History
When Tokugawa Ieyasu became independent of the Imagawa clan in 1561, he established Nishio Castle, and assigned his close hereditary retainer, Sakai Masachika to become its first castellan. It was a mark of Ieyasu’s favor and trust, as Sakai Masachika was the first of Ieyasu’s retainers to be so honored. Following the Battle of Sekigahara, the Sakai clan was reassigned to more lucrative territories in western Japan, and was replaced by a branch of the Honda clan as first rulers of the new Nishio-han. The domain changed hands with almost every generation, reverting for periods to tenryō status under direct control of the Tokugawa shogunate. The Doi clan held the territory for almost 100 years (1663-1747), and the Ogyu branch of the Matsudaira clan from 1764 until the Meiji restoration in 1867. The final daimyō, Matsudaira Noritsune, took part in the Second Chōshū expedition, and was assigned to guard Osaka and Kyoto, but presided over domain deeply divided between pro- and anti- Shogunal factions. He surrendered to the new Meiji government during the Boshin War, after the defection of many junior samurai to the pro-Imperial cause.
After the abolition of the han system in July 1871, the domain became “Nishio Prefecture”, which later became part of Nukata Prefecture, and finally Aichi Prefecture.
Nishio Domain was not a single contiguous territory, but consisted of many widely scattered holdings:
- Mikawa Province: 112 villages in Hazu, 19 villages in Kamo, 7 villages in Nukata, 4 villages in Hoi, 1 village in Hekikai
- Suruga Province: 8 villages in Kitō, 2 villages in Haibara, 1 village in Fuji, 1 village in Suntō,
- Echizen Province: 27 villages in Nyū, 7 villages in Nanjō District, Fukui, 3 villages in Sakai
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