Takebe Mitsushige was the 700 koku Amagasaki gundai under Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and was married to an adopted daughter of Ikeda Terumasa. In 1615, his son Takebe Matsunaga distinguished himself in the Siege of Osaka and as a result, he was awarded, jointly with his uncle Ikeda Shigetoshi, a 10,000 koku holding in northern Settsu Province, centered on Kawabe and Nishinari districts. This was the start of Amagasaki Domain. In 1617, Takebe Masanaga was transferred to Hayashida Domain and Ikeda Shigetoshi to Ikeda Domain, both in Harima Province. They were replaced by Toda Ujikane, formerly of Zeze Domain, with a kokudaka of 50,000 koku. He constructed Amagasaki Castle. In 1635 he was promoted to Ogaki Domain in Mino Province, and replaced by Aoyama Yoshinari, formerly of Kakegawa Domain in Tōtōmi Province. By developing new rice lands, he raised his kokudaka to 54,000 koku, but his son Aoyama Yukinari created a cadet branch of the clan, resulting in a reduction to 48,000 koku. The Aoyama ruled until 1711, and the period was a prosperous one for Amagasaki Domain.
The Aoyama were transferred to Iiyama DomaininShinano Province, and Amagasaki was given to former Kakegawa daimyō Matsudaira Tadataka of the Sakurai-branch of the Matsudaira clan. The domain was reduced to 40,000 koku. Later, the Tokugawa shogunate increased the kokudaka to 45,000 koku with the shogunate exchanging 62 villages in Settsu for 71 in Harima Province; however, 36 of the villages in Settsu were wealthy villages known for their sake brewing industry, whereas the villages in Harima were rural and were scattered in various locations, making their administration difficult. As a result, although the nominal kokudaka had increased by 5000 koku, the actual kokudaka decreased sharply.
In January 1868, Matsudaira Tadaoki, the last daimyō, pledged allegiance to the Imperial Court in the Boshin War, and in February of the same year, he changed his surname to "Sakurai" under the direction of the new Meiji government. In 1871, the domain became "Amagasaki Prefecture" due to the abolition of the han system, and was incorporated into Hyōgo Prefecture the following year. Matsudaira Tadaoki was later made a viscount (shishaku) in the kazoku peerage and later became one of the founders of Hakuaisha (later known as the Japanese Red Cross Society) during the Satsuma Rebellion.
Holdings at the end of the Edo period
As with most domains in the han system, Amagasaki Domain consisted of several discontinuous territories calculated to provide the assigned kokudaka, based on periodic cadastral surveys and projected agricultural yields.[4][5]
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