Since the middle of the Edo period, however, the decline of castle towns had been given stark expression in the development of port towns and post towns, the influx of capitalism into agricultural communities, such as the cultivation of cotton, one of readily redeemable goods, and bankruptcies of the merchants due to the excessive financial contribution to feudal lords (daimyo), (which might be the biggest cause of the decline).
しかし、江戸時代中期に入り港町や宿場町などの発展、換金性の高い綿が栽培され始めるなど農村部に資本主義が流入され、また（これが最も大きいのだろうが）大名への献金が過重になり過ぎて商家の一部がつぶれるなど、城下町の衰退が目立つようになった。