As part of the policy of the Edo bakufu (Japanese feudal government headed by a shogun) concerning the Imperial Court and religion, the bakufu submitted a request to the Imperial Court in 1638 for a prince to move outside of Kyoto (regarded as "descending" from the holy Imperial compounds to the lower world), and an understanding was reached beteween the bakufu and the Imperial Court the following year for such an arrangement.
1638年（寛永15）江戸幕府が対朝廷政策・宗教政策の一環として、幕府が朝廷に対して皇子下向の要請を出し、翌年に幕府と朝廷との間に皇子下向の契約が結ばれる。