Ichijōdani Asakura Clan Ruins

Fukui, Japan, Japan

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The Ichijōdani Asakura Clan Ruins are the remains of a large medieval castle town near Fukui City in central Fukui Prefecture, which served as the capital of the powerful Asakura family for 103 years from 1471 to 1573 during Japan’s Warring States period.

At its peak, the town was home to more than 10,000 people and functioned as a major cultural, military, and commercial center, with a clear street layout lined by samurai residences, temples, and merchant houses that has been described as a “northern Kyoto”. The entire town was burned and destroyed by Oda Nobunaga’s army in 1573, and for nearly four centuries the site remained buried and undisturbed, making it the only largely untouched Warring States-era castle town remains in Japan.

Archaeological excavations began in 1967 and revealed an unusually complete townscape, with excavated foundations, stone-paved courtyards, and drainage systems, and over 1.7 million artifacts have been found, including more than 2,300 nationally designated Important Cultural Properties. The site is one of the largest castle town ruins in Japan and holds three national designations: Special Historic Site, Special Place of Scenic Beauty, and Important Cultural Property, and it was also recognized as a Japan Heritage Site in 2019.

Today a portion of the town has been partially reconstructed and furnished inside restored houses with mannequins to show daily life, and visitors can walk through the preserved streets, while the nearby Ichijodani Asakura Family Site Museum displays a large model of the town, original structures, and excavated objects to help explain its layout and historical importance.