Tsu Domain

Origins

Todo Takatora, who had served many lords before attaching himself to Tokugawa Ieyasu, was transferred from Iyo to Iga and part of Ise in 1608. He rebuilt Tsu castle and Iga Ueno castle and laid out Tsu as a castle town on the road to the Ise shrines.

Rule and society

The domain, eventually some 323,000 koku, was held by Takatora's descendants throughout the Edo period. Takatora was trusted by the shoguns as a builder of castles, including work on Edo and Osaka. Tsu benefited from the pilgrim traffic to Ise, while Iga, administered from Ueno, kept its own traditions.

Decline and legacy

At the battle of Toba-Fushimi in 1868 Tsu troops, stationed to block the imperial forces, instead turned their guns on the shogunate's army, contributing to its defeat. After abolition in 1871 the domain became part of Mie Prefecture.