滋賀しが 湖岸こがんから安土あづち城じょうの城下町じょうかまちのものとみられる石垣いしがきを発見はっけん

It has been learned through interviews with the city that a stone wall, believed to be from the castle town, was newly discovered on the lakeshore of Omihachiman City, Shiga Prefecture, where the ruins of Azuchi Castle, built by Oda Nobunaga, are located.

It is said that this is the first time an authentic stone wall believed to be from a castle town has been found on the lake shore.

English Azuchi Castle was built by Oda Nobunaga as a base for unifying the country, but it is also called the phantom castle because its full appearance is unknown due to its destruction after the Incident at Honnō-ji in 1582.

<br><br>From August to October last year, Omihachiman City conducted an excavation survey for residential development on the lakeshore of Nishi no Umi, located approximately 1 kilometer southwest of the Azuchi Castle ruins.

According to the city, before the survey, stones were buried in a row in a field about 50 meters away from the lakeshore, but after digging deeper, it was found to be approximately 17 meters wide and about 1 meter high.

A 6-meter stone wall has been found

<br><br>The stone walls are stacked about four tiers high, with the lower two tiers arranged in a manner that aligns large stones. It is believed to be from the castle town of Azuchi Castle, as many stones used are sourced from the nearby area and are known as Koto Rhyolite.

According to the city, this is the first time that a full-scale stone wall, believed to be from a castle town, has been found on the lakeshore.

<br><br>A representative from Omihachiman City stated, It is possible that not only the castle but also the castle town had well-constructed stone walls,

It is considered a valuable resource for understanding the situation at that time.

Expert: This discovery is very important. Nakai Hitoshi, Professor Emeritus at Shiga Prefectural University, who is knowledgeable about the history of Japanese castles, says, Azuchi Castle is not well understood not only in terms of the castle itself but also the castle town, so this discovery is very important.

Although the discovered stone wall is located away from Azuchi Castle, it is similar to the stone walls of the castle and uses very fine stone materials, so I think it can be considered a stone wall that is extremely closely related to Azuchi Castle, he said.

Furthermore, regarding the reason why stone walls were built on the lakeshore, it was suggested that while they may have served a defensive role against enemies, there is also the possibility that they served as embankments, and it is conceivable that there was a place where ships could dock to sort goods transported from the lake to the castle town.