The image attached to this newsletter is of an ancient Buddhist sanctuary that I visit annually on my Essence of Autumn photo tour and my Essence of Cherry Blossom photo tour. It’s actually a Kofun village mound burial site from approximately the 3rd century.  The Kofun period (古墳時代 - Kofun jidai) is from around 300 to 540 AD.  Across Japan there are over 160,000 Kofun sites and burial mounds.  Next to the mounds are ancient villages.  These villages’ former inhabitants were the builders of the Kofun burial mounds.  Today, some of these ancient villages still thrive while others are gone, but relics are still being discovered.  Japan academia TODAY will tell you that Japanese are responsible for building the Kofun mounds, but currently there is much debate on who should actually be credited.  From Okinawa to Northern Honshu, Kofun mounds and villages are everywhere.  Inside the burial mounds, treasure has been found such as gold, jewels, pottery, armor, coins, artifacts made of clay that closely resemble a Sumerian heritage rather a native Japanese origin.  Sumerio-Akkadian cuneiform tablets have also been discovered throughout Japan which further complicates an exclusive Japanese authorship theory for creation of the Kofun mounds.  The Kofun mound sites include villages, homesteads, burial mounds, and holy sites, and many of these sites are now known to be power spots.  Japan’s Imperial family holds the keys/is the caretaker of these mounds.  Some of the Imperial treasures have even been ‘borrowed’ from these sacred mounds by the Imperial family themselves since they claim that these mounds hold their ancestors.  Interestingly, during the enthronement of the emperor, some of the looted treasure from the mounds is so sacred that only a few of the most senior Shinto priests may lay eyes upon them, not even the emperor himself.  Wow!   However, to this day, no DNA testing linking the Kofun mound mummies to the Imperial family has been carried out or has been made public to my knowledge.  One of the sources for all the drama and secrecy from the Imperial household and history being altered has been due to Japan's main faith, Shinto, which was created for the Imperial house and settlers of Japan who came from other Asian nations such as China, Korea, and Taiwan. Shintoism in Japan overtook Buddhism and Confucianism, but Buddhism has survived.  Shintoism, by contrast, incorporates most of the beliefs and gods or Kamuy from the First Nations Peoples of Japan, the Ainu. I have close friends who are Shinto holy men and Ainu elders and artisans, individuals who live in harmony with nature. The beliefs are almost identical between the two, so I know that Shintoism used the Ainu spiritual system and guide as their source. The Ainu used to occupy the main island of Japan, from Honshu to Hokkaido.  However, non-residents from other countries pushed the First Nations People into hiding, further and further north, until they ultimately settled in Hokkaido during and after the Kofun period; this is something akin to the Trail of Tears, or even more simply put an untold and undocumented persecution of a race of humans.

Believe it or not, until just a few years ago Japanese academia called the Kofun mounds ‘mystery mounds’.  Perhaps rather than the Imperial family, the actual caretakers and original creators of the Kofun mounds were aliens?  I could be wrong, but it seems just as valid a theory as some of the unsupported hypotheses I’ve heard being passed around in academic circles as to the Kofun mounds’ origin.  The Kofun site in the photo attached to this newsletter is in the Mt. Fuji region.  Most visitors don’t know what to look for when it comes to ancient sites, so they search the web, and they find between two dozen to fifty sites.  So where are the other 159,950?  They are not lost, more like overlooked, and as an amateur historian, sometime pseudo-treasure hunter and pro photographer, I have spent hundreds of hours discovering and recording the locations of Kofun mound sites, and I always love the adventure bound to whatever I find. I would enjoy sharing some of Japan’s Kofun secrets with you.  When it comes to the Kofun period, and explaining the facts and dates of this period’s artifacts, I run into a stone wall from time to time. Since the Imperial family is the caretaker of the Kofun period sites and only recognizes a small percentage of the nation’s treasure trove, the information ranges from non-existent to extremely limited.  As a result, my explanation turns toward folklore, oral accounts, and storytelling about Kofun mounds in locations throughout Japan.  As an amateur historian, I do not like offering folklore as a historical fact because it borders on conspiracy theory.  Conspiracy theories fuel  the worst kind  hearsay and cloud actual fact-finding regarding this important era in Japan’s history.  As part of any of my Japan photo workshops, I’ll share all the accurate information I have without any conspiracy added, unless pressured for my opinion by trusted companions.

In spite of all the mystery and adventure tied to the Kofun mounds, the bulk of visiting international photographers gravitate toward the same locations, lining up in such large numbers that some local Japanese governments have taken measures to stem the tide of inconsiderate tourists.  An example is the recent construction of a tall black tarp at a Lawson convenience store blocking a view of Mt. Fuji in the background that some were calling ‘the most aesthetic shot’, ‘unique’, or ‘an iconic shot’.  Thanks to some social media posts that went viral, thousands upon thousands of tourists flocked to the region and were blocking streets, defacing buildings by climbing on them, and disrupting the local residents’ way of life.  My question is why deal with all of this when you could be adventuring and exploring the mystery of Kofun mounds traveling across Japan, chasing the light, and taking unforgettable photos that few others have taken?  The Mt. Fuji region alone has numerous Kofun mound sites and villages to explore.  It saddens me that so many people are content simply staying on the beaten path when a Japan photography workshop tour with me will introduce Japan's rich culture and history, a quest to understand and experience authentic Japan.