Asuka: MRA-JPN-Asu001

Located in Asuka, Nara Prefecture, the Takamatsuzuka Tomb is one of Japan’s most significant late 7th–early 8th-century funerary monuments. Discovered in 1972, the stone chamber tomb is renowned for its vividly painted interior walls, which depict court ladies, male officials, the Four Guardian Deities, and a detailed astronomical ceiling. The murals reflect strong cultural exchanges between Japan, the Korean Peninsula, and Tang-dynasty China during the Asuka period, illustrating the adoption of continental artistic models within an indigenous funerary context. Due to severe conservation issues caused by moisture and mould, the paintings were removed from the tomb in the early 21st century for conservation and research, while the site itself has been carefully stabilised and presented to the public. The Takamatsuzuka Tomb remains a key reference for the study of early Japanese wall painting, court culture, and the transmission of cosmological and iconographic systems in East Asia.

Bibliographic sources
Agency for Cultural Affairs (Japan), Takamatsuzuka Tumulus Conservation Reports; Kidder, J. E., Early Buddhist Japan; Mizoguchi, K., An Archaeology of Ancient Japan.

Further reading
Paxton, N., Court Culture of the Asuka Period; Barnes, G. L., State Formation in Japan; Young, R., Art of East Asia.