Toyotomi Hideyoshi invaded Korea twice in the late 1500s. For the Japanese things went pretty well until they didn't - China sent in troops and that was the end of that.
But back in the day, decapitation was akin to getting a receipt for service. To prove you'd been brave in the field of battle Samurai dressed in outlandish colours and crazy helmets so everyone would know who had done what. They even occasionally had battle-bureaucrats record and document the action as they found that being focussed on head-collection could come at the cost of actual battle victory.
What's this got to do with Korea?
Well head collecting and returning to Japan was totally impractical : too many heads were collected and they are kind of big and heavy. So, they collected ears (and noses), put them in barrels and sent them back to Japan where they put in this huge mound called Mimitzuka - Ear Mound.
Not surprisingly, the Korean government is not thrilled about such a monument still existing is the quiet suburbs of Kyoto and has asked for the remains to be returned.
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