was king of the Ryūkyū Kingdom

Ryukyu Kingdom

The Ryūkyū Kingdom was an independent kingdom which ruled most of the Ryukyu Islands from the 15th century to the 19th century. The Kings of Ryūkyū unified Okinawa Island and extended the kingdom to the Amami Islands in modern-day Kagoshima Prefecture, and the Sakishima Islands near Taiwan...

 (today Okinawa Prefecture

Okinawa Prefecture

is one of Japan's southern prefectures. It consists of hundreds of the Ryukyu Islands in a chain over long, which extends southwest from Kyūshū to Taiwan. Okinawa's capital, Naha, is located in the southern part of Okinawa Island...

, Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

) from 1713-1752. His reign, strongly guided by royal advisor Sai On

Sai On

', also known as ' was a scholar-bureaucrat official of the Ryūkyū Kingdom, serving as regent, instructor, and advisor to King Shō Kei...

, is regarded as a political and economic golden age and period of the flowering of Okinawan culture.

After succeeding his father Shō Eki in 1713, Shō Kei appointed his regent and trusted advisor Sai On to the Sanshikan

Sanshikan

The Sanshikan , or Council of Three, was a government body of the Ryūkyū Kingdom, which originally developed out of a council of regents.It emerged in 1556, when the young Shō Gen, who was mute, ascended to the throne of Ryūkyū...

, the Council of Three top royal advisors, in 1728. His reign is known for a great number of developments, including economic reforms and conservation efforts implemented under the guidance of Sai On, political changes, and scholarly developments.