信長に滅ぼされた幻の町【一乗谷】朝倉100年の繁栄を追う

The next installment will be "The Burning of Ichijodani." Fukui City, Fukui Prefecture. At the end of a vast plain and the beginning of the mountains lies the entrance to Ichijodani, the headquarters of the Asakura clan. This is an important location between Kokufu, the center of Echizen, and Ono, a route to Mino. It's said that construction of the Asakura family residence and other towns in the valley, roughly two kilometers from north to south, began around the time of Takakage, five generations before Yoshikage. Several castles were built on the mountains on both sides of Ichijodani, surrounding the valley. The north and south sides of the valley are divided by huge defensive structures known as Kamijodo and Shimojodo, separated by earthworks and moats, providing comprehensive defense. It's believed that more than 10,000 people lived in this space surrounded by mountains. What's incredible about Ichijodani is that the city itself remains buried. After being burned down by Oda Nobunaga, the area was abandoned and replaced by rice fields. One of the problems with Ichijodani is its narrowness, and with 10,000 people living in this valley, it seems there was very little space left. The town was built early on, extending beyond the two castle gates at the top and bottom, and it must have reached its limit. There is no way that Nobunaga, who aimed to build a large nation, would have reused this place. As a result, Ichijodani has been preserved in the best possible condition, buried under rice fields, and we can now see buildings that have been restored based on excavation surveys.