{"id":3208,"date":"2023-01-21T11:56:45","date_gmt":"2023-01-21T10:56:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ijamact.com\/?p=3208"},"modified":"2023-01-21T12:07:44","modified_gmt":"2023-01-21T11:07:44","slug":"yasuke-kurosan-mister-black-the-1st-african-samurai-in-the-history-of-japan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ijamact.com\/index.php\/2023\/01\/21\/yasuke-kurosan-mister-black-the-1st-african-samurai-in-the-history-of-japan\/","title":{"rendered":"Yasuke Kurosan (Mister Black): The 1st African Samurai in the History of Japan"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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\"\"Yasuke (\u5f25\u52a9 or \u5f25\u4ecb) was a man of African origin who served as a retainer and weapon-bearer[1][2][3] to the Japanese daimy\u014d Oda Nobunaga.[4] In 1579, Yasuke arrived in Japan in the service of the Italian\u00a0Jesuit\u00a0missionary\u00a0Alessandro Valignano, Visitor of Missions in the\u00a0Indies, in India. Yasuke was one of the several Africans to have come with the Portuguese to Japan during the\u00a0Nanban trade\u00a0and is thought by some to have been the first African that Nobunaga had ever seen.[5][6]\u00a0He was also present during the\u00a0Honn\u014d-ji Incident, the forced suicide of Nobunaga at the hands of his general\u00a0Akechi Mitsuhide\u00a0on 21 June 1582.[7]

Early life<\/h3>

According to\u00a0Histoire eccl\u00e9siastique des isles et royaumes du Japon, written by Jesuit priest\u00a0Fran\u00e7ois Solier\u00a0of the\u00a0Society of Jesus\u00a0in 1627, Yasuke was likely from\u00a0Mozambique.[1][8]\u00a0This would be consistent with other accounts of Africans from Mozambique in Japan. According to\u00a0Fujita Midori, the first African people who came to Japan were Mozambican. They reached Japan in 1546 as shipmates or slaves who served Portuguese captain Jorge \u00c1lvares (not to be confused with\u00a0another explorer of the same name who died in 1521).[9]

In 2013, a Japanese\u00a0TBS\u00a0television program titled\u00a0Sekai Fushigi Hakken!\u00a0(\u4e16\u754c\u3075\u3057\u304e\u767a\u898b\uff01, \u00ab\u00a0Discovery of the World’s Mysteries!\u00a0\u00bb)\u00a0suggested that Yasuke was a\u00a0Makua\u00a0named Yasufe.[10]\u00a0This name seems to be derived from the more popular Mozambican name Issufo.[11]\u00a0However, the program provided little evidence for its conclusions. The Makua are not documented as having had any significant contact with the Portuguese based in Mozambique until 1585.[12]

Yasuke may have been a member of the\u00a0Yao people,[13]\u00a0or from the more inland area of Mozambique.[14]\u00a0Yao people were just coming into contact with the Portuguese at the time, which might account for his name: that is,\u00a0Yao\u00a0added to the common Japanese male name suffix of\u00a0suke\u00a0produces\u00a0Yao-suke.[13]

Yasuke may have been a slave. Thomas Lockley acknowledges it is possible that Yasuke was enslaved as a child and sent to India, where he could have been employed as a military slave or an indentured soldier, but that he likely obtained his freedom before meeting Valignano.[15][16]\u00a0Valignano employed him as bodyguard and valet.<\/p>

\"\"<\/p>

Sudanese claims<\/h3>

Another claim suggests that Yasuke was a\u00a0Dinka\u00a0from\u00a0South Sudan. He was famous for his height and extremely dark skin color. The Dinka people are among the tallest in Africa, and have significantly darker skin compared to Ethiopians, Eritreans, or Somalis for example. Adult Dinka men had a ritual custom of drawing decorative patterns on their faces by tattooing, but no account of Yasuke having a face pattern was recorded.[17]

Ethiopian claims<\/h3>

According to another theory, Yasuke was from\u00a0Ethiopia. Thomas Lockley suggested that this theory is most convincing. Like Yasuke, Ethiopians who were not Jewish (i.e.\u00a0Beta Israel), Christian, or Muslim were often sold into slavery and called\u00a0cafre\u00a0by the Portuguese; they were well\u2010built and skilled soldiers.[18]\u00a0According to this theory, his original name might be the\u00a0Amharic\u00a0name\u00a0Yisake\u00a0or the Portuguese name Isaque, derived from\u00a0Isaac.[19]\u00a0Yasufe\u00a0was also used as a surname in Ethiopia.[20]

Documented life in Japan<\/h3>

Yasuke arrived in Japan in 1579 in service of the Italian Jesuit missionary\u00a0Alessandro Valignano, who had been appointed the Visitor (inspector) of the Jesuit missions in the\u00a0Indies\u00a0(which at that time meant\u00a0East Africa,\u00a0South,\u00a0Southeast, and\u00a0East Asia). He accompanied Valignano when the latter came to the capital area in March 1581 and his appearance caused much interest with the local people.[21]

