristic feature was chambered mound tombs. These tumuli, or kofun (“old mounds”), witnessed significant variations over the following 450 years but were consistently present throughout the period to which they gave their name. Some authorities have suggested that the development of these tombs was a natural evolution from a Yayoi period custom of burial on high ground overlooking crop-producing fields. While partially convincing, this theory alone does not account for the sudden florescence of mound tombs, nor does it address the fact that some aspects of the tombs are clearly adaptations of a form preexisting on the Korean peninsula. Indeed, implements and artifacts discovered within these tombs suggest a strong link to peninsular culture.
Changes in tomb structure, as well as the quantity, quality, and type of grave goods discovered, offer considerable insight into the evolution of Japan’s sociopolitical development from a group of interdependent agricultural communities to the unified state of the early 8th century. Of course, the material culture of the Kofun period extended far beyond the production of funerary art. For example, it is in this time that an essential form of Japanese expression, the Chinese writing system, made its appearance on the archipelago—a fact known from such evidence as inscribed metal implements. This system had a profound and comparatively quick influence not only on written language but also on the development of painting in Japan. Nevertheless, tombs are the repositories of the period’s greatest visual achievements and are excellent indicators of more general cultural patterns at work. And, in that wider context, three distinct shifts in tomb style can be discerned that define the chronology of the period: Early Kofun of the 4th century, Middle Kofun covering the 5th and early 6th centuries, and Late Kofun, which lasted until the beginning of the 8th century and during which tomb burials were gradually replaced by Buddhist cremation ceremonies. The Late Kofun roughly coincides with the periods known to art historians as the Asuka (mid-6th century–645) and the Hakuhō (645–710).
Tombs of the Early Kofun period made use of and customized existing and compatible topography. When viewed from above, the tomb silhouette was either a rough circle or, more characteristically, an upper circle combined with a lower triangular form, suggesting the shape of an old-fashioned keyhole. The tombs contained a space for a wooden coffin and grave goods. This area was accessed through a vertical shaft near the top of the mound and was sealed off after burial was completed. The deceased were buried with materials that were either actual or symbolic indicators of social status. The grave goods were intended, as well, to sustain the spirit in its journey in the afterlife. They included bronze mirrors, items of jewelry made from jade and jasper, ceramic vessels, and iron weapons. Adorning the summit of the mound and at points on the circumference midway, at the base, and at the entrance to the tomb were variously articulated clay cylinder forms known as haniwa (“clay circle”).
Haniwa were an unglazed, low-fired, reddish, porous earthenware made of the same material as a type of daily-use pottery called haji ware. These clay creations were shaped from coils or slabs and took the form of human figures, animals, and houses. The latter shape was usually set at the peak of the burial hillock. Many attempts have been made to interpret the function of haniwa. They seem to have served both as protective figures and as some type of support for the deceased in the afterlife. There is some suggestion that, similar to tomb figurines found in other cultures, they symbolized a retinue of living servants who might otherwise have been sacrificed upon the demise of their master. They are regionally distinctive and show a stylistic development from the decidedly schematic to realistic.
Another type of ceramic prominent in the Kofun period was sue ware. Distinct from haji ware, it was high-fired and in its finished form had a gray cast. Occasionally, accidental ash glazing is found on the surface. Until the 7th century, sue ware was a product reserved for the elite, who used it both for daily ware and on ceremonial occasions. Sue ware was more closely identified with Korean ceramic technology and was the precursor for a variety of medieval Japanese ceramic types. Interestingly, both haji and sue ware found roles in funerary art.
After the 4th century, tomb builders abandoned naturally sympathetic topography and located mounds in clusters on flat land. There are differences in mound size, even within the clusters, suggesting levels of social status. The scale of these tombs, together with construction techniques, changed considerably. The tomb generally assumed to be that of the late 4th-century emperor Nintoku, located near the present-day city of Ōsaka, measures nearly 1,600 feet (490 metres) in length and covers 80 acres (32 hectares). It is alternately surrounded by three moats and two greenbelts. Approximately 20,000 haniwa were thought to have been placed on the surface of this huge burial mound.
In the later part of the 5th century, the vertical shaft used to access the early pit tomb was replaced by the Korean-style horizontal corridor leading to a tomb chamber. This made multiple use of the tomb easier, and the notion of a family tomb came into existence. Also notable from the 5th century is the archaeological evidence of horse trappings and military hardware in tombs. Haniwa representing warriors and stylized military shields are also prominent. Contemporaneous Chinese records refer to the Five Kings of Wo (Japanese: Wa) to describe the rulers of Japan in this period, and Chinese and Korean documentation refers to Japanese invasions of the Korean peninsula in the late 4th and early 5th centuries. There is evidence that multiple Japanese diplomatic missions to China in the 5th century requested from the Chinese rulers suzerainty over portions of the southern Korean peninsula. These diplomatic and military forays combine with the grave goods of the period to suggest a strong military cast to 5th- and 6th-century culture. However, in time these accoutrements of war and symbols of physical power are found in ancillary tombs rather than in the grave sites of known leaders. This suggests a gradual consolidation of power and the formation of a specialized military service within the kingdoms.
