[1] Itoigawa was initially an outlying portion of Takada Domain under the control of the Matsudaira clan following the establishment of the Tokugawa shogunate.

Itoigawa Domain was created again in 1699, this time as a 10,000 koku holding for Honda Tsukeyoshi, who had been elevated from hatamoto status.

Despite the domain's location on the "Shio-no-michi", or main highway connecting the Hokuriku region with Edo and Kyoto, the domain was very small in kokudaka and suffered from numerous natural disasters, which meant that its finances were always in a crisis situation.

The sudden inflation of prices following the Perry Expedition and orders from the Tokugawa shogunate to construct coastal defence fortifications also created great unrest.

Under the new Meiji government, the final daimyō, Matsudaira Naoyasu was given the kazoku peerage title of shishaku (viscount).

As with most domains in the han system, Itoigawa Domain consisted of several discontinuous territories calculated to provide the assigned kokudaka, based on periodic cadastral surveys and projected agricultural yields.

In 1705, he was received in formal audience by Shōgun Tokugawa Tsunayoshi and granted the courtesy title of Shinano-no-kami, which was changed a year later to Omi-no-kami.

In 1717, he amassed the necessary kokudaka to qualify for the rank of daimyō and was appointed to the vacant seat of Itoigawa.

Katafusa was the fourth son of Naoyoshi, and became daimyō at the age of eight upon his father's sudden death.

Domain affairs were handled by Matsudaira Naokata, who also oversaw his genpuku ceremony.

He was forced to borrow money at usurious rates from merchant houses, and to raise taxes to unsustainable levels, which resulted in a widespread revolt within the domain.

He subsequently served in numerous minor posts within the administration of the shogunate, including bugyō overseeing the festivals at the Nikkō Tōshō-gū in 1833.

However, due to his youth, all power remained in the hands of his father-in-law, Matsudaira Naoharu, who ruled for behind-the-scenes.