Karō

were top-ranking samurai officials and advisors in service to the daimyo of feudal Japan.

In the Edo period, the policy of "sankin kōtai" required each daimyo to place a "karō" in Edo and another in the home "han" (feudal domain). A "karō" who was in charge of a castle was called the "jōdai karō" (城代家老), while the one in Edo was called the "Edo karō" (江戸家老). A general term for a domain-based "karō" is "kunigarō" (国家老).

Some domains referred to this position as "bugyō" (奉行) or "toshiyori" (年寄).

An example of events involving a "karō" comes from one of the most famous of all samurai tales, "Kanadehon Chushingura". The final Asano daimyo of the Ako "han" was Asano Naganori. While he was in Edo, he was sentenced to commit seppuku for the offense of drawing a sword against Kira Yoshinaka in Edo Castle. When the shogunate abolished the Ako "han", all the Ako samurai became ronin. Oishi Kuranosuke, the "jōdai karō", led 46 other ronin in a vendetta against Kira. As a result of his leadership in the Forty-seven Ronin affair, Oishi went down in history as the most famous of all "karō".

The shogunate post of "rōjū" (Elder) had many similarities to that of "karō".

Partial List of Famous "Karō"

*Oishi Kuranosuke
*Zusho Hirosato
*Yamakawa Hiroshi
*Saigo Tanomo
*Naoe Kanetsugu