Ancient tomb unveiled in Nara

KASHIHARA, Nara Pref. (Kyodo) Archaeologists showed to the media Thursday a stone chamber that was excavated at an ancient tomb near Nara and is believed to date back to the late third to early fourth centuries.

Fit for a nobleman: A red-colored chamber that forms the core part of the Sakurai Chausu-yama tomb in Sakurai, Nara Prefecture, was unveiled to the media Thursday. KYODO PHOTO

The red-colored chamber measures 6.75 meters long, 1.2 meters wide and 1.7 meters high, and forms the core part of the Sakurai Chausu-yama burial mound in Sakurai, Nara Prefecture.

The Nara Prefectural Kashihara Archaeological Institute restarted research on the chamber earlier this year to look into its structure.

The tomb is believed to be that of a nobleman in the early years of the Yamato dynasty, which ruled major parts of Japan from the third to seventh centuries.

The walls of the stone chamber, the core part of the tomb, are made of more than 1,000 processed stone plates, each measuring 30 to 40 cm wide. Precious cinnabar pigment has been used abundantly to color the stone chamber.

The tomb will be open to the public from Oct. 29 to 31.