The Okubo were descended from the Utsunomiya family and were for a time known as the Utsu. They were long-time retainers of the Matsudaira family and in the service of Tokugawa Ieyasu achieved much success. A scandal centered around the Okubo that culminated in the 1614 dispossessing of Okubo Tadachika was a nearly fatal blow to that family's position under the Tokugawa.