Burial mounds had already been constructed in the Yayoi period mainly in Western Japan, and from around the later third century, what is called zenpo-koen-fun -- a large-scale tomb peculiar to Japan -- began to be constructed mainly in the Yamato Basin.
すでに弥生時代から西日本を中心に墳丘墓が営まれていたが、3世紀後半頃から大和盆地を中心に前方後円墳と称される日本独特の形式の大規模な墳墓が営まれるようになった。