was a politician and bureaucrat of the

Ryukyu Kingdom The Ryukyu Kingdom, Middle Chinese: , , Classical Chinese: (), Historical English names: ''Lew Chew'', ''Lewchew'', ''Luchu'', and ''Loochoo'', Historical French name: ''Liou-tchou'', Historical Dutch name: ''Lioe-kioe'' was a kingdom in the ...

. He was also known by his Chinese style name or . Urasoe Chōshi was the sixth son of Prince

Urasoe Chōkyō is a city located in Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. The neighboring municipalities are Naha to the south, Ginowan to the north, and Nishihara to the east. As of November 2012, the city has an estimated population of 113,718 and a population den ...

(). He was also an uncle of King

Shō Nei was king of the Ryukyu Kingdom from 1587 to 1620. He reigned during the 1609 invasion of Ryukyu and was the first king of Ryukyu to be a vassal to the Shimazu clan of Satsuma, a Japanese feudal domain. Shō Nei was the great-grandson of Shō S ...

. After Shō Nei ascended to the throne, he became a member of the ''

Sanshikan The ''Sanshikan'' (), or Council of Three, was a government body of the Ryūkyū Kingdom, which originally developed out of a council of regents. It emerged in 1556, when the young Shō Gen, who was mute, ascended to the throne of Ryūkyū. The c ...

''. He was pro-Chinese and supported his colleague Jana Ueekata. In the spring of 1609,

Satsuma Satsuma may refer to: * Satsuma (fruit), a citrus fruit * ''Satsuma'' (gastropod), a genus of land snails Places Japan * Satsuma, Kagoshima, a Japanese town * Satsuma District, Kagoshima, a district in Kagoshima Prefecture * Satsuma Domain, a sou ...

invaded Ryukyu and besieged

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 ...

. Chōshi's three sons, Makaru (), Mayamado () and Momochiyo (), were killed in the battle. After King Shō Nei's surrender, Chōshi was taken to

Kagoshima , abbreviated to , is the capital city of Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan. Located at the southwestern tip of the island of Kyushu, Kagoshima is the largest city in the prefecture by some margin. It has been nicknamed the "Naples of the Eastern wor ...

together with King Shō Nei and a number of high officials by Satsuma troops. King Shō Nei was released and went back to Ryukyu together with many ministers in 1611, except for two pro-Chinese high ministers: Urasoe Chōshi and Jana Ueekata Rizan. Chōshi was held as hostage, and Rizan was executed. Chōshi was removed from his position and remained in Satsuma until 1616. He died in Shuri at the age of 61.

References

*''

Chūzan Seifu was an official history of the Ryūkyū Kingdom compiled between 1697 and 1701 by a group of scholar-officials led by Sai Taku. It was a Kanbun translated version of ''Chūzan Seikan''. Later, it was rewritten into Classical Chinese by Sai Tak ...

'', vol.7
向姓家譜（小祿家）喜安日記写者及び年代不詳 - 伊波普猷文庫
1558 births 1620 deaths Ueekata Sanshikan People of the Ryukyu Kingdom Ryukyuan people 16th-century Ryukyuan people 17th-century Ryukyuan people {{Japan-bio-stub