The Ancient Tombs and Burial Mounds of Japan

Abstract

AT a recent meeting of the China branch of the Royal Asiatic Society at Shanghai, Prof. Hitchcock, of the Smithsonian Institute, read a paper on the ancient tombs and burial mounds of Japan, in the course of which he said that, while the form and structure of the Japanese mounds were now known, thanks to the as yet unpublished researches of his companion in many journeys in Japan, Mr. W. Gowland, their early origin was yet to be traced. It was surmised that a few at least of the Japanese burial customs were derived from China. In the course of his own travels in the north of China he had failed to discover any indications of the existence of mounds like those in Japan; but he still expected to hear of them from some experienced traveller in the interior of that vast empire. Referring to the origin of the tombs, the lecturer said the first Emperor, who lived in the seventh century B.C., is supposed to be buried in Yamato, and the tombs of his successors are pointed out by the Imperial Household Department. The identity of the sepulchres may be questioned, but it is a fact that we can distinguish consecutive modifications of form apparently corresponding to successive periods of time.