Takai

Takai lies in northern Shinano, east of the Chikuma River, where settlements spread across the valley beneath the mountains. Suzaka was one of the district's principal towns. In the early seventeenth century Hori Naoshige received lands here, and a fortified residence was laid out in 1616. Suzaka became the seat of a small domain under his descendants, whose authority extended over villages in Takai.