When the Tokugawa Shogun family was not blessed with a son to become the next Shogun, the Owari Tokugawa family along with two other Tokugawa Gosanke families held a right to nominate the successor of the Shogun from their families.
徳川将軍家に後継ぎがないときは他の御三家とともに後嗣を出す資格を有した。