Obama Domain
Although Tsuruga promotes itself as the leading city of the "Wakasa region", the city is actually has always been of ancient Echizen Province. A settlement at Tsuruga is mentioned in the Nara period "Kojiki" and "Nihon Shoki" chronicles. Kanagasaki Castle was the site of major battles during the early Muromachi period and the Sengoku period, Under the Edo period Tokugawa shogunate, large portions of the city were part of the holdings of Obama Domain and Tsuruga Domain, and prospered as a major port on the "kitamaebune" shipping routes between western Japan and Hokkaido. Following the Meiji restoration, the area became part of Tsuruga District of Fukui Prefecture. With the creation of the modern municipalities system, the town of Tsuruga was founded on April 1, 1889.