Japan’s close relationship with Korean and Chinese cultures during the Kofun period effected an influx of peninsular craftsmen. This is reflected in the production of sue ware mentioned above and in the high quality of metalwork achieved. Mirrors are a particularly fine example of the development of metal craft. The typical East Asian mirror of the time is a metal disk brought to a high reflective finish on one side and elaborately decorated on the reverse. Such mirrors did not originate in Japan but seem to have been made and used there for religious and political purposes. The dominant Japanese creation myth describes the sun goddess, Amaterasu Ōmikami, being coaxed from hiding by seeing her reflection in a mirror. This may well have imparted a magico-religious quality to mirrors and caused them to be understood as authority symbols. Of particular note is the so-called chokkomon decorative scheme found on some of these mirrors and on other Early Kofun metalwork. Chokkomon means “patterns of straight line and arcs,” and the motif has also been found chiseled on a wall in a Late Kofun tomb at the Idera tomb in Kyushu. It has been suggested that the abstract interweaving pattern may symbolize rope binding the dead to the tomb, an aspect of Chinese cosmology of the Han dynasty.
Late Kofun tombs are characterized by schemes of wall decoration within the burial chambers. Two especially important tombs have been excavated in the area just to the south of present-day Nara. The Takamatsu tomb (1972) and the Fujinoki tomb (1985) suggest high levels of artistic achievement and a sophisticated assimilation of continental culture. The Takamatsu tomb is noted for its wall paintings containing a design scheme representing a total Chinese cosmology. Included are especially fine female figure paintings. At Fujinoki exquisite and elaborate metalwork, including openwork gold crowns, a gilt bronze saddle bow, and gilt bronze shoes, was discovered. Design motifs show evidence of Chinese, Central Asian, and Indian sources.
Thus, the Kofun period reveals both a consolidation of political power and the growth of requisite artistic skill appropriate to the celebration of an emerging and unified culture. The technical and artistic foundations were effectively laid for the reception of the demandingly complex artistic requirements of Buddhism.
Asuka period
The Asuka period was a time of transformation for Japanese society. It is named for the Asuka area at the southern end of the Nara (Yamato) Basin (a few miles to the south of the present-day city of Nara), which was the political and cultural centre of the country at the time. From there, the imperial court—which claimed lineage from the sun goddess—ruled over a loose confederation of rival clans, the most powerful of which were the Soga, Mononobe, and Nakatomi. Each of the clans was tied to the imperial line by providing wives for the emperors. They also provided increasingly specialized hereditary services to the court; for example, the Mononobe were warriors, the Soga tax administrators, and the Nakatomi masters of religious ritual.
Japan’s interest in and contacts with continental cultures continued to increase in the Asuka. A wide range of political and cultural relations with the Korean kingdoms of Koguryŏ, Silla, and, in particular, Paekche provided an opportunity for comparatively systematic assimilation of vast amounts of Korean culture, Chinese culture read through a Korean prism, and the religious beliefs of Buddhism. The Japanese attempted to maintain a presence on the Korean peninsula through ties with the tribal league of Kaya (Japanese: Mimana). They were also allied with Paekche in fending off attempts by Silla to absorb Kaya and to advance on Paekche. More than a century of maneuvering ended with the defeat of the Japanese fleet by Silla in 663. Nevertheless, it was within that period of intensive relations with Paekche that critical foundations were constructed for a radical shift in the direction of Japanese visual arts.
The most significant change, of course, was the introduction of Buddhism. Historians debate the actual date of the arrival of Buddhist texts, implements of worship, and iconography in Japan, but according to tradition a Paekche delegation to the emperor Kimmei in 538 or 552 made the presentation of certain religious articles. Given the extent of contact with Korea, however, various “unofficial” introductions of Buddhism had probably already occurred.
