Photos: 名古屋太郎 · CC BY-SA 4.0 (1, 2) · Tosihisa · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Sakai Yayoi · CC0 (4, 5)
Daisen Kofun, the tomb of Emperor Nintoku, is about 486 m long, the largest keyhole-shaped tomb in Japan and part of the Mozu-Furuichi World Heritage site. You cannot enter, but a 2.8 km path circles its three moats, and Sakai City Hall's free 21st-floor lobby looks down on it.
Why it's unique
It is the largest keyhole-shaped tomb in Japan.
What you do is the two-part visit residents recommend: an hour round the three moats at ground level, then the view from above, where the keyhole finally makes sense.
Before you go
From the ground it reads as a wooded hill; the shape only makes sense from the city hall, renewed in April 2025 as "MI-TE Sakai", which also has a Saitō Takao (Golgo 13) corner.
Walk the moat path first (about an hour), then go up.
