泉崎横穴

Izumizaki Cave Tomb

Useful Information

Location:	Shiroishiyama Izumizaki, Nishishirakawa District, Fukushima 969-0101. (37.152698, 140.317274)
Open:	OCT 2nd Sat 10-17. Izumizaki Historical Museum: All year daily 10-18. Closed 13-DEC, 01-JAN. [2022]
Fee:	free. Izumizaki Historical Museum: free. [2022]
Classification:	Cave Church
Light:	Incandescent Electric Light System
Dimension:
Guided tours:
Photography:	no
Accessibility:	yes
Bibliography:
Address:	Lifelong Learning Section, Education Division, 24-9 Izumizaki Tate, Izumizaki-mura, Nishishirakawa-gun, Fukushima Prefecture 969-0101, Tel: +81-248-53-4777, Fax: +81-248-53-4778. Izumizaki Historical Museum, Tate-24-9 Izumizaki, Nishishirakawa District, Fukushima 969-0101, Tel: +81-248-53-4777.
As far as we know this information was accurate when it was published (see years in brackets), but may have changed since then. Please check rates and details directly with the companies in question if you need more recent info.

History

1933	discovered by chance during road construction at the prefectural road.
1934	declared a National Historic Site.

Description

泉崎横穴 (Izumisaki Yokoana, Izumizaki Cave Tomb) was discovered by chance during road construction in 1933. This road was quite successful from the archaeological point of view, in total seven cave tombs were discovered. Exceptional was a chamber in one tomb which had red murals on the wall, showing people, animals such as horses, and swirls in geometric patterns. The tombs were dated to be about 1,400 years old, built during the Kofun period. The discovery was widely reported and attracted a lot of attention because it was the first time a decorated tomb was discovered in the Tohoku region.

The tomb is normally closed, but it is visited on guided tours at special events. More interesting is obviously an exhibition with a full-size photo panel of the murals in the Izumizaki Museum in front of Izumizaki Station.