Ii Naomasa
After Tokugawa Ieyasu took control over the Kantō region in 1590, he assigned Ii Naomasa , one of his most trusted Four Generals to nearby Minowa Castle. However, in 1597, Ieyasu ordered Ii Naomasa to construct a new on the site of the ruins of Wada Castle, as the location controlled a strategic junction connecting the Nakasendō with the Mikuni Kaidō highways. Ii Naomasu relocated to the site in 1598, renaming it Takasaki, and bringing with him the population of Minowa to form the nucleus of a new castle town. Following the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600, the Ii clan was relocated to Omi Province, and Takasaki Castle passed to a succession of fudai daimyō clans, notably the Sakai, Andō and several branches of the Matsudaira clan. The Ōkōchi Matsudaira took up residence in 1695, and except for a brief hiatus from 1710-1717, remained in control of the castle until the end of the Edo period.