Editing Edo (section)

=== Before Tokugawa ===
Before the 10th century, there is no mention of Edo in historical records, but for a few settlements in the area. That name for the area first appears in the [[Azuma Kagami]] chronicles, which have probably been used since the second half of the [[Heian period]]. Edo's development started in the late 11th century with a branch of the {{Nihongo|2=桓武平氏|Kanmu-[[Taira]] clan}} called the {{Nihongo|Chichibu clan|秩父氏}} coming from the banks of the then-[[Iruma River]], present-day upstream of the Arakawa river. A descendant of the head of the Chichibu clan settled in the area and took the name {{Nihongo|Edo Shigetsugu|江戸重継}}, likely based on the name used for the place, and founded the [[Edo clan]]. Shigetsugu built a fortified residence, probably around the edge of the [[Musashino Plateau|Musashino Terrace]], that would become Edo castle. Shigetsugu's son, {{Nihongo|[[Edo Shigenaga]]|江戸重長}}, took the Taira's side against [[Minamoto no Yoritomo]] in 1180 but eventually surrendered to Minamoto and became a [[gokenin]] for the [[Kamakura shogunate]]. At the fall of the shogunate in the 14th century, the Edo clan took the side of the [[Southern Court]], and its influence declined during the [[Muromachi period]].

In 1456, a vassal of the Ōgigayatsu branch of the [[Uesugi clan]] started to build a castle on the former fortified residence of the Edo clan and took the name [[Ōta Dōkan]]. Dōkan lived in the castle until his assassination in 1486. Under Dōkan, with good water connections to Kamakura, Odawara and other parts of [[Kantō region|Kanto]] and the country, Edo expanded as a ''[[jōkamachi]]'', with the castle bordering a cove (now [[Hibiya Park]]) opening into [[Tokyo Bay|Edo Bay]], and the town developing along the Hirakawa River running into the cove, and on {{Nihongo|''Edomaeto''|江戸前島}}, the stretch of land on the eastern side of the cove (now roughly where [[Tokyo Station]] is). Some priests and scholars fleeing Kyoto after the [[Ōnin War]] came to Edo during that period.

After the death of Dōkan, the castle became one of strongholds of the Uesugi clan, which fell to the [[Later Hōjō clan]] at the [[Siege of Edo|battle of Takanawahara]] in 1524, during the expansion of their rule over the Kantō area. When the Hōjō clan was finally defeated by [[Toyotomi Hideyoshi]] in 1590, the Kanto area was given to rule to Toyotomi's senior officer [[Tokugawa Ieyasu]], who took his residence in Edo.