Emperor Shōmu (聖武天皇 (Shōmu-tennō, 701 – June 4, 756^?) was the 45th emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession.

Shōmu's reign spanned the years 724 through 749.

Before his ascension to the Chrysanthemum Throne, his personal name (imina) is not clearly known, but he was known as Oshi-hiraki Toyosakura-hiko-no-mikoto.

Shōmu was the son of Emperor Mommu and Fujiwara no Miyako, a daughter of Fujiwara no Fuhito.

Shōmu had four Empresses and six Imperial sons and daughters.

Shōmu was still a child at the time of his father's death; thus, Empresses Gemmei and Gensho occupied the throne before he acceded.

Shōmu continued to reside in the Hezei Palace.

Shōmu is known as the first emperor whose consort was not born into the imperial household. His consort Kōmyō was a non-royal Fujiwara commoner. A ritsuryo office was created for the queen-consort, the Kogogushiki; and this bureaucratic innovation continued into the Heian period.

Shōmu, a devout Buddhist, is best remembered for commissioning, in 743, the sixteen-meter high statue of the Vairocana Buddha (the Daibutsu) in Tōdai-ji of Nara. At the time, this was such a massive undertaking that later chroniclers accuse him of having completely exhausted the country's reserves of bronze and precious metals. In 752, the Shōmu held the Eye-opening Ceremony of the Great Buddha.