In 1713, Matsudaira Norizane moved the seat of the domain from mountainous Ogyū (in what is now the northern portion of the city of Toyota to the more conveniently located Okutono location (in what is now part of the city of Okazaki. However, the domain suffered greatly due to inclement weather and flooding of the Yasaku River during the Kyōhō period, which led to crop failure and famine. The problems were repeated during the Great Tenpō Famine of 1832–36, although the domain was able to escape the more severe effects of the famine due to reforms implemented by its lord, Matsudaira Noritoshi.[2]
In the Bakumatsu period, the domain achieved prominence thanks to its last daimyō, Matsudaira Norikata, who served as a senior councilor in the final years of the Tokugawa shogunate. Another contemporary figure born in Okutono was Nagai Naoyuki. During Norikata's tenure, the domain seat was moved from Mikawa Province to the Tanokuchi district of Shinano Province (though the holdings remained unchanged), and with the construction of Tatsuoka Castle, the domain also became known as Tatsuoka Domain. The domain was dissolved by the Meiji restoration in 1871 with the abolition of the han system.[2]
Holdings at the end of the Edo period
As with most domains in the han system, Okutono Domain consisted of several discontinuous territories calculated to provide the assigned kokudaka, based on periodic cadastral surveys and projected agricultural yields.[3][4]
