Otsukegaro is a karo (chief retainer) in the early Edo bakufu period who, when kikoshi (a young nobleman) in the linage of the Tokugawa Shogun family became the lord of a domain (daimyo), was appointed directly by Seii taishogun (literally, "the great general who was to subdue the barbarians") for serving the lord.
御附家老（おつけがろう）とは、徳川幕府初期、徳川将軍家血統の貴公子が藩主（大名）になった際に、征夷大将軍より直接命を受けて附属された家老のことである。