The name Nishiumazuka means west horse mound, and horses do figure in the story of the Furuichi tombs. Excavations around the giant tomb of Emperor Ojin turned up harness fittings and even buried horses in nearby tombs, and historians read this as a sign of the new cavalry culture arriving in Japan from the Korean peninsula in the fifth century. Horses meant armies, and armies meant a different kind of kingship, which is the story these mounds tell if you read them closely.
Nishiumazuka is a compact tomb in the southeast of Osaka, among the houses of Habikino and Fujiidera on the Kawachi plain. The ride names the nearest town as Kashihara, but you could just as well say you are at the foot of the Kongo and Katsuragi range, with the commuter railway line running through. A fence, a signboard and a screen of trees are most of what the visitor gets, and that is plenty.
Do not expect an empty road. The lanes are narrow, there are traffic lights every few hundred metres and schoolchildren cycle three abreast, so this is slow, polite riding. The consolation is the convenience: fuel, vending machines and bakeries are within a few minutes, and you can be back on the expressway to Nara or Kyoto without trouble. Osaka itself is a magnificent place to eat, so if you plan an overnight, plan for a bowl of kushikatsu or a plate of okonomiyaki.
Look at the moat if you can see it. Water here is often green with duckweed, and in winter you will see ducks on it and grey herons standing like statues. Seasonal contrasts are strong: the plain is shimmering and humid in summer, and the cicadas make a continuous roar.
Autumn is dry, bright and ideal. Late March and early April bring cherry blossom to the lanes that skirt the mounds. If you only have time for one or two tombs, make them the big one and a small one like this, because together they show what the whole thing meant.