During the Sengoku period, the area around Takada was controlled by the Uesugi clan. After Toyotomi Hideyoshi relocated Uesugi Kagekatsu to Aizu, he assigned the area to one of his generals, Hori Hideharu, who had distinguished himself in various battles. During the Battle of Sekigahara, Hori sided with Tokugawa Ieyasu; however as Echigo Province had many supporters and former retainers of the Uesugi clan, he was ordered to remain in Echigo on guard duty. After the establishment of the Tokugawa Shogunate, his son Hori Tadatoshi faced any problems with restless peasants, religious disputes, and an internal family dispute which resulted in his dispossession and exile. He was replaced by Matsudaira Tadateru, the 6th son of Tokugawa Ieyasu, who built Takada Castle. This also served to strengthen the position of the shogunate against the powerful tozamaMaeda clan of Kanazawa Domain. However, in 1616 Matsudaira Tadateru fell from favour with Tokugawa Hidetada at the Siege of Osaka and was dispossessed. The domain was then much reduced in kokudaka and assigned to a number of fudai clans. A junior branch of the Sakai clan briefly ruled Takada from 1616 to 1618, followed by Matsudaira Tadamasa from 1619-1623. Takada was then assigned to Matsudaira Mitsunaga, from another branch of the same Echizen-Matsudaira clan, from 1618 to 1681. This gave Takada a period of much-needed stability; however, he was also dispossessed following an O-Ie Sōdō. Takada was then ruled as tenryō territory directly by the Tokugawa shogunate from 1681-1685. Takada Domain was revived in 1685 for Inaba Masamichi, who ruled until his transfer to Sakura Domain in 1707. He was followed by Toda Tadazane, formerly of Sakura Domain, who held the post to his transfer to Utsunomiya Domain in 1710. Takada was then assigned to a junior branch of the Hisamatsu-Matsudaira clan, who ruled uneventfully from 1710 until their transfer to Shirakawa Domain in 1741. Sakakibara Masazumi was transferred from Himeji Domain in 1741 at the age of six as punishment for issues created by his father, Sakakibara Masamine. Although the Sakakibara clan continued to rule Takada through the Meiji Restoration in 1868, it faced an early crisis with the death of Sakakibara Masazumi before his formal audience with the Shōgun. To avoid the possibility of attainder, the clan secretly substituted Masazumi with his younger brother Sakakibara Masanaga and kept the death a secret. The Sakaibara ruled Takada with relative stability though the rest of the Edo period. During the Boshin War, Sakakibara Masataka the 6th Sakakibara daimyō of Takada sided with the imperial cause, and after the Aizu War, many of the former samurai from Aizu were exiled to Takada. The head of the Sakakibara clan was ennobled with the title of viscount in the kazoku peerage system.
As with most domains in the han system, Takada Domain consisted of several discontinuous territories calculated to provide the assigned kokudaka, based on periodic cadastral surveys and projected agricultural yields.
Sakakibara Masazumi was the 4th Sakakibara daimyō of Himeji Domain, and the 1st Sakakibara daimyō of Takada, and the 9th hereditary chieftain of the Sakakibara clan. Masazumi was the eldest son of Sakakibara Masamine, and became daimyō in 1741 on the forced retirement of his father, who had angered Shōgun Tokugawa Yoshimune by flaunting sumptuary edicts, and purchasing the freedom of Takao Daiyu, a famed courtesan from a Yoshiwara brothel for a tremendous sum of money. Yoshimune further punished Masamine by ordering the transfer of the clan from Himeji to Takada, which, although it had the same nominal kokudaka, was remote and cold and had a portion of lands spread over a number of exclaves in Mutsu Province. Masazumi died at the age of 10 without having been received in formal audience by the Shōgun. This placed the domain in grave danger of attainder, as without having been formally acknowledged, the clan could not maintain the succession through a posthumous adoption. The clan therefore kept Masazumi's death a secret, and renamed his younger brother to take his place.
