ArticleKey #22: Son of Heaven - Part 3, A Divine Tomb

The distinction of being a “Son of Heaven” is relatively easy to assign but extremely hard to justify. Rulers might amass wealth and build impressive palaces but there are always enough industrialists whose fortune is even more considerable - or outright dictators and other usurpers whose residences (be it palaces, castles or mansions) are much more ostentatious and gaudy. As long as rulers remain mortal, they need access to food, water and air; they can feel unwell or moody… In other words, even the most powerful humans can't help displaying frailties that are typical of their species but unimaginable for a deity. That might be the reason that, throughout history, many kings liked to be seen as “divinely ordained”, but very few would claim the actual divine or semi-divine status. That also might be the reason that even those precious few who did, sought confirmation of their status after death rather than during their lifetime. Hence the Pyramids - Pharaohs' burial ground, unique and famous enough to prompt a Egyptian proverb: “Humans fear Time but even Time fears the Pyramids!”. Hence yet another of the Original Seven - Mausoleum at Halicarnassus whose very name derives from Mausolos, a 4th century BC king of Caria (which is now the city of Bodrum in Turkey). Essentially, mausoleums are regular tombs but they are located above ground - and that's what helps to turn some of them into burial palaces whose luxuries compete with (and defeat!) those of the mightiest among the living. Hence Daisen Kofun (Big Mountain Tomb) in Sakai, just outside of Osaka (on the above picture). 

Strictly speaking, it's Mozu Kofun - 49 tombs scattered all over the area and housing the elite of the Japanese society in the 3-6 centuries AD. However, the tomb associated with Nintoku, the legendary 16th Emperor, is by far the most famous of them - and that renown has everything to do with the tomb's size, as implied by its name. In addition to being one of the main attractions of the region, the tomb is located very close to Sakai train station - so, it's very easy to find by just following a sign like “Daisen Kofun - 600 metres”, and in a minute or two seeing something like that

or that

A placid, quaint, typical Japanese park that, one would naturally presume, leads to the tomb - only to finally realize that the park IS the tomb, and seeing the whole of it would require looking from space or, at least, from a plane. Sakai City Hall's panoramic observatory provides some approximation of the experience by allowing a glimpse of the keyhole shape the tomb is best known for.

The observatory is part of Sakai's effort to deal with the unusual wonder that is literally hidden in plain sight, and the town does its best to let visitors experience that wonder vicariously. There is a permanent Kofun exhibition in the town museum, and it's replete with both visual

and textual information