Archaeological Studies of Mortuary Customs of Ancient Japan

We have conducted the studies of mortuary customs in ancient Japan, adopting two methods; one is archaeological and the other is historical. Archaeological researches have dealt with mortuary rituals analyzing postures and orientation of burials which are believed to show historical changes of ethnic variabilities in ritual customs. Comparative studies of burials from the Jomon to the Kofun period have revealed that there was various types of burial postures: not only two distinctive types e.g. crouched and extended burials, but many kinds of intermediate types. The results suggest burial practices varied both historically and regionally, according to the extent of the contact between Chinese or Korean burial customs. Historical studies of burial customs in ancient Japan have dealt with the role of Buddism in the mortuary rituals, especially of the Imperial Family in the Medieval times. The studies revealed that the Imperial Family had abolished mounded tomb system in the Heian period and adopted Buddist customs such as stupa building or urn burials in temples. These Buddist-oriented rituals had long been adopted as main rituals before the Meiji era when they introduced the mound tomb system for burials; the revival of the ancient practices. Our researches has thus gained many fruitful results which will enable us to carry out further studies.