One such station was Minakuchi-juku, with one honjin, one waki-honjin, and 41 hatago, one Tonyaba, for the stabling of packhorses and warehousing of goods, and one kōsatsu for the display of official notifications.It was used by many western daimyō on sankin-kōtai route to-and-from the Shogun's court in Edo.

However, in 1634, when Shogun Tokugawa Iemitsu decided to travel to Kyoto to meet the Emperor, an issue arose on where he would spend the night.

However, in the portion of the route in southern Ōmi Province, after the abolition of Minakuchi Okayama Castle, there was no suitable accommodation.

Katō Yoshiaki had been one of the most powerful generals under Toyotomi Hideyoshi and later under Tokugawa Ieyasu, and had been awarded with Aizu Domain.

They kept the shogun's palace in repair, in the event that he should ever chose to return, but lived in a secondary area at the northwest of the castle.