The Mimizuka is almost unknown to the Japanese public unlike to the Koreans. The British historian Stephen Turnbull called the Mimizuka "...Kyoto's least mentioned and most often avoided tourist attraction". A plaque, which was later removed, stood in front of the Ear Mound in the 1960s with the passage, "One cannot say that cutting off noses was so atrocious by the standard of the time." Most guidebooks do not mention the Ear Mound, and only a few Japanese or foreign tourists visit the site. The majority of visiting tourists are Korean – Korean tour buses are often seen parked near the Ear Mound.