karō

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

== Overview == In the Edo period, the policy of sankin-kōtai (alternate attendance) required each daimyō 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).