Lost City of the Samurai

Archaeologists rediscover Ichijodani, a formidable stronghold that flourished amid medieval Japan's brutal power struggles

- JASON URBANUS

ON THE OUTSKIRTS OF FUKUI, a city of a quarter of a million people in central Japan, a handful of shops and restaurants, a smattering of homes, and a few rice fields line the Ichijo River as it snakes its way through a narrow valley protected on three sides by mountain ranges. Locals as well as tourists enjoy the valley's scenic beauty, but on the surface there's nothing particularly noteworthy about the spot. However, a deep history lurks beneath the serene landscape. Few places in Japan are less populated today than they were five centuries ago—but the Ichijo Valley is one of them. It may be difficult to imagine that this was once the location of the lively city of Ichijodani, where events that helped alter the course of Japan's history took place.

Once a year, in August, festivals attended by thousands transform this placid valley into the thriving metropolis it was from around 1471 to 1573, when the powerful Asakura clan ruled the province of Echizen from Ichijodani, one of medieval Japan's largest cities. On festival nights, 15,000 lanterns illuminate the dark sky, reflecting what the valley may have looked like 500 years ago, when it was home to as many as 10,000 people. One of the highlights is a procession of men wearing traditional samurai armor and bearing traditional samurai arms in an homage to these elite warriors.