, was the head of the Shō family, the former Ryukyuan royal family, and upon his father's death in 1920, he became head of the family and inherited the title of Marquess. 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. He died in June 1923, and was succeeded by his son,

Hiroshi Shō Kazoku, Marquess was the head of the Second Shō dynasty, Shō family, the former Ryukyu Kingdom, 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 t ...

Life

Shō Shō was the 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

Ryūkyū 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 ...

. He was born to

Shō Ten Marquess was . He lost that title upon the abolition of the kingdom and the forced abdication of the king, his father, Shō Tai, in 1879, and later succeeded to the title of in the ''kazoku'' peerage following his father's death in 1901. Lif ...

and (Shoko) Nodake Aji-ganashi, the last Prince of Nakagusuku of the Ryukyu Kingdom. He went to Tokyo in 1896 and enrolled in Gakushuin Elementary School, and in 1909, he dropped out of Kyushu High School. At the recommendation of his father he attended Oxford University (accompanied by Masayoshi Kamiyama). After returning to Japan with his bachelor's degree in 1915, he became an archaeologist. In 1920, he became a Marquess upon the death of his father, and joined the Japanese House of Lords on 21 October. In mid-1923, during a trip to China, he developed appendicitis and died on 19 June in Tokyo.『官報』第3270号、「帝国議会」1923年06月25日。"Official Gazette" No. 3270, "Imperial Council" 25 June 1923. His tomb is located in Ueno, Taito-ward, in Tokyo.

Family

He married Momoko Ogasawara (born 3 January 1896; died 11 February 1950; marriage date unknown), the daughter of Ogasawara Tadashi. On 18 September 1918, his eldest son

was born. His eldest daughter was called Fumiko (who later married Koi Ii, a former Mayor of Hikone), and a second daughter was called Kiyoko (who later married Tadahiro Sakai, the former Obama clan family head).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sho, Sho 1888 births 1923 deaths Kazoku People from Naha Second Shō dynasty Members of the House of Peers (Japan) People of the Meiji era Pretenders