Yasuke’s life as a Black samurai has inspired books and movies, among other forms of media. In 1968 Kurusu Yoshio published Kuro-suke, a children’s book about him. Yasuke has appeared in video games, including Nioh. A film starring Chadwick Boseman as Yasuke was announced in 2019 before the actor’s death in 2020. In 2021 Yasuke, an animated series was released; it tells a fantastical story, featuring magic and robots, about what happened to Yasuke after 1582. This is the whole reason I wrote this really long, detailed article. The animated series that lasted 6 episodes was of course, made by Netflix, and in true Netflix fashion they messed up because they added their own fictitious events to an amazing anime. Here is the actual story:
Yasuke is assumed to be born in Mozambique. His birth name is unknown as his Japanese name “Yasuke” was given by Oda Nobuga, the man that took him in when he arrived in Japan. A lot about Yasuke in unknown and speculated-his date of birth, family structure, place of birth, ethnicity and native language. However, there seems to be no doubt that he had African roots, and Luís Fróis wrote of Yasuke as “Cafre” (slur for Africans at the time) in his Letters. Jean Crasset's “ Histoire de l'eglise du Japon”(History of the Church of Japan) states that Yasuke was a servant brought from India when Alessandro Valignano came to Japan, while François Solier's “Histoire Ecclesiastique Des Isles Et Royaumes Du Japon” (Ecclesiastical History of the Isles and Kingdoms of Japan) states that he was from Portuguese East Africa (now Mozambique). It is not certain where Valignano and Yasuke met, but it seems likely that it was either in Mozambique or India, as Valignano had made a stopover in Mozambique before coming to Japan, followed by an extended stay in India. What is known definitively is that Yasuke arrived in Japan in 1579 with an Italian Jesuit missionary, Valignano, possibly as his bodyguard. It is not known, however, whether Yasuke was enslaved or free at that time.
In 1581 Valignano and Yasuke traveled to Kyōto, where they met Oda Nobunaga, a powerful daimyo (feudal lord) who wanted to unify Japan ridding it of the warlords. According to a contemporary account, Nobunaga was stunned by Yasuke’s appearance- both his height and his skin color. As recorded in the diary of the samurai Matsudaira Letada, “His [Yasuke’s] height was 6 shaku 2 sun [roughly 6 feet 2 inches] …he was black, and his skin was like charcoal.” Yasuke would have towered over the average Japanese person of that era. Most Japanese people, including Nobunaga, had never seen a Black man. Upon meeting Nobunaga, Yasuke was reportedly stripped and scrubbed, as Nobunaga believed that his skin was dirty.
Yasuke immediately gained Nobunaga’s trust. Historians assume that Yasuke knew Japanese well enough to have conversations with Nobunaga, because if not, then any event that happened to Yasuke in Japan would have been inconceivable to believe. They also believe that he quickly proved to Nobunaga his skills as a soldier. Soon after their first meeting, Nobunaga granted Yasuke his Japanese name, accepted him into his service, and made him the first recorded foreigner to receive the title of Samurai. Samurai was the military class of Japan who had to adhere to a strict code of honor as well as knowledge of wielding several weapons with the most prominent being the Katana. Yasuke was also one of the few people who dined with Nobunaga, which demonstrated the closeness of their relationship.
As a samurai, Yasuke would have fought in several battles for Nobunaga, though the exact number is unknown. His service to Nobunaga was, however, short: Yasuke was present at Honnō Temple in Kyōto in 1582, only about a year after they met, when Nobunaga was betrayed by his general Akechi Mitsuhide. With defeat an inevitable conclusion, Nobunaga committed Seppuku, a form of ritual suicide, in order to control his own death and protect his honor. It is possible that Yasuke served as Nobunaga’s Kaishakunin, a designated second in the ritual who beheads the man dying by Seppuku.
Immediately after Nobunaga’s death, Yasuke joined Oda Nobutada, Nobunaga’s son, but Nobutada was also defeated by Mitsuhide and committed seppuku (also known as Hara-kiri) the same day as his father. Defeated, Yasuke was then escorted by Mitsuhide’s men to a Jesuit mission house. Nothing is known of him after this incident.
Coming back to the Netflix series, if only they read the history books instead of getting bored and making their own plot up. AS IF IN THE 1850s IT WAS INCREDIBLY COMMON FOR AN AFRICAN BORN MAN TO BECOME A SAMURAI IN FEUDAL JAPAN, THAY THEY HAD TO ADD MORE AND MORE UNEEDED ELEMENTS TO AN ALREADY INTERESTSING STORY. Throughout the story there are some flashbacks that are more interesting than PRESENT DAY; having so many amazing characters it seems that they may have chosen the wrong story in the life of Yasuke. The tittle leads the viewer to believe that you are watching a story of a black samurai, but you are then given the story of a little girl that received X-men like powers in FEUDAL JAPAN. Knowing the plot of this anime, I regretted the time I wasted watching this failed amazing story; it could have been so much greater if the sole focus was Yasuke going from being a Ronin (samurai without leader) to a full-fledged samurai under Oda Nobunaga.
About the Contributor
Merdardo Saravia Zelaya, Staff Writer
Medardo is someone who never knows what is going on due to sleeping for about 11 hours per week. It’s not all bad, Medardo’s favorite show is Infinity Train, with his favorite season being the very first one. He is a strange person keeping busy with school and the desire to be good at writing.