However, Honda Masazumi was accused in 1622 by his political enemies on trumped-up charges of planning to assassinate the shōgun using a trap with a falling ceiling in the shogunal guest chamber, and was exiled to Dewa Province (the incident was romanticized in the film The Ceiling at Utsunomiya, directed by Nobuo Nakagawa in 1956).

During the Boshin War of 1868, Utsunomiya Domain sided with the Imperial cause but came under attack by a pro-Tokugawa army led by Ōtori Keisuke and former Shinsengumi leader Hijikata Toshizō.

Unable to hold the castle due to their limited numbers, the pro-Shogunal army soon abandoned the site and moved north.

Following the establishment of the Meiji government, the site of the castle was used as a garrison location for the Imperial Japanese Army until 1890, when it was given over to private hands, with the central portion becoming a public park.

In 2007, a large section of the walls, moats and two yagura on the site of the central bailey were reconstructed.