Ichijodani: A Sengoku Period Castle Town

I've visited hundreds of castles, old towns, and historical sites throughout Japan, and I found Ichijodani to be one of the most impressive sites I've ever visited, despite its lack of original structures. In order to give this amazing historical site the recognition it deserves and to share some of my excitement, I have created a slightly more detailed profile than I normally would. I took over 1700 photos in 1.5 days. The actual albums for these castles also contain sub albums with many more photos. I've tried to link into some of those where it makes sense so please also click into the other albums that interest you.

The entire city of Ichijodani should rightfully be considered a National Treasure⁽¹⁾. Since it was first discovered over 50 years ago, studies have uncovered the plans of a Sengoku Period castle town that was completely lost to time, along with countless relics (over a million to date; 2,000 of which have been designated National Important Cultural Properties).

Ichijodani is the Pompeii of Japan⁽²⁾, lost to time in a great event, now revealing the secrets of an ancient city frozen in time. This is really important. While we have some magnificent castle towns of the Edo period (Hagi, Matsushiro, Iwamura, Kanazawa, Sasayama), they would have developed over or changed any vestige of their Sengoku period towns as the Edo castle towns developed, not to mention the more recent modernizations and developments since the fall of the Tokugawa Bakufu. Nowhere else can we imagine a townscape of samurai and merchants, priests and craftsmen, creating a thriving metropolis in the depths of such a beautiful mountain valley. I used to think that if I could go back in time, I would choose to live in Takatori Castle, but now I think I would choose Ichijodani.

It all began in 1471, when Asakura Takakage seized control of Echizen Province during the Onin War. He built a fortified residence in the middle of the valley with a mountaintop castle behind it. The Onin War (1467-1477) devastated the capital city of Kyoto. Aristocrats, artisans, and others of high art and culture sought refuge in Ichijodani and the power and influence of the Asakura continued to grow. They strengthened ties with the Azai of Odani and earned the trust of the Ashikaga shoguns. Ichijodani prospered as its population grew to rival Kyoto and Sakai.

Akechi Mitsuhide even sought refuge with the Asakura when fleeing the conflicts in Mino Province. Little is known about Mitsuhide's time in Ichijodani, but it is said that he lived a very frugal life. He studied the medical knowledge of the Asakura and became close to the future shogun, Ashikaga Yoshiaki, who also resided in Ichijodani for a time. The relationship that began here may have provided an important key to Akechi's eventual betrayal of Nobunaga, but that is a story for another time.

Ichijodani is not just a castle and a town, but an entire network of fortifications surrounding the Asakura capital.

~Asakura Yakata 朝倉館~

The center of the city was the palace of Asakura. This fortified home itself is enough to rival some castles. Water moats and earth embankments run along three sides of the compound, while the fourth side is the mountain itself. A horikiri type moat behind the yakata serves to separate the palace from the mountain and provides an escape route either to Nanyoji and the northern exit of the castle or behind the other residences and out to Kamikido. Escape routes up the mountain also allowed for quick escape to the mountaintop castle.

The Karamon gate at the entrance to the grounds is not original, but dates from the Edo period when it was erected at Sho'un'in Temple by the Fukui daimyo to honor the memory of Asakura Yoshikage, the last of the Asakura lords. It was later moved to this site as the gate of the palace ruins (see main photo above).

On the ridge above the palace is the Yudono Garden, one of the 4 famous gardens of Ichijodani.

moat and tatebori

palace grounds

On the other side of the great tatebori moat, at about the same elevation as the Yudono Garden, is the Nakano-goten. This was the residence of Yoshikage's mother. It has embankments and a stone entrance on the south side. On the east side is another embankment and a karabori ditch.

Just beyond the stone-walled entrance and stone-lined walkway along the Nakano-goten is an area known as the Jadani. From the Eirinzuka (tomb of Asakura Takakage) to the valley floor is a series of terraces that housed the homes of high-ranking vassals and family members. From Eirinzuka, you can also follow a trail through the deep ditch along the back of Asakura Yakata to Nanyoji Temple. Nanyoji was the kimonyoke of Ichijodani, protecting it from evil spirits flowing down from the northeast.

Tatebori and entrance to the Nakano Goten

Nakano Goten

Continuing south from these terraces across a small mountain stream is the Suwa Yakata, the palace of Yoshikage's wife. It interesting that his mother's residence was much closer and surrounded by other family members than his wife's. Despite the distance, the Suwa Yakata had the largest and most beautiful of the 4 Asakura gardens.

