 During the Edo period, part of what is now Tsuchiura was administered as a castle town by Tsuchiura Domain, one of the feudal domains of the Tokugawa shogunate.The area prospered due to its position on the Mito Kaido, a highway connecting Edo with Mito and with a canal connecting Lake Kasumigaura to Edo Bay.With the creation of the municipalities system after the Meiji Restoration on April 1, 1889, the town of Tsuchiura was established within Ibaraki Prefecture.