Marquess A marquess (; ) is a nobleman of high hereditary rank in various European peerages and in those of some of their former colonies. The German-language equivalent is Markgraf (margrave). A woman with the rank of a marquess or the wife (or wid ...

was the head of the Shō family, the former Ryūkyūan royal family. He was the great-grandson of

Shō Tai was the final King of Ryukyu, initially as Second Shō dynasty, hereditary king of the Tributary system of China#Ryukyu Kingdom, Qing tributary Ryukyu Kingdom from 8 June 1848 until 10 October 1872 and finally as the Empire of Japan, Japanese a ...

, the last king 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 ...

, and was the last member of the family to hold the title of . Like most members of the ''

kazoku The was the hereditary peerage of the Empire of Japan, which existed between 1869 and 1947. It was formed by merging the feudal lords (''Daimyo, daimyō'') and court nobles (''kuge'') into one system modelled after the British peerage. Distin ...

'' system of peerage, and all heads of the Shō family since the abolition of the Ryukyu Kingdom, he lived in

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

for his whole life.

Life

Hiroshi Shō was born the eldest son of Shō Shō with Momoko Ogasawara. Upon his father's death on 19 June 1923, and at the age of five, he became head of the family and inherited the family title of Marquess. He graduated from

Tokyo Imperial University The University of Tokyo (, abbreviated as in Japanese and UTokyo in English) is a public university, public research university in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan. Founded in 1877 as the nation's first modern university by the merger of several Edo peri ...

earning a degree in East Asian history from the Department of Literature. He served for a time as a captain in the

Japanese Imperial Navy The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN; Kyūjitai: Shinjitai: ' 'Navy of the Greater Japanese Empire', or ''Nippon Kaigun'', 'Japanese Navy') was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945, when it was dissolved following Japan's surrender ...

. He was also active in the business world, working with various institutions, including Shō Enterprises, where he was representative director."Shō Hiroshi." ''Okinawa konpakuto jiten'' (沖縄コンパクト事典, "Okinawa Compact Encyclopedia")
Ryūkyū Shimpō
(琉球新報). 1 March 2003. Accessed 12 February 2009. He lost his title, as did all other members of the ''kazoku'' system of peerage, with the implementation of the

post-war A post-war or postwar period is the interval immediately following the end of a war. The term usually refers to a varying period of time after World War II, which ended in 1945. A post-war period can become an interwar period or interbellum, ...

Constitution of Japan The Constitution of Japan is the supreme law of Japan. Written primarily by American civilian officials during the occupation of Japan after World War II, it was adopted on 3 November 1946 and came into effect on 3 May 1947, succeeding the Meij ...

in 1947. Late in life, in the 1990s, Shō donated many Shō family possessions, including artworks, ritual objects, historical documents, the royal mausoleum of

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, Shuri, Okinawa Prefecture, Okinawa, and wa ...

and royal gardens of Shikina-en to the City of

Naha is the Cities of Japan, capital city of Okinawa Prefecture, the southernmost prefecture of Japan. As of 1 June 2019, the city has an estimated population of 317,405 and a population density of 7,939 people per km2 (20,562 persons per sq. mi.). ...

. He also donated artworks, documents, and other family possessions to the city of

Urasoe 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 February 2024, the city has an estimated population of 115,518 and a population den ...

and village of Izena. Shō died on 30 August 1996. His funeral was held in Tokyo, though he was entombed in Izena Tamaudun on the Okinawan island of Izena. His son, Mamoru Shō (尚衞), became head of the royal Shō family afterwards.

Family

* Father: Shō Shō (1888-1923) * Mother: Momoko Ogasawara (1896-1950) * Wives: ** Tozawa Eiko (1919-1945) ** Keiko (b.1920) * Children: four daughters and one son ** Kazuko (b.1943) ** Yoshiko (b.1945) ** Keiko (b.1947) married Kabaya Nozu ** Kaoru (b.1949) ** Mamoru Shō (b. 1950)

Ancestry

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Sho, Hiroshi Kazoku People from Naha Second Shō dynasty 1918 births 1996 deaths University of Tokyo alumni Pretenders