Graves of the Yamauchi Family, Lords of the Tosa Domain

The Burial Ground of the Lords of Tosa

The Graves of the Yamauchi Family, Lords of the Tosa Domain (土佐藩主山内家墓所) is the burial ground of the Yamauchi family, lords of the 200,000-koku Tosa domain in the Edo period, at the northern foot of Mount Hitsuzan in Kochi City, Kochi Prefecture, designated a Historic Site in 2016.

The Agency for Cultural Affairs lists it under the criterion for tombs and monuments.

The Kochi Castle Museum of History notes that the Tosa Yamauchi Memorial Foundation manages the site.

Layout

According to Kochi City, the burial ground lies on the hills along the right bank of the Kagami River at the northern foot of Mount Hitsuzan. It began when the first lord, Yamauchi Kazutoyo, who died in Kochi in 1605, was buried here; lords who died during attendance in Edo were also brought home for burial. The lords (except the fifteenth, Toyoshige) and some of their children, wives and concubines are buried here, with funerals held at the family temple, Shinnyoji.

The site covers about 130 metres north to south and 200 metres east to west, with Kazutoyo's grave at the top, the lords' graves below and the children's graves at the bottom, developed in six phases.

What to Look For

Kochi City notes rows of huge stone monuments: grave markers 3 to 5 metres high, stone lanterns 2 metres high and turtle-based steles recording the lords' deeds. The markers begin with the seamless-stupa form of the first lord and change to a mortuary-tablet form from the third. The city values the site as a dignified burial ground of a great domain lord, showing Edo-period burial customs.

The Kochi Castle Museum of History notes that the graves of Kazutoyo and the second lord Tadayoshi are egg-shaped stupas. After the family converted from Buddhism to Shinto in 1870, the twelfth, fifteenth and sixteenth lords were buried in Shinto style. Turtle-based steles survive for the fourth, seventh, ninth and eleventh lords.

Visiting the Graves of the Yamauchi Family, Lords of the Tosa Domain

No official visitor information could be found. Please remember that it is a burial ground.

Enquiries: Kochi City cultural properties section, 088-832-7277.