Sakai clan
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.