Origins Fukui originally consisted of the
old provinces of
Wakasa and
Echizen, before the prefecture was formed in 1871. During the
Edo period, the
daimyō of the region was surnamed
Matsudaira, and was a descendant of
Tokugawa Ieyasu.
Sengoku period In 1471, Asakura had displaced the
Shiba clan as the
shugo military commander of
Echizen Province. The same year,
Asakura Toshikage (1428–1481) fortified the Ichijōdani by constructing hilltop fortifications on the surrounding mountains and constructing walls and gates to seal off the northern and southern end of the valley. Within this area, he contracted a fortified mansion, surrounded by the homes of his relatives and retainers, and eventually by the residences of merchants and artisans, and Buddhist temples. He offered refuge to people of culture or skills from Kyoto attempting to escape the conflict of the
Ōnin War, and the Ichijōdani became a major cultural, military, and population center, and by the time of Asakura Takakage (1493–1548) it had a peak population of over 10,000 inhabitants. Yoshikage succeeded his father as head of the Asakura clan and castle lord of Ichijōdani Castle in 1548. The Asakura maintained good relations with the
Ashikaga shogunate, and thus eventually came into conflict with
Oda Nobunaga. Following Nobunaga's capture of
Kyoto,
Shōgun Ashikaga Yoshiaki appointed
Asakura Yoshikage as regent and requested aid in driving Nobunaga out of the capital. As a result, Nobunaga launched an invasion of
Echizen Province. Due to Yoshikage's lack of military skill, Nobunaga's forces were successful at the
Siege of Kanegasaki and subsequent
Battle of Anegawa in 1570, leaving the entire Asakura Domain open to invasion. Ichijōdani was razed to the ground by Nobunaga during the 1573
Siege of Ichijōdani Castle.
Kitanosho Castle is known, though that it was built by
Shibata Katsuie in 1575. Also, it appears that the
tenshu (keep) was nine stories high, making it the largest of the time. File:Asakura Yoshikage2.jpg|
Asakura Yoshikage File:Asakura Yakata of Ichijodani Asakura Family Historic Ruins02s3s4440.jpg|
Ichijōdani Asakura Family Historic Ruins File:Shibata katsuie.png|
Shibata Katsuie File:Shibata jinja.jpeg|
Kitanosho Castle（Sibata Jinja）
Edo period Castle town and centre of
Fukui Domain during the
Edo period Tokugawa shogunate. Fukui Domain played a key role in the
Meiji restoration. The modern city of Fukui was founded with the creation of the modern municipalities system on April 1, 1889. File:Yuki Hideyasu.jpg|
Yūki Hideyasu File:Fukui Castle02bs3200.jpg|
Fukui Castle Meiji, Taisho, and Showa periods During the pre-war period, Fukui grew to become an important industrial and railroad centre. Factories in the area produced aircraft parts, electrical equipment, machine motors, various metal products, and textiles. Fukui was largely destroyed on June 19, 1945 during the
Bombing of Fukui during World War II. Of the city's at the time, 84.8% of Fukui was destroyed, per the
United States Army Air Forces's
Strategic Bombing Survey. File:Fukui District Court01b3200.jpg|Fukui District Court File:Fukui-shi suido-kinenkan03n4592.jpg|Fukui City Water Service Memorial File:Fukui Prefectural Office in 1950s.JPG|Fukui Prefectural Office Building (1923)
Modern Fukui Fukui was again devastated by a
major earthquake in 1948. On February 1, 2006, the town of
Miyama (from
Asuwa District), the town of
Shimizu, and the village of
Koshino (both from
Nyū District) were merged into Fukui. Fukui's city status was designated a
core city on April 1, 2019. ==Government==