Shimotsumichi clan grave

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Shimotsumichi clan grave is a burial mound from the Nara period in Yakage town, Okayama Prefecture, Japan. It has been a National Historic Site since 1923.

In 1699, a copper funerary urn was found inside a stone chest in Higashi-Mitsunari hamlet, Yakage. The urn measures about 12 cm in diameter and 15.8 cm tall; the lid is about 24.7 cm across and 8.8 cm tall. The lid’s inscription says that Shimotsumichi Ason Kunikatsu and Kuyori cremated their mother in Wadō 1 (708 AD). Kunikatsu belonged to the local noble family of the former Kingdom of Kibi and was the father of Kibi no Makibi, a noted Nara-period scholar and diplomat.

The burial mound is believed to be the grave of the Shimotsumichi clan. The urn is kept as a temple treasure at Kokushō-ji temple, about 1 kilometer northwest of the grave, and is designated a National Important Cultural Property. The grave site is now part of Kibi-no-Makibi Park in Yakage.