In 1619 (Genwa 5), the second shogun Tokugawa Hidetada ordered construction of a new castle at Yodo to replace the abandoned Fushimi Castle as the Tokugawa's southern guardian of Kyoto. Transferring Matsudaira Sadatsuna from Kakegawa, he had construction commence in 1623 and completed in 1625. Hidetada's design shifted Kyoto's defensive front from Fushimi slightly south to the confluence of the Uji, Kizu, and Katsura rivers, exploiting these natural waterways to create a formidable water castle. Yodo Castle thus embodied the early Tokugawa regime's strategy for controlling Kyoto.

Approximately 500 m north of the present Edo-period Yodo Castle stood the medieval-Sengoku **Old Yodo Castle**, where in 1593 (Bunroku 2) **Yodo-dono (Chacha)**, Toyotomi Hideyoshi's concubine, is said to have given birth to Hideyoshi's first heir Tsurumatsu. Her name 'Yodo' derives from this place — Hideyoshi had granted her Old Yodo Castle as her residence, so she came to be called 'Yodo-no-Kata' or 'Yodo-dono.' Although Tsurumatsu died at age three, Yodo-dono later raised Hideyori at Osaka Castle and became the de facto ruler of the Toyotomi house. Although the Edo-period Yodo Castle was a separate fortress built after Old Yodo was abandoned, both share the place name 'Yodo' and the memory of Lady Yodo.