After the Battle of Sekigahara, and the establishment of the Tokugawa shogunate, the Yūki were relocated to Fukui Domain in Echizen Province and a portion of their vacated domain was given to Matsudaira Nobukazu as a reward for his rear-guard action in the Battle of Sekigahara.

His son, Matsudaira Nobuyoshi, laid out the foundations of the castle town and built a number of gates on the Mito Kaidō highway linking Edo with Mito.

During the early Edo period, the castle passed through a number of hands until it came under the control of the Tsuchiya clan in 1669.

After the Meiji Restoration, per government order, the fortifications of the castle were dismantled and most of its moats were filled in.

The central bailey with the ex-daimyo palace was used as a government office until it burned down in 1884.