Circular tomb - Enkeifun

…In Japan, truncated cone-shaped tombs appeared during the Kofun period and were used by chiefs and clan leaders, but in the later Kofun period, small earthen mound-shaped tombs with horizontal stone chambers became popular nationwide and were adopted by a wider range of people as family tombs, forming cluster tombs. The Kofun period was a distinctive period in which various types of tombs, including keyhole-shaped tombs, were built under strict regulations, so some believe that the term circular tomb should be used only for those from this period and should be distinguished from other circular tombs. Kofun [Wada Seigo]. …

*Some of the terminology used to refer to "circular tombs" is listed below.

Source | Heibonsha World Encyclopedia 2nd Edition | Information

…日本では，古墳時代に截頭円錐形のものが出現し，首長や族長層に用いられたが，古墳時代後期には，横穴式石室を伴う土饅頭形の小型墳が全国的に盛行し，家族墓として，より広範な階層の人々に採用され，群集墳を形成した。なお，古墳時代は，前方後円墳をはじめとする各種の古墳が厳しい約束のもとで築かれた特色ある時代であるので，円墳という呼称はこの時代のものに限って使用し，他の円形墳と区別しようとする考えもある。古墳【和田 晴吾】。…

※「円形墳」について言及している用語解説の一部を掲載しています。

出典｜株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典 第２版について | 情報