Fukuyama castle, view from the garden

In the medieval Japan the Fukuyama han was an important domain, ruled by Mizuno Katsunari, a cousin of the shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu. He was part of the Fudai daimyō class of lords, a special group of lords who were hereditary vassals of the Tokugawa shogunate.

Mizuno erected the Fukuyama castle in 1619, making a strong castle, with two rows of defensive walls and a moat connected to the Seto Sea.