These residences are all high enough to have panoramic views of the valley and the castle town. It must have been a fantastic sight to behold.

Suwa Yakata

Jadani Area

Four Asakura Gardens

Across the valley, the ruins of 18 Muromachi period gardens have been found at the villas of the Asakura family and other samurai. These are important artifacts for learning about the gardens of the elite in the Muromachi period, as many other gardens were likely altered over the years. These are mostly stone and pond gardens with large stones that emphasize the strength of these Muromachi period warlords and samurai.

Around the Asakura Yakata, four gardens in particular have been restored and nationally registered as Special Scenic Spots of Japan (特別名勝). The photos I've seen online and in books look much nicer than what I was able to photograph that day. Perhaps it was too early in the spring to enjoy it, or the recent efforts to cut down more trees have killed some of the moss and plants around them. The Nanyoji garden, in particular, looks a little less manicured than in the past, with a dried up pond and lots of weeds.

Suwa Yakata

Nanyoji

Asakura Palace

Yudono Garden

~City Gates 城戸~

The city of Ichijodani was sealed off at both ends of the valley by fortifications called Kamikido (Upper Gate) and Shimokido (Lower Gate). The areas of the castle metropolis were often referred to as "between the kido" or "outside the kido. When Akechi Mitsuhide and Ashikaga Yoshiaki lived in Ichijodani, they also lived "outside the kido" south of Ichijodani, since they were not vassals of the Asakura.

The Shimokido (Lower Gate) closes the northern end of the valley at its narrowest point, where it is only 80 meters wide. This is the main entrance to the city and close to the trade routes. The high embankment prevents you from seeing inside the castle city. The gate itself is an imposing doglegged stone entrance with some of the large stones weighing 40 tons.

The Kamikido (Upper Gate) is a huge earthen embankment 5 meters high and 100 meters long at the southern end of the city. The hill on the east side of the kamikido was also the site of a yagura that watched over the street.

Rounded hill in the back was the site of a watchtower

There were also a number of yagura watchtowers around the city, but only the Tsukimi Yagura has been preserved in any manner.

Tsukimi Yagura

Nice view across the valley

~Castle Town 城下町~

5 generations of Asakura ruled for 103 years. At its height, it was just smaller than Kyoto or Sakai. and was a center of art and culture. People came from far and wide to visit the fabled city. The ruins of the bustling castle town can be seen mostly on the opposite side of the river from Asakura Yakata, where you'll find the outlines of samurai residences, temples, workshops, and more scattered throughout the valley.

There are many natural springs and water resources in the valley. You will find stone lined waterways and drainage throughout the city. Possibly due to these moist, soft conditions, most of the town's walls, even for simple buildings, are built with a stone foundation and foundation stones for pillars, rather than the relatively more common and easier to construct hottatebashira (posthole) type buildings.

Restored Town 復元街並

The highlight for most tourists is the restored street of the castle town. It might be easy to dismiss it because of the theme park atmosphere, but the buildings are beautifully rebuilt on their original sites and show many features of a Sengoku period castle town that was quite advanced for its time. The street recreates the original castle town atmosphere with tsuijibei and gates around the samurai residences. On the river side of the street, you'll find middle-class samurai houses and a merchant district that have been accurately reconstructed. On the mountain side of the street, you can see the outlines of the huge palaces of high-ranking vassals of the Asakura clan and even a Noh stage. Some gates have also been rebuilt in different styles to demonstrate the kind of gates typical of samurai houses at that time. I found it incredibly interesting that these commercial and middle-class samurai residences were intermingled in the same area as these great palaces.

These are just a few photos to highlight the main features of the town, please see the full album for many more.

Restored Middle Class Samurai Residence 中級武家屋敷

One fully restored samurai residence includes house, detached tea room, storehouse and outhouse. Click the link to follow through for more photos. In the first picture below note the drainage and the large stepping stone (shakudani ishi) and remember that stone for later in this article. Next to this restored samurai residence are the ruins of two similar ones.

Merchant Houses & Shops 町家群

Pottery shop and well

Dye shop

Upper Class Samurai Residences 上級武家屋敷跡

Only a few gates and walls have been rebuilt here, but you can easily imagine the immense size of these homes and find the remains of walls between the residences, wells and more.

