Konda Gobyoyama is the name of the great tomb that dominates the Furuichi end of this group, and it is the burial mound attributed to the emperor Ojin, a ruler of semi-legendary standing whom the chronicles place around the end of the fourth century. At over four hundred metres long, it is the second largest tomb in Japan, bigger by volume than many pyramids, and beside it stands the shrine of Konda Hachimangu, whose forest and approach give the place a gentle atmosphere. The pairing is typical of Japan. A shrine to the war god Hachiman, who is identified with Ojin, sits beside an earthen tomb that nobody is permitted to enter.
The wider Mozu-Furuichi group, with forty-nine tombs listed by UNESCO in 2019, was built in the plain of Kawachi in the fourth and fifth centuries, during an age when rulers of the Yamato state were trading with and sending envoys to China and Korea. Chinese records of the time speak of the five kings of Wa, who sought titles from the Chinese court, and the scale of the tombs reflects a state that could mobilise thousands of workers. Archaeologists have found that the mounds were covered with fist-sized stones and rows of terracotta cylinders, so that when new they must have gleamed like stepped hills.
The ride in on this side is tame. From central Osaka you take the commuter roads, which are slow, signalised and full of delivery vans, and the area where the mounds stand is a district of low houses and small factories. The reward, as ever, lies beyond. Within half an hour you can reach the Kongo and Ikoma ranges, and a day ride from here can carry you to Horyu-ji at Ikaruga, the temple that preserves some of the oldest wooden buildings in the world, and the other kofun on the ride list.
Getting around is made easier by the fact that Japan is orderly. Fuel stations are everywhere, with attendants at many, and convenience stores open all night offer coffee and snacks. Parking beside the mound is not always available, so use public car parks and walk.
Look for the moat, where reed and water give the tomb a lonely outline, and walk the path round it slowly. The scale only sinks in when you realise you are still walking after twenty minutes.