Hikone Domain

Ii Naomasa, one of Tokugawa Ieyasu's closest advisors and most capable generals, was daimyō of Takasaki Domain with a kokudaka of 120,000 koku.

This was increased to 180,000 koku after the Battle of Sekigahara, and he was transferred to Sawayama Castle, on the shores of Lake Biwa, which was the former home domain of Ishida Mitsunari.

The Ii clan continued to rule from Hikone Castle until the end of the Tokugawa shogunate, serving in many important posts.

[1] His purge of political opponents and support of the ending of Japan's national isolation with the signing of the Harris Treaty drew the wrath of the pro-Sonnō Jōi factions of samurai, and he was assassinated in 1860 in the Sakuradamon Incident.

During the Battle of Toba-Fushimi, although Hikone forces were stationed at Osaka Castle, they did not join the shogunal army, but simply marched home.