, also known as Ukiyaka or Yosoidon (1445–1505), was Queen of the Ryukyu Kingdom from 1469 until her death. She married Shō En before he became king, and acted as regent during the early years of Shō Shin's reign.
Life Ogiyaka was born in 1445, possibly in Shuri, Okinawa.Uezato, Takashi. Ryūkyū Sengoku Rekidan (in Japanese). Naha: Border Ink Publishing, 2015. 80. She became the second wife of Kanemaru, and gave birth to a son in 1465 at age 21.Kerr, George H. Okinawa: The History of an Island People. Tokyo: Charles E. Tuttle Company, 2000. 103-104. After King Shō Toku died, Kanemaru became King of the Ryukyu Kingdom in 1469 and adopted the name Shō En, making their son, Shō Shin, the heir to the throne and their eldest daughter the royal high priestess.Kerr, George H. Okinawa: The History of an Island People. Tokyo: Charles E. Tuttle Company, 1958. 104. She held the titles of and .Sai On, comp. Chūzan Seifu (1724), Vol. 6, Ch. 2. (Shō En). https://zh.wikisource.org/wiki/%E4%B8%AD%E5%B1%B1%E4%B8%96%E8%AD%9C/%E5%8D%B706#.E5.B0.9A.E5.9C.93.E7.8E.8B
Shō En died in 1476, however, and his brother, Shō Sen'i, took the throne. The high priestess promptly had a vision that the King should abdicate in favor of Shō Shin, then almost 13 years old, and Shō Sen'i abdicated.Kerr, George H. Okinawa: The History of an Island People. Tokyo: Charles E. Tuttle Company, 1958. 104. It has been theorized that Ogiyaka orchestrated the abdication to maintain power.Uezato, Takashi. Ryūkyū Sengoku Rekidan (in Japanese). Naha: Border Ink Publishing, 2015. 32. Ogiyaka acted as regent for many years until Shō Shin took control from her.Uezato, Takashi. Ryūkyū Sengoku Rekidan (in Japanese). Naha: Border Ink Publishing, 2015. 32, 81. During her rule, she oversaw the construction of the Enkaku-ji temple and the Tamaudun mausoleum, as well as the enlargement of the Sogen-ji temple.Kerr, George H. Okinawa: The History of an Island People. Tokyo: Charles E. Tuttle Company, 1958. 109.
She died in 1505 at the age of 61 and was buried in Tamaudun.Uezato, Takashi. Ryūkyū Sengoku Rekidan (in Japanese). Naha: Border Ink Publishing, 2015. 81. Stories of "the Queen Mother" persisted as late as the 1540s.Kerr, George H. Okinawa: The History of an Island People. Tokyo: Charles E. Tuttle Company, 1958. 146.
See also List of monarchs of Ryukyu Islands Ryukyuan religion
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