Shunten

Urasoe yōdore, mausoleum of Shunten and other Ryūkyūan rulers

The Chūzan Seikan (1650), the first official history of the Ryūkyūan Kingdom, and Chūzan Seifu (1701) state that Shunten was the son of samurai Minamoto no Tametomo (1139–1170). Tametomo was exiled to a penal colony on Izu Ōshima following his defeat in the Hōgen Rebellion of 1156. According to the story, Tametomo then became lost at sea some time later, arrived on Okinawa, and settled down with the sister/daughter of the anji, or local chieftain, of Ōzato. Ōzato is located at the south of Okinawa Island in the present-day city of Nanjō. Shunten, according to the two histories, was the son of Tametomo and the sister/daughter of the Ōzato anji.[2][1][5]

However, these works were based purely on previous myths and were made six centuries after the alleged events probably because of the political circumstances after the Satsuma Invasion – although still independent until the 19th century, was subordinate to the Satsuma Domain and thus intermediary to the Tokugawa shogunate. The story is inspired by political interests to connect and legitimize the relation of Japan's imperial family with Ryūkyū.[2] In the 12th century, somekind of migration or association from the mainland Japan with the Okinawan chieftains probably happened, but as the historical and archeological-traditional evidence indicate men from the defeated Taira clan who fled Minamoto's clan vengeance, at the time of mythological-historical writing in 17th century, was mentioned Tametomo who was from the same Minamoto clan as the Tokugawa's shōguns.[2]

During the Meiji period, the myth was considered as an official and historical fact, especially in the constructed narrative Memorandum of Japan's sovereign rights to Ryūkyū, in response to the Chinese government's protest, as an evidence which concluded the Ryukyus relationship with Japan, and for the Japanese "legitimacy" and "sovereign right" of the annexation of the Ryukyu Kingdom in 1879.[6]

Shunten was known as Sonton (尊敦) prior to becoming king. He became anji of Urasoe in 1180 at the age of 15 after gathering a base of popular support in the area. In 1187, he overthrew Riyū and established his royal seat of power at Urasoe Castle, marking the beginning of a new line of rulers. Shunten's reign was long and progressive;[2] by legend he is said to have ruled for 51 years.[1][4]

• Father: Minamoto no Tametomo
• Mother: sister of Osato Aji
• Half Siblings:
  • Minamoto no Yoshimi
  • Minamoto no Minobu
  • Minamoto no Tameyori
  • Minamoto no Toyoo
  • A Daughter who married Asuke Shigenaga
• Child: Shunbajunki

Shunten died in 1237 at the age of 71 and was succeeded by his son Shunbajunki (1237–1248). He is buried at Urasoe yōdore, and enshrined at Naminoue Shrine along with three other Okinawan kings.[5][7]

Shunten's lineage ended in the third generation when his grandson Gihon abdicated, went into exile, and was succeeded by Eiso, who began a new royal lineage.

• Kerr, George H. (1965). Okinawa, the History of an Island People. Rutland, Vermont: C. E. Tuttle Co. OCLC 39242121
• Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2002). Japan Encyclopedia. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-01753-5; OCLC 48943301
• Loo, Tze May (2014), Heritage Politics: Shuri Castle and Okinawa's Incorporation into Modern Japan, 1879–2000, Lexington Books, ISBN 978-0-7391-8249-9