Yosoidon

• Other Names: 宇喜也嘉 (Ogiyaka, Ugiyaka)
• Japanese/Okinawan: 世添御殿 (Yosoeudun, Yosoidon)

Yosoidon was the second wife (queen) of King Shô En (r. 1470-1476) of the Kingdom of Ryûkyû and mother of King Shô Shin (r. 1477-1526). She is known particularly for her role in pushing for, or engineering, the abdication of Shô En's brother and successor Shô Sen'i, so that her son, Shô Shin, could take the throne.

Shô Sen'i took the throne in 1477 following the death of his brother, Yosoidon's husband, King Shô En, in 1476. Within months, the chief priestess of the kingdom - a daughter of Shô En and Yosoidon - declared that she had seen a vision that indicated that Shô Sen'i should abdicate in favor of the young (roughly 13 years of age) Shô Shin. The priestess then arranged for Shô Sen'i's enthronement ceremony to be conducted facing the west rather than the east, a strong symbol that the sun was not rising, but rather setting, on his rule. He abdicated in favor of Shô Shin very soon afterwards. While the details of Yosoidon's involvement in all of these developments are unclear, the political context and circumstances strongly imply her involvement.

References

• Gregory Smits, Maritime Ryukyu, University of Hawaii Press (2019), 128.