Ichijōdani

Asakura yakata ruins

Ichijōdani Castle ( Japanese 一乗谷城 , Ichijōdani-jō , also 一乗谷朝倉氏遺跡 , Ichijōdani Asakura-shi Iseki ) is a now restored ruined city near the present-day city of Fukui , Fukui Prefecture (over 100 km west of Tokyo ). It was found under rice plantations as a medieval castle town of the Edo period of the Japanese sword nobility Asakura . The archaeologists revealed at the beginning of the excavations an intact settlement of over 10,000 inhabitants from the Sengoku period (16th century). Some scientists also refer to the city as the Pompeii of Japan , because this find is a godsend because at that time all of Japan was built with wood , a material that is actually not very weather-resistant. Since the city was completely burned down in 1573 after a lost battle by the army of Oda Nobunaga , the charred wooden pillars and charred parts of the houses have been preserved. Ichijōdani is one of the 100 most important castles in Japan .

Development of the excavation site

Ichijōdani is unique in Japan, also because of its archaeological gardens and its archaeological site, which archaeologists had to fight for. In the 1970s, the Ichijōdani valley was completely covered by rice fields. Extensive construction work for agriculture was planned at the time, but then interesting archaeological finds came to light. The researchers realized that there was a ground monument under their feet . They are doing everything possible to stop construction and put the area under protection. Archaeological excavation work began, under the direction of the archaeologist Ono Masatoshi, which had never been done before in Japan on this scale.

Restored city and important gardens

Not only were many houses and parts of the city wall rebuilt, historical gardens were also rebuilt: the Suwa Yakata-ato garden, the Yudono-ato garden, the Asakura-Yakata-ato garden and the Nanyoji-ato Garden.