Excerpt:
Unlike Kyoto and Nara, most of the towns in the Asuka area are rather small. There are many hills and small mountains with farms and assorted orchards mixed between. Among these, a visitor may find both remains of and intact kofun (tombs) of emperors and noblemen atop hills or high plateaus. From the perspective of archaeoastronomy, one of the most interesting of these is Takamatsu Zuka Kofun. While the exact date of construction is unknown, this tomb (discovered in 1972) provides one of the earliest and most interesting and definitive examples of Chinese/Korean astronomical influence on Japan in the 7th century. Paintings of the 28 sei shuku (moon stations) as well as the celestial Shibien surrounding the north star and remnants of three of the four "gods" of cardinal directions can be seen.