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Memorials · Higashiyama (Shichijo)

Mimizuka (Ear Mound) 耳塚

A grassy burial mound near Toyokuni Shrine holding noses and ears taken from Korean and Ming dead during Hideyoshi's invasions of Korea.

PriceFree
Getting thereShichijo Station (Keihan), 10 min
Time needed10 min
AddressShomen-dori, Chaya-cho, Higashiyama Ward, Kyoto

About

During Toyotomi Hideyoshi's invasions of Korea in the 1590s, Japanese commanders sent back noses and ears as proof of the numbers killed, instead of heads. These came from soldiers and also civilians. A monk's diary records that in the autumn of 1597 fifteen tubs arrived from Korea and were buried in a mound near the Great Buddha hall of Hokoji. The mound was first called the Nose Mound; a later scholar renamed it the Ear Mound, which is the name used today. It is estimated to hold the remains of around twenty thousand people. Memorial ceremonies have been held here by Japanese and Korean groups. It is part of a national historic site.

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