was the highest government post of the Ryūkyū Kingdom below the king; the sessei served the function of royal or national advisor. In the Ryukyuan language at the time, the pronunciation was closer to shisshii, and has only changed relatively recently. Though the same Chinese characters which compose the modern Okinawan word sessei are read as sesshō in Japanese, the position is not quite the same, and the Ryukyuan post is not derived from the Japanese model or system.
The sessei worked alongside the king and the Sanshikan (Council of Three) to draft and enact laws, though the king gradually became more and more of a figurehead over the course of the period when Ryūkyū was a subsidiary of the Japanese feudal domain of Satsuma (1609–1870s). Like most Ryukyuan government officials at the time, most sessei were appointed from the elite class of yukatchu, scholars of Chinese subjects from the town of Kumemura.
According to the , the classical Ryukyuan history text by sessei Shō Shōken, the sessei have always been a part of the system of the Ryukyuan Kingdom and were originally appointed by Eiso. The three men who held the position of sessei during the first Shō Dynasty of Ryukyuan kings were Chinese, but beginning with the Second Shō Dynasty, sessei were native Ryukyuans. Royal officials, sometimes princes, would select the sessei, and the appointment would come with an appropriate rank and title, often that of "prince", despite the sessei being in essence a bureaucrat and not royalty himself. It was not uncommon for such a title to be conferred upon anyone who performed great service to the kingdom, though right of succession and other such royal rights implied by the title of "prince" did not accompany such an honor.
While most sessei essentially played the role of a bureaucrat and privileged member of the royal entourage, Shō Shōken, who held the post from 1666 to 1673, is particularly known for acting as a lawmaker, issuing a great many important and beneficial reforms during his short tenure.
List of sessei Name In office Kings Eiso 1253–1259 Gihon Aranpō ? – 1406? Satto, Bunei Tei Fuku 1411 – ? Shō Shishō Ō Mō 1411 – ? Shō Shishō Kaiki 1428 – ? Shō Hashi, Shō Shitatsu Shō Kō Gushichan Wōji Chōsei 1589–1610 Shō Nei Kikuin Sōi 1611 – ? Shō Nei Shō Hō Sashiki Wōji Chōshō 1617–1621 Shō Nei Shō Sei Kin Wōji Chōtei 1629–1654 Shō Hō, Shō Shitsu Shō Kyō Gushikawa Wōji Chōei 1654–1666 Shō Shitsu Shō Shōken Haneji Wōji Chōshū 1666–1675 Shō Shitsu, Shō Tei Shō Kōki Ōzato Wōji Chōryō 1676–1686 Shō Tei Shō Ki Kin Wōji Chōkō 1688–1688 Shō Tei Shō Kōsai Chatan Wōji Chōai 1689–1705 Shō Tei Shō Kō Oroku Wōji Chōki 1705–1712 Shō Tei, Shō Kei Shō Yū Tomigusuku Wōji Chōkyō 1712–1722 Shō Kei Shō Tetsu Chatan Wōji Chōki 1722–1739 Shō Kei Shō Seibo Nakijin Wōji Chōgi 1755–1770 Shō Boku Shō Wa Yuntanza Wōji Chōkō 1770–1785 Shō Boku Shō To Urasoe Wōji Chōō 1794–1797 Shō Boku, Shō On Shō Shū Yoshimura Wōji Chōgi 1798–1802 Shō On Shō Tairetsu Yuntanza Wōji Chōei 1803–1816 Shō Sei, Shō Kō Shō Yō Ginowan Wōji Chōshō 1817–1820 Shō Kō Shō Teihan Haneji Wōji Chōbi 1822–1831 Shō Kō Shō Kai Tomigusuku Wōji Chōshun 1831–1832 Shō Kō Shō Genro Urasoe Wōji Chōki 1835–1852 Shō Iku, Shō Tai Shō Ton Ōzato Wōji Chōkyō 1852–1861 Shō Tai Shō Kōkun Yonagusuku Wōji Chōki 1861–1872 Shō Tai Shō Ken Ie Wōji Chōchoku 1872–1875 Shō Tai
References
Smits, Gregory (1999). Visions of Ryukyu: Identity and Ideology in Early-Modern Thought and Politics. Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press.
External links 中山王府相卿伝職年譜 向祐等著写本