About 1700 years ago, giant tumuli (graves) called kofun were built across Japan. Haniwa, terracotta clay figures fired in a special kiln, were placed around the kofun. There are two broad categories of haniwa based on their shapes: cylindrical haniwa (simple, jar-like haniwa) and figurine haniwa (depicting humans, animals, buildings, and tools).
The Saitama Prefectural Museum of the Sakitama Ancient Burial Mounds