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Burial Mounds at Saitobaru

HOME > Japan’s Local Treasures > Burial Mounds at Saitobaru

Enjoy beautiful flowers year-round in scenery unchanged for 1,700 years

Miyazaki Prefecture

The park surrounding the kofun burial mounds at Saitobaru, which stretches 2.6 km (1.6 miles) east to west, and 4.2 km (2.6 miles) north to south, contains over 300 ancient burial mounds, making it one of the largest collections of its kind in Japan. There are very few buildings in the area, so you can experience the same scenery that people gazed upon 1,700 years ago – a look back at the history of ancient Japan. As the only place in Japan where the mounds spread across the tableland have retained their original shape and design, this archaeological area is a recognized Japanese Heritage preservation site.

The Saitobaru Burial Mounds are also famous as one of the best places in Miyazaki Prefecture to see flowers: In spring, 2,000 cherry blossom trees and 300,000 rape blossoms are in full bloom; in the summer, you can see a million sunflowers. In the autumn, three million cosmos flowers blanket the area – making it a perfect place to enjoy beautiful seasonal flowers all through the year. In spring, the contrast of the yellow rape blossoms with the pink cherry blossoms and the blue sky makes for a particularly unforgettable experience, and an ideal place for you to enjoy a hanami flower-viewing picnic.

The area around the burial mounds is also popular as a cycling route – there are some routes in the area aimed at novice cyclists too, so you can go for a relaxing ride while taking in the scenery no matter what your fitness level.

How to get there

From Haneda Airport, fly to Miyazaki Airport (about 90 minutes). Next, take a train to Sadowara Station (about 30 minutes), then a bus to Saito Bus Center (about 30 minutes). From there, take a cab to the Saitobaru Burial Mounds (about 10 minutes).

Oaza Miyake, Saito-shi, Miyazaki-ken