Maebashi Domain

Maebashi was the location of an important fortification in the Sengoku period on a strategic junction of the Tone River with the main highway from Edo to Echigo Province and the Sea of Japan with the Nakasendō highway connecting Edo with Kyoto.

After Tokugawa Ieyasu took control over the Kantō region in 1590, he assigned the area to his trusted general, Hiraiwa Chikayoshi, with revenues of 33,000 koku.

Following the establishment of the Tokugawa shogunate, the Hiraiwa were transferred to Kōfu Castle and were replaced by a branch of the Sakai clan, formerly daimyō of Kawagoe Domain.

However, erosion from the Tone River and repeated flooding continued to plague the castle, and in 1767 Matsudaira Tomonori decided to relocate his seat from Maebashi to Kawagoe Castle, demoting Maebashi Domain to a detached territory of Kawagoe Domain.

The Tokugawa shogunate also looked to Maebashi as a possible refuge should Edo be attacked by the western powers, and supported the move.