Sakakibara Masanaga
Sakakibara Masanaga was also the 1st Sakakibara daimyō of Takada and the 10th hereditary chieftain of the Sakakibara clan. Masanaga was the second son of Masamine and younger brother of Masazumi by the same mother. Masazumi died in 1745 at age 10 before having been received in audience by the Shōgun, so then clan kept the death secret and renamed Masanaga to take his place. He was formally received by Shōgun Tokugawa Ieshige] in 1750. His tenure was uneventful and his received promotion to Junior 4th Court Rank in 1754 and the additional courtesy title of Jijū in 1784. In 1789 he retired in favour of his son, and his courtesy title was changed to Ukyō-daifu. His wife was a daughter of Hotta Masasuke of Sakura Domain. In 1810, after an uneventful tenure, he retired in favour of his eldest son.
Sakakibara Masaatsu
Sakakibara Masaatsu was the 2nd Sakakibara daimyō of Takada and the 10th hereditary chieftain of the Sakakibara clan. Masaatsu was the second son of Masazumi, and became daimyō on the retirement of his father in 1789. His wife was Nao, a daughter of Ikeda Munemasa of Okayama Domain. In 1810, after an uneventful tenure, he retired in favour of his eldest son.
Sakakibara Masanori
Sakakibara Masanori was the 3rd Sakakibara daimyō of Takada and the 11th hereditary chieftain of the Sakakibara clan. Masanori was the eldest son of Masaatsu, but by a concubine. He became daimyō on the retirement of his father in 1810. His wife a daughter of Nabeshima Harushige of Saga Domain. He was noted as an outstanding ruler, reforming the domain's finances, ordering all of his samurai to plant fruit trees in their gardens, improving crop yields and developing onsen. He also managed to negotiate the exchange of 50,000 koku of the domain's territories which was in remote exclaves in Mutsu Province with equivalent territories within Echigo. He retired in 1827 in favour of his son, but died in 1861 at the age of 86.
Sakakibara Masakiyo
Sakakibara Masakiyo was the 4th Sakakibara daimyō of Takada and the 12th hereditary chieftain of the Sakakibara clan. Masakiyo was the eldest son of Masanori and became daimyō on the retirement of his father in 1827. His wife a daughter of Ii Naonaka of Hikone Domain. During his tenure, his retired father continued to rule behind-the-scenes. He retired in 1839 in favour of his own son, and died in 1846 at the age of 49.
Sakakibara Masachika
Sakakibara Masachika was the 5th Sakakibara daimyō of Takada and the 15th hereditary chieftain of the Sakakibara clan. Masachika was the fifth son of Masakiyo and became daimyō on the retirement of his father in 1839. His wife a daughter of MizunoTadakuni of Hamamatsu Domain. During his tenure, his retired grandfather continued to rule behind-the-scenes. He retired in 1839 in favour of his own son, and died in 1861 with an heir.
Sakakibara Masataka
Sakakibara Masataka was the 6th Sakakibara daimyō of Takada and the 16th hereditary chieftain of the Sakakibara clan. Masataka was the eldest son of Sakakibara Masanori, the third son of Masanori who was 3rd daimyō of Takada. On the death of Masachika without heir in 1861, he was chosen as posthumous successor. HIs wife was a daughter of Arima Harusumi of Maruoka Domain. In 1866, his forces accompanied the forces of Hikone Domain in the Second Chōshū expedition, but were badly outmatched by the numerically inferior but better armed Chōshū forces. At the time of the Boshin War, he initially attempted to remain neutral; however, when forces of the Satchō Alliance entered Takada, his force chased the remaining shogunate forces out, and he defected to the imperial side. The forces of Takada were called upon to attack neighbouring Nagaoka Domain and later Aizu Domain. At the end of the war, many Aizu samurai were sent as prisoners to Takada, but were treated well by a largely sympathetic populace. In 1869, he was appointed imperial governor of Takada until the abolition of the han system in 1871. He received the kazoku peerage title of shishaku in 1884.
