Warring States Castle Towns

Timeline

1. 1471–1510Ichijōdani · EchizenIn Bunmei 3 (1471), Asakura Toshikage moved from Kuromaru Castle to Ichijōdani, arranging residences, samurai quarters, and temples along the valley between the north and south castle gates. The Ōuchi clan's castle town at Yamaguchi spread along the Sekishō Road with residences, markets, and temple towns. Both show that Warring States castle towns evolved from shugo residence towns.
2. 1501–1550Ichijōdani castle town district · EchizenExcavations show that Ichijōdani used right-angle turns, T-junctions, and dead-end alleys to strengthen defenses, with samurai residences, merchant machiya, and temples densely arranged along main roads. In the first half of the 16th century, several Warring States daimyō could already implement street planning and retainer settlement around their castles, as castle towns shifted from coexisting market towns to more planned military cities.
3. c. 1520–1550Yamaguchi (Ōuchi clan castle town) · YamaguchiTo sustain long campaigns, daimyō gradually moved kokujin and jizamurai—half farmer, half warrior—into castle towns as standing retainers, while restricting townspeople's arms. This spatial arrangement was a prerequisite for the warrior-farmer separation, but complete separation in status law came only after Toyotomi land surveys and sword hunts. After firearms arrived in 1543, demand for standing ashigaru and castle-town supplies was further strengthened.