When Yasuke was presented to\u00a0Oda Nobunaga, the Japanese\u00a0daimy\u014d\u00a0thought that his skin must have been colored with black ink. Nobunaga had him strip from the waist up and made him scrub his skin.[22]\u00a0These events are recorded in a 1581 letter of the Jesuit\u00a0Lu\u00eds Fr\u00f3is\u00a0to Louren\u00e7o Mexia, and in the\u00a01582 Annual Report of the Jesuit Mission in Japan,\u00a0also by Fr\u00f3is. These were published in\u00a0Cartas que os padres e irm\u00e3os da Companhia de Jesus escrever\u00e3o dos reynos de Jap\u00e3o e China II\u00a0(1598), normally known simply as\u00a0Cartas.[23][24]\u00a0When Nobunaga realized that the African’s skin was indeed black, he took an interest in him.<\/p>

The\u00a0Lord Nobunaga Chronicle\u00a0(\u4fe1\u9577\u516c\u8a18,\u00a0Shinch\u014d K\u014dki)\u00a0corroborates Fr\u00f3is’s account.[25]\u00a0It describes the meeting thus: \u00ab\u00a0On the 23rd of the 2nd month [23 March 1581], a black page\u00a0(\u9ed2\u574a\u4e3b,\u00a0kuro-b\u014dzu)\u00a0came from the Christian countries. The man was described as robust, black as a bull, and of fine character.[25]\u00a0Nobunaga’s nephew gave him a sum of money at this first meeting.\u00a0\u00bb[26]\u00a0On 14 May, Yasuke departed for\u00a0Echizen Province\u00a0with Fr\u00f3is and the other Christians. During this trip, they met local warlords such as\u00a0Shibata Katsutoyo,\u00a0Hashiba Hidekatsu, and\u00a0Shibata Katsuie.[27]\u00a0They returned to Kyoto on 30 May.[28]

It is likely that Yasuke could speak or was taught Japanese, perhaps due to Valignano’s efforts to ensure his missionaries adapted well to the local culture.[29]\u00a0Nobunaga enjoyed talking with him (there is no indication that Nobunaga spoke Portuguese, and it is unlikely that Yasuke would have been able to communicate in classical Chinese, the East Asian\u00a0lingua franca\u00a0of the time). He was perhaps the only non-Japanese retainer that Nobunaga had in his service, which could explain Nobunaga’s interest in him.[29]\u00a0Yasuke was mentioned in a variant text of the\u00a0Shinch\u014d-ki\u00a0(\u4fe1\u9577\u8a18)\u00a0owned by Sonkeikaku Bunko (\u5c0a\u7d4c\u95a3\u6587\u5eab), the archives of the\u00a0Maeda clan.[30]\u00a0According to this, the black man named Yasuke (\u5f25\u52a9) was given his own residence and a short, ceremonial\u00a0katana[dubious\u00a0\u2013\u00a0discuss]\u00a0by Nobunaga. Nobunaga also assigned him the duty of weapon bearer.[31][failed verification]

After the\u00a0Battle of Tenmokuzan, Nobunaga led his force, including Yasuke, and inspected the former territory of the\u00a0Takeda clan. On his way back, he met\u00a0Tokugawa Ieyasu.\u00a0Matsudaira Ietada, the retainer of Ieyasu described Yasuke as \u00ab\u00a06\u00a0shaku\u00a02\u00a0sun\u00a0(6\u00a0ft. 2 in., or 188\u00a0cm.). He was black, and his skin was like charcoal.\u00a0\u00bb Matsudaira stated that he was named Yasuke (\u5f25\u4ecb).[32]

In June 1582, Nobunaga was\u00a0attacked\u00a0and forced to commit\u00a0seppuku\u00a0in\u00a0Honn\u014d-ji\u00a0in\u00a0Kyoto\u00a0by the army of\u00a0Akechi Mitsuhide. Yasuke was there at the time and helped fight the Akechi forces. Immediately after Nobunaga’s death, Yasuke went to join Nobunaga’s heir\u00a0Oda Nobutada, who was trying to rally the Oda forces at\u00a0Nij\u014d Castle. Yasuke fought alongside the Nobutada forces but was eventually captured. When Yasuke was presented to Akechi, the warlord allegedly said that the black man was an animal as well as not Japanese and should thus not be killed, but taken to the Christian church in Kyoto, the\u00a0Nanbanji\u00a0(\u5357\u86ee\u5bfa).[22][3]\u00a0However, there is some doubt regarding the credibility of this fate.[33][25]\u00a0There is no further written information about him after this.<\/p>

