Tokugawa Mitsukuni
The area around Matsudo has been inhabited since prehistoric times, and archaeologists have found remains from the Jōmon period, as well as burial tumuli from the Kofun period. During the Edo period, the area was "tenryō" controlled directly by the Tokugawa shogunate, and contained a number of horse ranches providing war horses for the Shōgun's armies. It also developed as a post station on the Mito Kaidō connecting Edo with Mito, and supplied vegetables and the produce to Edo via its waterways. Matsudo Shrine has a close connection with Tokugawa Mitsukuni and the Matsudo Tojo was the residence of Tokugawa Akitake, the last "daimyō" of Mito Domain after the Meiji restoration.