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Japanese Emperors, where to be buried after death

Retrieved on 2022/7/15 from https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kondayama-ohjin_stereo.jpg#/media/ファイル:Kondayama-ohjin_stereo.jpg

Go-ryo （御陵）or Mi-sa-sagi（陵） is a grave where bodies of the Emperor and the Empress of Japan are buried after they die. The current Emperor Naruhito（今上天皇徳仁）marks the 126th in the chrysanthemum throne and his father, the Emperor emeritus Akihito (上皇明仁：the former 125th Emperor) who abdicated the throne in 2019 is still alive, that is, there are 124 graves so far for the Sovereigns ranging from the legendary first Emperor Jimmu （神武天皇）to the 124th Emperor Showa （昭和天皇）who’s known as Hirohito（裕仁）and there will be one more added when the Emperor emeritus dies in future. 


How Go-ryo is
    The graves exist throughout Japan but concentrate mainly in Nara, Osaka, Kyoto and near-Tokyo area.

    Chronically, the Emperors in the ancient time are buried in larger tumulus with keyhole shape（circular‐shaped tomb with rectangular frontage）or Zampo Kouenfun（前方後円墳） in Nara and Osaka. From tombs for the 76th Emperor Konoe（近衛天皇）, it became more Buddhism-oriented. e.g. stone stupa. From the 122nd Emperor Meiji （明治天皇）to the 124th Emperor Hirohito, the tombs are unified to “circular-shaped with rectangular bottom” or Jouen kahoufun（上円下方墳）.

    The Imperial Household Agency, an mistrial organization on behalf of the Imperial Family of Japan or Kunai-cho（宮内庁） is in charge of maintaining these graves which are defined as “Property for the Imperial Family” in Japanese related law. For the Imperial Family, these are their family graveyards, so periodically the family member including the Emperor himself visits there for commemorating their ancestors.  

    General people can visit to the alter attached to the grave for prayer or even sightseeing but are not allowed to enter inside. This “keep-out” rule is also applied to academic fields; Since it’s been strictly protected by the Agency who considers it disrespectful towards “their majesties in history” to enter into the sacred area, few archeological field works/excavations have been made for academic purpose, so some of them are still “implied” as the imperial graves with no academic proof. 

    That said, some antient tumulus in Osaka were registered as the UNESCO World Heritage in 2019 under the name “Mozu-Furuichi Kofun Group: Mounded Tombs of Ancient Japan” comprising of 49 tombs around the Mozu-Furuichi area in Osaka. Staying aside poor archeological studies, ICOMOS, an advisory organization to UNESCO for World Heritage, focused on its historical values showing how Japan formed an organized nation having social classes (sovereign, nobles and general people) in its early days prior to Chinese influences and the tradition inherited by the current Imperial family for its religious and cultural aspects and UNESCO decided to register the grave complex based on the ICOMOS report.

Exception on the keep-out rule
    Among the registered tumulus, there is an exception for the “keep-out” rule at Konda Hachiman-gu Shrine（誉田八幡宮）, the oldest shrine worshiping the 15th Emperor Oujin（応神天皇）established in 559 AD.

    Since the enshrined deity is the Emperor himself, its tumulus is annexed to the shrine for religious worship. The shrine holds a grand festival celebrating the Emperor on September 15 every year and visitors are allowed to go inside the tumulus with strict guides by the shrine’s priests only at the festival.

    This is designed for religious purpose only; Do not expect a sense of sightseeing friendliness. If you are interested in joining this ceremony from overseas, it may be workable to contact the shrine beforehand.

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