was . He lost that title upon the abolition of the kingdom and the forced abdication of the king, his father,

Shō Tai was the last king of the Ryukyu Kingdom (8 June 1848 – 10 October 1872) and the head of the Ryukyu Domain (10 October 1872 – 27 March 1879). His reign saw greatly increased interactions with travelers from abroad, particularly from Europe ...

, in 1879, and later succeeded to the title of in the ''

kazoku The was the hereditary peerage of the Empire of Japan, which existed between 1869 and 1947. They succeeded the feudal lords () and court nobles (), but were abolished with the 1947 constitution. Kazoku ( 華族) should not be confused with ...

'' peerage following his father's death in 1901.

Life

Shō Ten was born in Shuri and was from birth crown prince to the Ryukyu Kingdom. He underwent his coming-of-age ceremony in 1878 and was married the same year. In March 1879, his father Shō Tai formally abdicated upon the orders of the

Meiji government The was the government that was formed by politicians of the Satsuma Domain and Chōshū Domain in the 1860s. The Meiji government was the early government of the Empire of Japan. Politicians of the Meiji government were known as the Meiji o ...

, which abolished the kingdom, transforming ''Ryukyu domain'' into Okinawa Prefecture, with officials appointed from

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

to administer the islands.Kerr. p381. The former king was ordered to report to Tokyo, but feigning illness, he temporarily found shelter at his son's palace. Shō was then sent to Tokyo as a hostage and partial appeasement as Ryūkyūan officials searched for ways to delay the former king's departure. Following his father's death and his succession as Marquess and head of the Shō family in 1901, Shō and his family gave up the trappings of traditional Ryukyuan royal court life, costume, court language, and ritual, and adopted those of the Japanese peerage. As Marquess, Shō held a hereditary seat in the House of Peers in the Imperial Diet. He was joined in representing Okinawa by a Japanese resident appointed to represent the prefecture's wealthiest taxpayers for the first time in 1918. Shō died on 20 September 1920, in his mansion in Shuri and was entombed six days later in

Tamaudun is one of the three royal mausoleums of the Ryukyu Kingdom, along with Urasoe yōdore at Urasoe Castle and Izena Tamaudun near Izena Castle in Izena, Okinawa. The mausoleum is located in Shuri, Okinawa, and was built for Ryūkyūan royalty i ...

, the royal mausoleum near

Shuri Castle was a Ryukyuan ''gusuku'' castle in Shuri, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. Between 1429 and 1879, it was the palace of the Ryukyu Kingdom, before becoming largely neglected. In 1945, during the Battle of Okinawa, it was almost completely destroyed ...

, in accordance with traditional Ryukyuan royal funerary rites. He would be the last member of the Shō family to be honored in such a manner.Kerr. p453.

Family

The family head was succeeded by his eldest son Shō Shō, then by

Hiroshi Shō was the head of the Shō family, the former Ryūkyūan royal family. He was the great-grandson of Shō Tai, the last king of the Ryukyu Kingdom, and was the last member of the family to hold the title of . Like most members of the ''kazoku'' sy ...

and the current incumbent, Mamoru Shō. * Father:

* Mother: Omomatsurugane, Sashiki Aji-ganashi * Wife: Shoko, Nodake Aji-ganashi * Children: ** Shō Shō (b.1888) ** Nobuko (b. ?) engaged to Nakijin Tomohide ** Sho Kei (b.1889) ** Sho Dan (b.1890) ** Sho Bu (b.1899)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sho, Ten 1864 births 1920 deaths People from Naha Princes of Ryūkyū Second Shō dynasty Kazoku Members of the House of Peers (Japan) People of Meiji-period Japan Pretenders Heirs apparent who never acceded