Town Ruins 城下町跡

Where much of the valley has been excavated, the stone foundations of buildings, walls, walkways, stone-lined drainage ditches, and countless wells have been preserved so that you can walk among the ruins. We can realistically see with our own eyes and imagine what the thriving city must have looked like, with full-size walkways and all the features in their original dimensions. It is a treasure chest for historians. One of the things you may notice are the many bluish tinted stone slabs in front of the gates and doorways of houses or even in the middle of the sidewalks. These are a special stone from the area called shakudani'ishi (笏谷石). The stones take on a deeper blue/green hue and must have been a source of local pride even 500 years ago. See the second photo below and the first photo above for the restored samurai residence.

notice the shakudani'ishi

Near the Shimokido end of the valley there is evidence of several artisans who made drink wares. This area is called the Fukubemachi. On the opposite end of the valley near the base of the Suwa Yakata is an area called Yonezu where kilns and implements for working metals have been found. It is confirmed they made sword fittings here. In both cases, it is interesting that these craftsmens' homes and shops are positioned among upper elite samurai residences giving further evidence to the egalitarian nature of the Ichijodani City.

Fukubemachi Area

Fukubemachi area

Yonezu area

A few other ruins of interest around the town include the Anyoji Temple outside the south side of the castle near the [[Kamikido. A palace for future shogun Ashikaga Yoshiaki was erected here. Along the hillsides are also the ruins of other residences which may have been his staff or those of the Anyoji Temple since they are technically "outside the Kido" of the Ichijodani. Any direct vassals would have likely lived inside the town.

Near the Umadashi road to the Ichijodaniyama Castle are the ruins of two samurai houses in an area called Gondono. There is also an interesting series of terraces that lead up to the trailhead of the Umadashi trail to the castle. It seems striking that there must be something castle related with these unusually flattened areas and some stone wall looking remnants. In fact the foundation stones of storehouses and some samurai residences have been uncovered on these terraces as well. The area is called Uedono but is not signposted and barely marked not noted except in the most detailed materials.

Gosho: Ashikaga Yoshiaki's palace

Gondono area

Uedono area

~Ichijodani Mountaintop Castles 一乗谷の山城~

For the last part of our tour, we'll visit the mountaintop castle(s). The main mountaintop castle is 410m above the valley floor, making it one of the larger elevation changes among mountaintop castles. There are three routes to the castle. One from near the Shimokido (longest but least steep), the Umadashi trail (original main entrance), and one from Eirinzuka (shortest but steepest) just above the Asakura Yakata. For this trip, I chose the original main entrance to the castle.

The Umadashi entrance takes its name from a series of terraced areas called Uedono or Umadashi, where the foundations of warehouses and houses have been found. Given the vital location, these must have been reliable samurai residences.

Komihanachi Castle & Kojo Castle 小見放城と小城

Partway up from these terraces, about 1/3 of the way up the mountain, are two sub-castles (dejiro) called Komihanachi Castle and Kojo Castle. Komihanachi Castle guards this important road to the castle. Kojo Castle is just over a small valley and guards the road to the Asakura's palace. I could not get to Kojo Castle this spring, it was much too overgrown and the ground was too muddy and slippery.

Komihanachi Castle

Kojo Castle

Ichijodaniyama Castle 一乗谷山城

Ichijodaniyama Castle is unique for such a high mountaintop castle because it had large areas with normal living quarters. Mountaintop castles of that time were usually just fortified lookouts or used in a siege, not comfortable long term living quarters. Climbing up the Umadashi Road to the top of the mountain, the first main area you encounter is the Senjojiki, a 1,500-square-meter bailey (also known as the Honmaru Bailey) that housed a palace similar in size to the Asakura residence on the valley floor.

The Kannon Yashiki is another 400-square-meter bailey that may have housed a temple, but could also have been used as a central fortification or command post in the event of an attack. It has a commanding view of the valley below.

The Tonoi Bailey, just past the Kannon Yashiki, may have provided living quarters for troops or guards and also offers commending views of the south end of the valley including the Kamikido.

Senjojiki

Kannonyashiki Bailey

Tonoi Bailey and entrance

Above this level is the top ridge of the mountain. The Ichinomaru, Ninomaru and Sannomaru baileys extend along this ridge to the southeast. This section represents a typical ridgeline mountaintop castle, but one of the most fascinating features is that the northeast face of the mountain is lined with over 130 unejotatebori trenches! Obviously, the Asakura assumed any attack on this mountain redoubt would have come from outside the valley. Unfortunately the side of this mountain is steep and heavily wooded so most of these vertical trenches are difficult to see, but there are a couple places where some wading through the vegetation will get you into the trenches. They may not look like much today but imagine if these were much deeper, they would have been a formidable defense! Tatebori, especially many in parallel like this, prevent the easy back and forth movement of attackers and forces attackers into firing lanes.