Citations<\/span><\/h3>
  1. \u00ab\u00a0Yasuke: le premier samoura\u00ef \u00e9tranger \u00e9tait africain\u00a0\u00bb.\u00a0Rfi.fr<\/i>\u00a0(in French). 2 January 2015. Archived from\u00a0the original\u00a0on 14 January 2020.<\/cite><\/span><\/li>
  2. <\/b>Mohamud, Naima (14 October 2019).\u00a0\u00ab\u00a0The mysterious life of an African samurai\u00a0\u00bb.\u00a0BBC News<\/i>. Archived from\u00a0the original\u00a0on 1 November 2020.<\/cite><\/span><\/li>
  3. Murakami, Naojiro; Yanagitani, Takeo (2002).\u00a0\u30a4\u30a8\u30ba\u30b9\u4f1a\u65e5\u672c\u5e74\u5831 \u4e0a<\/bdi>\u00a0[Society of Jesus \u2013 Japan Annual Report, First Volume<\/i>]. New Foreign Country (in Japanese). Maruzen-Yushodo.\u00a0ISBN\u00a0978-4-8419-1000-1<\/bdi>.<\/cite><\/span><\/li>
  4. <\/b>\u00a0Matsudaira, Ietada (1968).\u00a0Ietada Nikki<\/i>. Kyoto: Rinsen Shoten. pp.\u00a014\u201315.\u00a0ISBN\u00a0978-4-04-703304-7<\/bdi>.<\/cite><\/span><\/li>
  5. <\/b>\u00a0Cooper 1965, pp.\u00a041\u201343<\/span><\/li>
  6. <\/b>\u00a0Cooper 1965, p.\u00a066<\/span><\/li>
  7. <\/b>\u014cta, Gy\u016bichi (2017).\u00a0Shinch\u014d K\u014dki<\/i>. Tokyo:\u00a0Chikuma Shob\u014d.\u00a0ISBN\u00a0978-4-480-09777-4<\/bdi>.<\/cite><\/span><\/li>
  8. <\/b>\u00a0Histoire eccl\u00e9siastique des isles et royaumes du Japon<\/i>\u00a0[Ecclesiastical History of the Isles and Kingdoms of Japan<\/i>] (in French). Vol.\u00a01. p.\u00a0444.\u00a0Archived\u00a0from the original on 31 January 2017. Retrieved\u00a022 June<\/span>\u00a02013<\/span>.<\/cite><\/span><\/li>
  9. <\/b>Fujita 2005, pp.\u00a01\u20132.<\/span><\/li>
  10. <\/b>\u00a0\u4fe1\u9577\u6700\u671f\u306e\u523b \u2014 \u672c\u80fd\u5bfa\u306b\u3044\u305f\u300c\u6f06\u9ed2\u306e\u30b5\u30e0\u30e9\u30a4\u300d\u3092\u8ffd\u3048\uff01<\/bdi>\u00a0(in Japanese). Archived from\u00a0the original\u00a0on 11 June 2013. Retrieved\u00a06 September<\/span>\u00a02013<\/span>.<\/cite><\/span><\/li>
  11. <\/b>Lockley 2017, pp.\u00a0199\u2013200<\/span><\/li>
  12. <\/b>Lockley 2017, pp.\u00a0180\u2013181<\/span><\/li>
  13. ^\u00a0<\/span>Lockley 2017, pp.\u00a0200\u2013202<\/span><\/li>
  14. <\/b>Lockley 2017, pp.\u00a0181\u2013182<\/span><\/li>
  15. <\/b>\u00ab\u00a0The True Story of Yasuke, the Legendary Black Samurai Behind Netflix’s New Anime Series\u00a0\u00bb.\u00a0Time<\/i>. Retrieved\u00a012 November<\/span>\u00a02021<\/span>.<\/cite><\/span><\/li>
  16. <\/b>\u00a0Aga Khan Museum\u00a0(18 February 2021),\u00a0Lunchtime Lecture \u2014 Yasuke: An African Warrior in Japan with Prof. Thomas Lockley<\/i>, retrieved\u00a017 November<\/span>\u00a02021<\/span><\/cite><\/span><\/li>
  17. <\/b>\u00a0Lockley 2017, pp.\u00a0187\u201388.<\/span><\/li>
  18. <\/b>Lockley 2017, pp.\u00a0193\u201394.<\/span><\/li>
  19. <\/b>Lockley 2017, pp.\u00a0198\u2013202.<\/span><\/li>
  20. <\/b>Lockley 2017, p.\u00a0200.<\/span><\/li>
  21. <\/b>Hollingworth, William (15 June 2019).\u00a0\u00ab\u00a0‘African Samurai’: The story of Yasuke \u2013 black samurai and warlord’s confidant\u00a0\u00bb.\u00a0The Japan Times<\/i>. Retrieved\u00a018 December<\/span>\u00a02019<\/span>.<\/cite><\/span><\/li>
  22. Fujita 2005, pp.\u00a08\u20139.<\/span><\/li><\/ol><\/div><\/div>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    From Africa to Japan, this is the extraordinary destiny of Yasuke Kurosan, the freed slave turned samurai. Yasuke Kurosan was the first foreign samurai in Japanese history. This African enslaved by the Portuguese, Italian Jesuits, before being freed by a Japanese warlord who offered him the ultimate rank of samurai.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3212,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[164],"class_list":["post-3208","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-short-articles","tag-black-samurai"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ijamact.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3208","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ijamact.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ijamact.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ijamact.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ijamact.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3208"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/ijamact.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3208\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3222,"href":"https:\/\/ijamact.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3208\/revisions\/3222"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ijamact.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3212"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ijamact.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3208"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ijamact.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3208"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ijamact.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3208"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}