In the 1450s, Kawagoe was held by the Yamanouchi branch of the Uesugi; the Ogigayatsu branch controlled nearby Shirai castle in Shimōsa Province, and the newly built Edo castle, which significantly bolstered their tactical advantages over their Yamanouchi cousins.

This victory would lead to the end of Uesugi power in the region, and the near-total destruction of that clan.

The Hōjō having secured themselves in the region, Kawagoe served for another forty-five years as a satellite fortress defending Edo, and the clan's central castle at Odawara.

From the fall of the Later Hōjō until the end of the Edo period, it was the headquarters of the Kawagoe Domain.

Today only a mound on which a yagura, or tower, and the primary hall (本丸御殿, Honmaru Goten) still remain on the original site.