It was during this period, as well, that contention among the leading Japanese clans increased. The Soga clan was an enthusiastic recipient of the benefits of the Korean alliance. Some scholars suggest that the Soga were arrivals from Korea not many generations previous who, lacking the ancestral connections of other clans, parlayed the Korean connection, a relationship with a more complex and sophisticated society, to achieve eventual control in Japan. The Soga clan, led by Soga Umako, clearly appreciated the Chinese and Korean forms of centralized government and the integration of Buddhism as a state religion. The Mononobe and, in particular, the Nakatomi resisted and were rigorous persecutors of Buddhism. They were defeated militarily by the Soga in 587, and in 593 Prince Shōtoku (574–622), who was related to the Soga clan, became regent to Umako’s niece the empress Suiko and consolidated the Buddhist position. Prince Shōtoku, aided by Korean scholars, was a dedicated student of Korean culture, Confucianism, and Buddhism. He not only established Buddhism as the state religion but also promulgated civil codes based on Confucian principles. His leadership provided the important first step in an integration of civil and religious foundations of the state. Although abuse of power precipitated the Soga clan’s eclipse in the 640s, enthusiasm for Buddhism was unabated.
Buddhism was already a thousand years old when it arrived in Japan. It had transformed and been transformed by the iconography and artistic styles of the various cultures along its path of expansion from India. The central message of Gautama Buddha (6th–5th centuries bce) had also experienced multiple interpretations, as evidenced by the numerous sectarian divisions in Buddhism. The artistic forms necessary to provide the proper environment for the practice of the religion were well defined, however—calligraphy, painting, sculpture, liturgical implements, and temple architecture—and these were the means by which nearly all continental modes of Buddhism were absorbed and adapted by the Japanese culture.
During this period of intensive peninsular contact, Korean artisans skilled in metalwork, sculpture, painting, ceramics, and other fields necessary to the production of Buddhist iconography immigrated to or were brought to Japan in large numbers. While the practice of most of the above-mentioned forms was the purview of professionals, the calligraphic rendering of the written word was a skill available to the educated elite of the period. Thus, in the Asuka period the foundations of both individualized and public forms of visual expression were secured.
Sculpture
While the structures of these temples did not survive, certain important sculptures did, and these images are generally associated with the name of Kuratsukuri Tori (also known as Tori Busshi). Tori—like his grandfather, who had emigrated from China, and his father, an ardent Buddhist—belonged to the saddlemakers’ guild. Excellence in this trade required mastery of the component media of lacquer, leather, wood, and metal, each of which was, in various ways, also used in the production of sculpture.
A large, seated, gilt-bronze image of Shaka (the Japanese name for Shakyamuni Buddha, the historical Buddha) survives from the Asuka Temple and is dated to 606. Also extant is the gilt-bronze Shaka Triad of Hōryū Temple, which is dated by inscription to 623. The Asuka Buddha, heavily restored, is attributed to Tori based on the stylistic similarity of its undisturbed head to the renderings found in the Shaka Triad, which is confidently assigned to the master sculptor’s hand. A more controversial work is a gilt bronze Yakushi (Bhaishajya-guru, the healing Buddha), which carries an inscription of 607. It is very close to the style of Tori, but many date the work to the latter part of the century. The Triad and the Yakushi are now housed in Hōryū Temple. An inscribed dedication found on the halo of the central figure of the Triad suggests that the ensemble was dedicated to the recently deceased Shōtoku and his consort. A stylistically related work is the wooden statue of the bodhisattva Kuze Kannon in the Hall of Dreams (Yumedono) of the Hōryū Temple. The Tori style seen in these works reveals an interpretive dependence on Chinese Buddhist sculpture of the Northern Wei dynasty (386–534/535), such as that found in the Longmen caves. Symmetry, a highly stylized linear treatment of draped garments, and a reserved and gentle facial expression with a characteristic archaic smile are the prominent distinguishing features of this sculpture. The Japanese interpretations in bronze and wood advance the frontally focused Chinese relief sculptures by beginning to suggest more fully rounded figures.
Painting
Buddhist temples were decorated not only with sculpture but also with religious paintings, tapestries, and other objects. Most such works from the Asuka period have not survived. An exception is the Tamamushi Shrine, which consists of a miniature kondō affixed to a rectangular pedestal or base. This assemblage of wood, metal, and lacquer provides an excellent view of what a kondō of the period may have looked like and, perhaps more important, is decorated with the only known painting from the Asuka period. The painting program on the miniature kondō seems to depict, through images on various panels and doors, the deities normally found in sculptural form within the hall. Paintings on the panels of the base show aspects of Buddhist cosmology and scenes from jataka tales, those narratives that tell of exemplary incidents in the previous incarnations of the Buddha. Perhaps best known is the jataka of the Hungry Tigress, in which the Buddha prior to enlightenment chances upon a tigress and her cubs starving in a desolate ravine and offers his own body to them. The painting depicts a sequential narrative in one panel, showing the saint removing his robe, leaping from a cliff, and being eaten by the tigers. The painting style suggests an Indian prototype vastly influenced by the fluid linearity of Chinese Wei styles.
