Ikime Kofun Group　( Photo by Miyazaki City Board of Education )

　Ikime Kofun Group, located in western Miyazaki City, is situated on a hill at an elevation of around 20 m on the right bank of the Oyodo River, stretching approximately 1.3 km north-south and 1.2 km east-west. There are a total of 50 extant mounds, including 8 keyhole-shaped burial mounds and 42 circular burial mounds, with estimates suggesting that this group once consisted of over 100 mounds when including those that have disappeared along with tunnel tombs and underground tunnel tombs.
　This kofun group is thought to have been established at a comparatively early stage, even for southern Kyushu, with work believed to have commenced from Mound No.21 (mound length: approx. 36 m), a keyhole-shaped burial mound constructed during the first half of the 4th century (Early Kofun). During the 4th century, a series of gigantic keyhole-shaped burial mounds, thought to have been the biggest of their kind in southern Kyushu at the time of their construction, were built here, including Mound No.3 (mound length: approx. 137 m), Mound No.22 (mound length: approx. 101 m), and Mound No.1 (mound length: approx. 130 m). By the 5th century (Middle Kofun), the size and number of kofun decreased, but mounds continued to be built until the 6th century (Late Kofun).