The castle was the headquarters of Amagasaki Domain, which ruled this portion of northern Settsu Province under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo Period Japan.

In August of 1579 while surrounded by Nobunaga's military forces during the Siege of Itami (1579), Murashige fled to Amagasaki Castle.

[3]: 325  In November 1579, after Nobunaga secured control of Itami castle, "Araki Kyūzaemon and other leading figures, leaving their wives and children behind as hostages in Itami Castle, headed for Amagasaki to remonstrate with Araki Murashige and persuade him to hand over Amagasaki and Hanakuma.

There was an earlier, smaller castle, originally built by the Hosokawa clan, in the Sengoku period on site.

A portion of the daimyō residence survived in the main hall of the Shinsho-in, a Buddhist temple in Amagasaki, but was destroyed in World War II.