Tozama daimyo were generally not appointed to key positions among the cabinet officials of the shogunate such as roju, apart from some exceptions including the SO clan of Tsushima Province, who had traditionally played a significant role in diplomatic relations with Korea, and the SANADA and MATSUMAE clans, who were appointed key positions in the late Edo period.
外様大名は一般に老中などの幕閣の要職には就けないとされていたが、対馬国の宗氏は伝統的に朝鮮との外交に重きを成し、また江戸後期になると真田氏、松前氏のように要職へ就く外様大名も現れた。