Born in 1372 as the son of Sho Shisho, lord of Sashiki, Sho Hashi captured Shimashi-Ufuzato Castle in 1402 as Sashiki's lord, gaining a foothold against the southern kingdom's sphere of influence. In 1406, together with his father, he overthrew Bunei, king of Chuzan and son of Satto, installing his father as the new Chuzan king and moving the capital from Urasoe to Shuri. In 1416 (some sources say 1422), he personally led a punitive force that captured Nakijin Castle, home of Hokuzan king Han'anchi, extinguishing the Northern Kingdom. Upon his father's death in 1425 he succeeded to the throne, and in 1429 he defeated Taromai, king of the southern kingdom (Nanzan), unifying the three kingdoms of Hokuzan, Chuzan, and Nanzan and establishing the Ryukyu Kingdom. He made Shuri Castle his royal seat and built the kingdom's economic foundation on entrepot trade centered on tribute relations with Ming China. He died in 1439.

A strategist who began as a local lord and steadily expanded his sphere of influence to achieve the great enterprise of unifying the three kingdoms. He possessed outstanding governing ability, combining military conquest with the construction of an economic foundation through diplomacy and trade.

The Ryukyu Kingdom that Sho Hashi established endured for roughly 450 years, becoming a major hub of East Asian maritime trade as an entrepot state built on tribute relations with Ming and Qing China. Shuri Castle and the other gusuku associated with his unification campaign survive today as UNESCO World Heritage Sites.