Archaeological finds from the Kofun Period. Ongoing. at the Nara National Museum in Nara, Japan

Archaeological finds from the Kofun Period. Ongoing. at the Nara National Museum in Nara, Japan. 

The Kofun period is considered the earliest era of recorded history in Japan and extended from about 300 to 538 CE. The Kofun period is characterized by a strong influence from the Korean Peninsula as well as the introduction of Buddhism and the Chinese writing system from China. The Kofun period recorded Japan's earliest political centralization, when the Yamato clan rose to power in southwestern Japan, established the Imperial House, and helped control trade routes across the region. Many of the items in the museum's collection were recovered from the area's distinctively keyhole-shaped earthen burial mounds with stone burial chambers sometimes surrounded by moats. The museum also houses a number of Japan's national treasures and an extensive collection of Chinese ritual bronze vessels.



Image: Helmet excavated from Gojō-Nekozuka tumulus, Nara, Kofun Period, 5th century CE Iron and Gilt Bronze. Image courtesy of the Nara National Museum in Nara, Japan.

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