Approximately 500 years ago, a tall African man by the name of Yasuke arrived in Japan. He would go on to become the first foreign-born man to achieve the status of a samurai warrior.
Abducted as a boy from his home believed to be in Mozambique, Yasuke was sold to Italian Priest, Alessandro Valignano.
In 1579, Valignano took a business trip to Japan taking Yasuke with him. He was in his mid-twenties, stood 6-foot-2 in, and very dark at this point in his life. His presence unsurprisingly made an instant impact on the Japanese, it was as alien to him as it was to them, he was now completely unknowing of his origins.
Japanese warlord, Oda Nobunaga, amazed at his sight couldn’t believe that Yasuke was black, and ordered him to immediately ‘scrub the black ink’ from his skin.
The warlord was attempting to unite a civil war endured Japan at the time and praised Yasuke for his strength, size and loyalty. He took him as his bodyguard and as a free man – for the first time since his abduction as a child. Yasuke served him well.
Within a year Yasuke climbed the ranks from a page to a samurai, learnt fluent Japanese, and earned the trust to ride alongside Oda in battle, a great honour in Japan.
As a right-hand man, Yasuke also earned his own apartment, a katana sword, and the honour of dining with Oda Nobunaga.
In 1582 however, a general in the ranks betrayed Oda, sieging his castle and burning it to the ground. Yasuke became loyal to Oba’s son, Oda Nobutada, but he too was overrun. Yasuke was then banished to a European Jesuit missionary in Kyoto, where he lived the remainder of his life.
At the time of Yasuke, Japan was going through the Sengoku period, a time of war where many were vying for control of Japan. Due to this, not many records were kept, which is why we lack more detailed knowledge of Yasuke and his life. We do know that he was the first African samurai.
Apart from the recently released anime series, two movies about Yasuke’s life are planned. Lionsgate announced a forthcoming film in 2017, according to BBC News. In May 2019, entertainment outlet Variety reported that the late actor Chadwick Boseman had begun production on a separate film about the legendary samurai. Keep an eye out.
Source: (BBC, Dante Mag, ChocCity Mag)
