Sho Ten
- Born: 1864/8/2
- Died: 1920/9/20
- Titles: Crown Prince of the Kingdom of Ryûkyû (-1879); Marquis (侯爵, kōshaku)(1901-1920)
- Japanese: 尚 典 (Shou Ten)
Shô Ten was the last crown prince of the Kingdom of Ryûkyû. He lost that title upon the abolition of the kingdom and the abdication of the king, his father, Shô Tai, in 1879, and later succeeded to the title of Marquis in the kazoku peerage following his father's death in 1901.
Biography
Shô Ten was born in Shuri and was from birth crown prince to the Kingdom of Ryûkyû. He underwent his coming of age ceremony in 1878 and was married the same year.
In March 1879, his father Shô Tai formally abdicated upon the orders of the Meiji government, which abolished the kingdom, transforming Ryûkyû han into Okinawa Prefecture, with officials appointed from Tokyo to administer the islands[1] The former king was ordered to report to Tokyo, but feigning illness, he temporarily found shelter at Shô Ten’s palace. Shô Ten was sent to Tokyo as a hostage and partial appeasement as Ryukyuan officials searched for ways to delay the former king’s departure.[2]
Following his father's death and his succession as Marquis and head of the Shô family in 1901/8, Shô Ten 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 Marquis, Shô Ten held a hereditary seat in the House of Peers in the National 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[3].
The Marquis died on September 20, 1920 in his mansion in Shuri and was entombed six days later in Tamaudun, the royal mausoleum near Shuri Castle, in accordance with traditional Ryukyuan royal funerary rites. He would be the last member of the Shô family to be honored in such a manner[4].
References
| Preceded by: Shô Tai |
Marquis Shô 1901-1920 |
Succeeded by: Shô Shô |