When colorful paintings were found on the ceiling and walls of the stone chamber of the Takamatsuzuka ancient mound in Asuka, Nara Prefecture, in March 1972, it caused a national sensation. The paintings, believed to date back about 1,300 years, stimulated intense public interest, creating an "archaeology boom" in Japan.

The paintings received academic attention from scholars because it was thought that they might be closely connected with paintings from the early years of China's Tang Dynasty or the Koguryo Kingdom of the Korean Peninsula.

After a long period of silence, headlines with the word "Takamatsuzuka" appeared again this week -- but this time with an unexpected twist. The articles were about the Cultural Affairs Agency's decision to disassemble the stone chamber in order to preserve paintings that were being damaged by the spread of mold. A 24-member task force of the agency reached the decision after four rounds of discussions since June 2004.