A shape measurement system and method for a three-dimensional shape of a linear object over a long distance with high resolution. The shape measurement system comprises: a multicore optical fiber having a center core positioned in the center of the cross section thereof and three or more outer peripheral cores positioned at equal intervals concentrically with respect to and outside of the center core; a measurement device for measuring the backward Brillouin scattered light distribution in the propagation direction of each core of the multicore optical fiber; and an analysis device for calculating position coordinates, in three-dimensional space, of a linear structure having an unknown three-dimensional shape from the backward Brillouin scattered light distributions of a multicore optical fiber positioned along the linear structure having an unknown three-dimensional shape and a multicore optical fiber positioned along a linear structure having a known three-dimensional shape.