National Treasures & Important Cultural Properties
of National Institutes for Cultural Heritage, Japan

These lidded jasper containers were excavated from the Tomio Maruyama Tumulus located in Maruyama, Owada-cho, Nara City. The smaller one on the right of the photograph is dark blue-green and made of high-quality jasper stone. The one on the left is larger and made of a softer, light green stone. Lidded stone containers are peculiar to the early Kofun period (ca. 250-ca. 600), and are believed to have contained something precious, though what exactly is unknown. Since they are rarely found, they are valuable artifacts.