Yasuke

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

Yasuke
Bornc. 1555[1]
Portuguese Mozambique (most likely)
DiedAfter June 1582
AllegianceJesuits, Alessandro Valignano
Oda clan, Oda Nobunaga (1581–1582)
Battles/wars

Yasuke (Japanese: 弥助 / 弥介, Japanese pronunciation: [jasɯ̥ke]) was a man of African origin[3][4] who served as a samurai to the Japanese daimyō Oda Nobunaga for a period of 15 months between 1581 and 1582, during the Sengoku period, until Nobunaga's death in the Honnō-ji Incident.[5][6][7][8] Afterwards, Yasuke was sent back to the Jesuits.[9] There are no further records of his life.

There are few historical documents on Yasuke. From the fragmentary accounts, Yasuke first arrived in Japan in the service of Jesuit Alessandro Valignano.[10] He was summoned to Nobunaga after Nobunaga wished to see a black man.[10] Subsequently, Nobunaga took him into his service, gave him the name Yasuke and granted him a sword, servants, a house and a stipend. Historians believe this was the equivalent to "the bestowing of warrior or 'samurai' rank" during this period.[1] Japanese historian Yūichi Goza has stated that Yasuke was likely a bodyguard and entertainer for Oda Nobunaga, and that if Yasuke was conferred samurai status as described in the Sonkeikaku Bunko version of the Shinchō Kōki, it may have been in name only.[11]

  1. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Lockley_Britannica was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Murakami, Naojiro; Yanagitani, Takeo (2002). イエズス会日本年報 上 [Society of Jesus – Japan Annual Report, First Volume]. New Foreign Country (in Japanese). Maruzen-Yushodo. ISBN 978-4-8419-1000-1.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference ExcludedPresence was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference Hitotsubashi was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Lopez-Vera, Jonathan (2020). A History of the Samurai: Legendary Warriors of Japan. Tuttle Publishing. pp. 140–141. The name given to this black slave was Yasuke (until recently the reason for this was unknown—investigations carried out in Japan not long ago claim his real name was Yasufe) and from then on he always accompanied Nobunaga as a kind of bodyguard. It is worth pointing out that henceforth he was no longer a slave, since he received a salary for being in the daimyō's service and enjoyed the same comforts as other vassals. He was granted the rank of samurai and occasionally even shared a table with Nobunaga himself, a privilege few of his trusted vassals were afforded.
  6. ^ Atkins, E. Taylor (2023). A History of Popular Culture in Japan: From the Seventeenth Century to the Present (2nd ed.). Bloomsbury Academic. p. 72. ISBN 978-1-350-19592-9. Impressed with Yasuke's height and strength (which "surpassed that of ten men"), Nobunaga gave him a sword signifying bushi status. Yasuke served as Nobunaga's retainer and conversation partner for the last year of the warlord's life, defending Azuchi castle from the traitorous Akechi forces in 1582, where Nobunaga committed ritual suicide (seppuku). Although there are no known portraits of the "African samurai," there are some pictorial depictions of dark-skinned men (in one of which he is sumo wrestling) from the early Edo period that historians speculate could be Yasuke.
  7. ^ Germain, Jacquelyne (10 January 2023). "Who Was Yasuke, Japan's First Black Samurai?". Smithsonian Magazine. Retrieved 27 June 2024.
  8. ^ 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.
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference huffingtonpostyasuke was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference JapanForum was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  11. ^ 寛次, 高橋 (5 August 2024). "弥助問題「本人は芸人のような立場」「日本人の不満は当然」 歴史学者・呉座氏に聞く（上）". 産経新聞：産経ニュース (in Japanese). Retrieved 7 August 2024. 「また、侍だったとしても『形の上では』ということもあります。例えば江戸時代、相撲好きの大名にはお抱えの力士がいた。形式的には家臣、侍として召し抱えて帯刀を許可していましたが、たとえ戦（いくさ）が起きたとしても、お抱え力士が戦場で戦うようなことはもちろん、想定されていませんでした」 [Moreover, even if he was a samurai, it might have been in-form only. In the Edo period, for example, a daimyo (feudal lord) who was fond of sumo had a stable of wrestlers. Officially, they were treated as vassals or samurai and permitted to wear swords, however, even if war broke out, it was not expected that the feudal lords would allow such wrestlers to fight on the battlefield]