Masaaki built a jin'ya in the village of Yoshie (now part of the city of Sabae) to be his headquarters; however, due to his youth, most affairs remained in the hands of his retainers.

A succession dispute immediately arose, splitting the retainers of the domain into three factions, Mitsumichi had a biological son, Matsudaira Naokata, who had been born to a concubine, but who would normally have been considered heir.

However, his succession was vehemently opposed by Matsudaira Mitsunaga, daimyō of Takada Domain and the father of Mitsumichi's legitimate wife, Kunihime.

Masachika also had an elder half-brother, Matsudaira Masakatsu, who was daimyō of the larger Echizen-Matsuoka Domain, and who thus had a stronger claim.

However, despite this settlement, there were many in the domain who remained unhappy with Masachika's succession, and so, after only two years as lord, he resigned in favor of Masakatsu's son Tsunamasa.

Masachika struggled to recover from the damage created, and was forced to lay-off more than 2000 retainers due to the reduced size of the domain.

On the other hand, Fukui was continually beset by natural disasters, including flooding, which creating severe financial problems, which were made worse by the shogunate's ongoing punishment of Fukui by demanding that the domain assist in repairs on the stone walls of Edo Castle and by suddenly deciding to prohibit the domain from further issue of its own hansatsu Another issue which concerned Masachika was his lack of an heir.