Yasuke

For the anime based on him, see Yasuke (TV series).

Yasuke
Bornc. 1555[1]
Portuguese Mozambique (most likely)
DiedAfter June 1582
Allegiance
Battles / wars

Yasuke (Japanese: 弥助 / 弥介, pronounced [jasɯ̥ke]) was a man of African origin who served as a samurai[2][3][4] to daimyō Oda Nobunaga between 1581 and 1582, during the Sengoku period, until Nobunaga's death.

There are few historical documents on Yasuke. From the fragmentary accounts, Yasuke first arrived in Japan in the service of Italian Jesuit Alessandro Valignano.[5] Nobunaga summoned him out of a desire to see a black man.[5] Subsequently, Nobunaga took him into his service and gave him the name Yasuke. He was granted a sword, a house and a stipend.[6][7] Yasuke fought during the Honnō-ji Incident, and was captured. His captors sent Yasuke back to the Jesuits.[8] There are no records of his life afterwards.

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference Lockley-2024 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference Samurai-academic was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Germain, Jacquelyne (10 January 2023). "Who Was Yasuke, Japan's First Black Samurai?". Smithsonian Magazine. Retrieved 27 June 2024.
  4. ^ Moon, Kat (30 April 2021). "The True Story of Yasuke, the Legendary Black Samurai Behind Netflix's New Anime Series". TIME. Retrieved 27 June 2024.
  5. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Leupp-1995 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference Kaneko-2009 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Jozuka, Emiko (20 May 2019). "The legacy of feudal Japan's African samurai". CNN. Archived from the original on 6 April 2023. Retrieved 27 June 2024.
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference Ando-2021 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).