Unejotatebori trenches

Ichinomaru Bailey

Sannomaru Bailey

~Ichijodani Rises From The Ashes　灰から生き返る一乗谷~

The Asakura allied with the Azai against the growing power power of Oda Nobunaga. in 1573 after sending reinforcing troops to Azai in their conflicts with Nobunaga, Nobunaga redirected 30,000 troops to Echizen Province and Ichijodani. They burned the city for 3 days and nights, leaving nothing standing. Nobunaga's general Shibata Katsuie was given the Asakura lands, but he chose Kitanosho Castle as his base because of it's proximity to the ocean. The ruined city of Ichijodani was abandoned and lost to time. Winter snows covered the valley and the abundance of natural springs deposited rich silts that covered the remains of this once prosperous city. Eventually, it became rich agricultural land and rice fields flourished where craftsmen and samurai once thrived.

In the early 1900s, as manpower gave way to machines, it was discovered that the blades of farming machines were being damaged by the stones in the valley. People found the outlines of ancient settlements and the legends of an Ichijodani lost to time began to resurface.

Early excavations in 1967 revealed much more of the once-great city than anyone had expected. The outlines of buildings, residences, gates, gardens, and temples came to life. Thousands upon thousands of artifacts were unearthed, revealing a prosperous and cultured metropolis. Everything from the utensils and pots of daily life, to the tools and implements of artisans, to fine combs and mirrors aof the aristocrats were unearthed. Artifacts from as far away as Thailand, Malaysia and China paint a picture of a wealthy, sophisticated city that surpassed the legends of old. Discoveries continue to be made today. In 2022, the new Asakura Historical Museum opened on a site 1.5 km south of the castle, near the river and train station.

During the excavation of the museum site, an ancient stone road from the castle town to the river and the nearby temple was found. The road was probably raised and fortified against erosion, as this area is prone to flooding. This road supported active trade and transportation throughout the year and part of it has been preserved inside the Asakura Museum.

Map

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Postscript

I will definitely re-visit Ichijodani this fall. If you get an early start, it is a very doable day trip from Kyoto and, believe it or not, I still have a few sites of ruins left to see. I also want to cross the western ridge to see what is really up there, visit the ruins of Akechi Mitushide's residence, and a couple other locations. Ok, maybe I need two more days...

Exploring Ichijodani

There is both a bus and a train from Fukui Station. Stop by the Tourist Information Center outside the station (Fukui Castle side) for brochures, maps, and directions on the best route to Ichijodani. Depending on the time you arrive in Fukui it may change whether the bus or train is most convenient. Either way, there are only about 1 per hour during the busy hours. The bus also goes through the castle town, so if you don't plan to visit the Asakura Museum, you can stay on the bus until you reach the restored town. However, I highly recommend visiting the museum before visiting Ichijodani to get a feel for the layout of the town and its history. From here it is a short walk to Ichijodani town, but you can also rent a bicycle at the station. On weekends there is a free shuttle bus that runs about every 20-30 minutes and stops at the major attractions. Personally, I would recommend the bike option and enjoy the city at your own pace, which is exactly what I did both days.

With an elevation gain of 440m (according to my GPS), this is the second highest climb I've done to get to a castle. Ashigara was slightly higher, but Ichijodani was much more challenging. I'm not sure if it was from the recent rains or if this area, famous for its natural springs, is always like this, but the trail was very wet, muddy and slippery the whole way. Near the top I passed a middle-aged couple who looked like they had just stepped off the golf course in their Sunday drive outfits, covered in mud from feet to knees and hands to elbows. No hiking boots or trekking poles. They had started about 30 minutes before me, but were in good spirits when we found out it was almost the summit.

All of these photos represent a 2-day trip to Ichijodani, and I still did not have enough time to see everything I had planned. In fact, the trip was cut short by rain on the first day. It started raining on the way back from the mountain castle (photos of Undone and Gondono are in the rain), and I was quite wet by the time I cycled back to the station.

(1) Special Historical Site (特別史跡) is basically the same as National Treasure for historical sites, but National Treasure sounds much nicer. Special Historical Site is a step above National Historical Site, just as National Treasure is a small subset of and a step above Important Cultural Properties.

(2) When I first wrote this, I really thought I had coined a new term. Unfortunately, I've since seen it referred to elsewhere as the Pompeii of Japan. Oh well, at least it justifies my original impression.

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Ichijodani Castle Town