Assassin's Creed Shadows: Kofun Locations & Interactive Tracking Guide

Learn it, and you'll spot burial mounds from across a valley — and inside each one is a maze that ends in a Legendary Chest. The catch is that roughly half of them will refuse to let you in as the character you're currently playing.

All Kofun locations are fully documented on Map Master's Assassin's Creed Shadows Japan map.

What's Inside Every Kofun

These are mini-dungeons, closest in spirit to the Tombs from Valhalla. Winding cave paths, barricaded rooms, backtracking, and environmental puzzles that gate the route forward.

At the end sits a Legendary Chest. Opening it awards Legendary Equipment, a Legendary Engraving, a large chunk of XP, and 1 Knowledge Point, and the HUD flashes "Kofun Completed" the moment it's done.

That combination makes Kofun one of the highest-value activities in the game per visit. Most Knowledge Point activities give you a point and some XP. Kofun gives you a point, some XP, and a piece of Legendary gear you'll likely still be wearing twenty hours later.

Each Kofun Belongs to Naoe or Yasuke

This is the part that sends people back to the fast travel menu.

Yasuke's Kofun require brute strength — lifting explosive jars, shoving large crates aside, clearing barriers that won't move for anyone else. Makino Kurumazuka in the Yawata Plains needs him just to open the entrance.

Naoe's Kofun demand the opposite. Narrow cracks in stone walls, grapple hook traversal, parkour across gaps. Chasuriyama Kofun in Tamba is built entirely around her hook, and Yasuke physically cannot fit through some entrances at all.

The Knowledge Points are shared, so it never matters who completes one. It only matters that you arrive as the right character — check before you ride out, because a Kofun is a long way to travel to discover you brought the wrong protagonist.

How to Spot a Kofun in the Wild

The water pool around the mound is the reliable signal. From there, the entrance is either a hole in the top of the hill or a narrow crack in a stone wall somewhere along the side.

At night, look for lampposts. Several Kofun entrances are flanked by them, along with clusters of clay vases — including the one holding the Blush of the Earth legendary bow for Yasuke, which is otherwise easy to walk straight past in the dark.

The Kofun Rewards Worth Prioritising

Two trinkets stand out well above the rest.

Masakado's Vengeance, from the Megalithic Vault in Yamato west of Todaiji, scales your damage off unspent Mastery Points — which makes it extraordinary in the mid-game when you're banking points and genuinely absurd if you hold them deliberately. It's arguably the strongest trinket in the game.

Amaterasu's Blessing, from the Old Kofun in Izumi Settsu east of Sakai along the coast, gives +10% damage per unused ability slot. It rewards a deliberately minimal build and pairs beautifully with a stealth-first Naoe. It's also one of the earliest Kofun you can reach, and it's hers.

For weapons, the Ancient Tomb of Nanjo southwest of Kyoto in Yamashiro hands Naoe Yukimitsu's Revenge, a legendary tanto that makes afflicted enemies Vulnerable — meaning every Bleed, Daze, and Poison effect you apply becomes a damage multiplier. Chasuriyama Kofun in Tamba gives her the Scarlet Fate Tanto.

Kofun Sit in Hostile Territory Sometimes

Not all of them are quiet. Takagi Kofun in Harima is connected to Takagi Otsuka Fort, which puts you inside enemy ground before you even reach the entrance. Clear the surface first or accept that you'll be fighting your way out with a Legendary Chest in your pocket.

Some Kofun also open through the main campaign rather than exploration — the Megalithic Vault among them — so a few may already be marked before you go looking.

Kofun and the Six Knowledge Ranks

Kofun are one of seven Knowledge Point activities, and among the most efficient given the Legendary gear attached. Ranks 2, 3, and 4 cost 10 Knowledge Points each; Rank 5 costs 15 and unlocks the strongest skills; Rank 6 is the ceiling.

Because Kofun split between both characters, they pair naturally with the other shared activities like Shrines, while Kata and Horse Archery cover Yasuke alone and Kuji-kiri and Hidden Trails cover Naoe.