Tozama daimyō

Typically, a tozama had a loose or indirect relationship with the current ruler, and this definition remained intact during the subsequent Ashikaga shogunate (足利幕府, 1336–1573, also known as the Muromachi (室町幕府)), and the Sengoku period (戦国時代, 1467–1615, "Age of Warring States").

However, this was a deliberate Tokugawa plan to keep the tozama in check, as fudai daimyō were stationed in smaller domains in strategic locations, including along major roads and near important cities.

The shogunate responded in Sakoku policies of isolationism, preventing the ports of western Honshu and Kyūshū from trading with foreigners and sending Japanese vessels abroad.

Tozama formed the nucleus of the growing anti-Tokugawa movement, with the Satsuma and Chōshū (Shimazu and Mori clans respectively) primarily responsible for the fall of the Tokugawa shogunate in the Meiji Restoration.

Rallying other tozama and even fudai to their cause in support of the Imperial Court, they fought against the shogunate, Aizu Domain, and the Ōuetsu Reppan Dōmei during the Boshin War of 1868 to 1869.