A Single Lot of Archaeological Material, National Treasure since 2004
Artifacts Excavated from Fujinoki Tomb in Nara Prefecture (奈良県藤ノ木古墳出土品, Nara-ken Fujinoki Kofun Shutsudohin) are Kofun-period archaeological material at 50-2 Unebi-cho, Kashihara City, Nara Prefecture, made an Important Cultural Property on 6 June 1988 and designated a National Treasure on 8 June 2004. The owner is the state through the Agency for Cultural Affairs.
The quantity reads as one lot. The Inariyama finds were recorded the same way. For archaeological material, giving no number and treating everything together has now appeared twice.
Sixteen years separate the two listings: longer than the two years for the Inariyama finds, shorter than the hundred and nine for the Five Wisdom Buddhas.
The Site Given as a Distance from Another Building
The Agency's commentary is short, but how it locates the site is distinctive.
These are, together as one lot, the objects excavated from the Fujinoki tomb, which lies about three hundred and fifty metres west of Horyuji in Nara Prefecture.
The tomb is placed by direction and distance from Horyuji: about 350 metres to the west.
Locations here have normally been given as addresses: 527 Chaya-cho, Higashiyama Ward, Kyoto City; 13-9 Ueno Park, Taito Ward, Tokyo.
Not so here. A well-known building serves as the reference, and the distance from it carries the position. Nearness itself becomes the information, which an address would not convey.
The Contents of the Lot Counted Again Elsewhere
The quantity is one lot, with no breakdown. Yet the related entries list the objects one by one.
Among them: a gilt bronze crown, gilt bronze shoes, the front and rear arches of a gilt bronze saddle, ornamental fittings hung with pendants, fittings with dragon designs, harness pendants of thorn-leaf form, and circular ornamental fittings.
What is designated as one lot is broken into items in another record. The unit of designation and the unit of description are not the same.
With the Yasaka Shrine documents, one property was counted two ways within itself: 2,205 documents by title, 89 scrolls and 40 volumes and 1 folded book and 1 sheet by quantity. Here the recounting happens outside the property.
Some records separate the two people buried there: earrings, hollow silver beads and glass beads for the southern occupant; round glass beads and small glass beads for the northern one.
A Category Called Reconstruction
The related entries hold another kind of thing again.
Gilt bronze shoes, a gilt bronze crown, and a decorated great sword and sword, each marked as a reconstruction.
Several words for copies have appeared here. The Bunsei-era copy of the six realms paintings, the Tenpo-era copy of the Ippen biography, the reproduction of the lacquered booklet box, the Tang copy of the Soranjo.
A reconstruction differs from these. A copy reproduces something present to the eye; a reconstruction infers a lost form and makes it again.
For the gilt bronze shoes, a record of the excavated object and a record of the reconstruction stand side by side: the state in which they came from the ground, and the shape they are supposed to have had.
Seeing It
The material is at 50-2 Unebi-cho, Kashihara City, Nara Prefecture, owned by the state. It is a museum holding, not kept on permanent display.
Accounts elsewhere give a figure of about twelve thousand pieces. The Agency's record says only one lot and gives no count, and this article does not repeat the number.
The claim that the Inariyama sword bears the oldest surviving Japanese writing was kept because it stands in the record; the claim of only three Yohen Tenmoku bowls was dropped because it does not. Counts are handled by the same rule.
Display plans can change, so check the museum's information before travelling.
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Q&A
- When was the material designated?
- It became an Important Cultural Property on 6 June 1988 and a National Treasure on 8 June 2004. The quantity is one lot, the address 50-2 Unebi-cho, Kashihara City, and the owner the state.
- Where is the tomb?
- The Agency places it about three hundred and fifty metres west of Horyuji. Rather than an address, direction and distance from a well-known building carry the position.
- What was found?
- This record gives only one lot, with no breakdown, but related entries list a gilt bronze crown, gilt bronze shoes, the front and rear arches of a gilt bronze saddle, ornamental fittings with pendants, dragon-design fittings and others individually.
- What is a reconstruction?
- Something made again from an inferred original form. A copy reproduces what is present to the eye; a reconstruction infers what has been lost. For the gilt bronze shoes, both the excavated object and a reconstruction are recorded.
- How many pieces are there?
- The Agency records only one lot and gives no count. Accounts elsewhere say about twelve thousand pieces, but this article does not repeat that figure.
Basic Information
| Name | Artifacts Excavated from Fujinoki Tomb in Nara Prefecture (奈良県藤ノ木古墳出土品, Nara-ken Fujinoki Kofun Shutsudohin) |
|---|---|
| Location | 50-2 Unebi-cho, Kashihara City, Nara Prefecture |
| Designation | National Treasure (archaeological material) |
| Year Designated | 1988 (6 June), Important Cultural Property; 2004 (8 June), National Treasure |
| Quantity | One lot, with no count given |
| Dimensions | The Agency records no dimensions. The Fujinoki tomb from which the objects came is said to lie about 350 metres west of Horyuji. The period is Kofun |
| Owner | The state, through the Agency for Cultural Affairs |
| Public Access | Held by a museum, not on permanent display |
References
- Cultural Heritage Online: artifacts from the Fujinoki tomb
- https://bunka.nii.ac.jp/heritages/detail/202733
- Cultural Heritage Online: gilt bronze shoes from the Fujinoki tomb, reconstruction
- https://bunka.nii.ac.jp/heritages/detail/394475
- Museum of the Archaeological Institute of Kashihara, Nara Prefecture
- https://www.kashikoken.jp/museum/info/info.html
- Agency for Cultural Affairs, National Cultural Properties Database
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/
Last verified: 2026.09.05