DISCOVER FUKUI

According to the Taiheiki (Volume 20), in the first year of the Kōei era (1338), Nitta Yoshisada was heading to relieve Fujishima Castle when he encountered the forces of Spada Takatsune from the Ashikaga-aligned Kuromaru Castle near Tomyoji-nawa. He was killed in the ensuing melee.

In 1656 (Meireki 2), a farmer accidentally unearthed a helmet (iron helmet with silver inlay) from a nearby rice paddy. Ihara Ban'emon, a military scholar of the domain at the time, identified it as Nitta Yoshisada's, leading to this location being recognized as the site of Yoshisada's death in battle.

In 1660 (Manji 3), Matsudaira Mitsumichi, the fourth lord of the Fukui domain, erected a stone monument inscribed with "On the second day of the intercalary seventh month of the first year of the Kōei era, Nitta Yoshisada fell in battle here." He surrounded the site with a stone fence and built a shrine-like protective structure. Consequently, this place came to be called "Nittazuka."

In the 1960s, the central area became a national historic site managed by the Agency for Cultural Affairs, while the surrounding areas became "Nittazuka Park," managed by Fukui City.

※The helmet unearthed here was presented to the Matsudaira family, lords of the Fukui domain, as the "Helmet said to have been worn by Lord Nitta Yoshisada." It is now a treasured artifact at Fujishima Shrine, which enshrines Yoshisada.

※According to the Taiheiki, news of Yoshisada's death in battle was immediately conveyed to Shōnenji Temple (Sakai City). Eight priests of the Jishū sect then journeyed to the site of his death and transported his remains to the temple.