Izu Province

Under the ritsuryō legal system, Izu was one of the preferred locations for exile for those convicted of political crimes by the Heian period court.

After the establishment of the Tokugawa shogunate, Izu remained as a tenryō territory administered directly by the Shōgun.

Much of the province was ruled by a daikan established in Nirayama, although portions were assigned to various hatamoto and to Odawara Domain.

The port of Shimoda at the southern end of Izu was a required port-of-call for all vessels approaching Edo from the east.

During the Bakumatsu period, Shimoda was chosen by the Tokugawa government as a port to be opened to American trade under the conditions of the Convention of Kanagawa, negotiated by Commodore Matthew Perry and signed on March 31, 1854.