, also known by and his Chinese style name , was a member of the royal family of the

Ryukyu Kingdom The Ryukyu Kingdom was a kingdom in the Ryukyu Islands from 1429 to 1879. It was ruled as a Tributary system of China, tributary state of Ming dynasty, imperial Ming China by the King of Ryukyu, Ryukyuan monarchy, who unified Okinawa Island t ...

who served as ''

sessei was the highest government post of the Ryūkyū Kingdom below the king; the ''sessei'' served the function of royal or national advisor. In the Ryukyuan languages, Ryukyuan language at the time, the pronunciation was closer to ''shisshii'', and h ...

'', a post often translated as "prime minister", from 1654 to 1666. Gushikawa Chōei was the seventh son of Kin Chōkō and Shuriōkimi Aji-ganashi. He was also a half-brother of King

Shō Hō was a king of the Ryukyu Kingdom. He succeeded Shō Nei, whose reign saw the invasion of Ryukyu by Japanese forces in 1609 and the subjugation of the kingdom to Satsuma Domain, and ruled from 1621 until 1640. Life Shō Hō was the fourth son ...

. After Shō Shitsu succeeded the throne, he led a mission Edo in 1649. Gushikawa Chōei was also the author of ''Ishinagu nu uta'', a ''

ryūka is a genre of songs and poetry originating from the Okinawa Islands, Okinawa Prefecture of southwestern Japan. Most ryūka featured the 8-8-8-6 syllable structure. Concepts and classification The word ''ryūka'' ( u:kain archaic pronunciation ...

'' poem/song known for its striking thematic similarity to

Kimigayo is the national anthem of Japan. The lyrics are from a ' poem written by an unnamed author in the Heian period (794–1185), and the current melody was chosen in 1880, replacing an unpopular melody composed by John William Fenton in 1869. W ...

, the national anthem of Japan.渡久地政宰『日本文学から見た琉歌概論』（武蔵野書院、

1972年 Year 197 ( CXCVII) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Magius and Rufinus (or, less frequently, year 950 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 197 for this y ...

）、pp. 299-300石川盛亀『初心者のための琉歌入門』（ニライ社、 1998年）、pp. 168-169

References

1610 births Year of death unknown Princes of Ryūkyū 17th-century Ryukyuan people Sessei {{Asia-hist-stub