Yasuke: African Samurai, Myth, or Neither?

The only thing that can be said for sure about Japan's sole "black samurai" is that we know almost nothing about him.

A possible posthumous artistic depiction of Yasuke, though as you’re about to find out, it also might not be.

Few subjects around Japan attract more attention and fascination than the stories of the country’s ancient samurai class. Whether it’s because of their elegant swords, intricate armor, or ideology, there’s undoubtedly something about samurai which has captured the imaginations of countless people both domestically and abroad.

The samurai are of course a distinctly Japanese symbol, but foreigners who resided in the country were occasionally awarded this status as well. Arguably the most well-known was William Adams, the first Briton to arrive in Japan. He became a close advisor of shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu in the early 1600s, having been rechristened as Miura Anjin (三浦按針) and allowed to wear the swords of the samurai with the same privileges such as land ownership and servants.

Less famous today are the Chinese, Korean, Dutch, Italian, and Prussian men who also became samurai. Enough documentation to varying degrees about their lives survives to know that they existed and were considered a part of Japan’s warrior class. But then there’s a man known only by his Japanese name Yasuke who continues to be the subject of great interest and controversy.

Yasuke as depicted in the 1968 children’s book Kurosuke by Yoshio Kurusu and Genjiro Mita.

Chances are that you’ve probably heard some variation of a story about an African slave who arrived in Japan in the late 1500s at the height of the country’s Sengoku period. With black people being a rarity in the country, daimyo Oda Nobunaga is fascinated by the man and ends up employing him in his service as a samurai due to his size and strength. They fight many battles together until Nobunaga is betrayed by his retainer Akechi Mitsuhide during the Honno-ji Incident, and Yasuke subsequently disappears from history.

While the above anecdote is partially true, it is a considerable oversimplification of what we do know about Yasuke, which is to say very little. The lack of concrete information has caused many to invent wildly speculative tales around this mysterious “African samurai,” who may have not actually even been a samurai.

Existence Confirmed

The vast majority of details around Yasuke remain a mystery, including his actual name, date of birth, and country of origin. His existence, however, has been a known historical fact for centuries.

What we know for sure is that Yasuke came to Japan in 1579 as the valet of Alessandro Valignano, an Italian Jesuit priest renowned for his missionary work throughout East Asia. Christianity first appeared in Japan thirty years previously with the arrival of Portuguese Catholics led by Francis Xavier. The writings of these Jesuits have proven crucial in our understanding of this time period, both for providing an early Western perspective of the country and for their extensive documentation that not even concurrent Japanese sources had.

Jesuits like Alessandro Valignano left behind a trove of fascinating writings documenting early European impressions of East Asia.

It is important to remember that only the most educated in both Japan and Europe were capable of reading and writing back then, which means that we are largely limited to this world of elites when it comes to what was considered “important” enough to be put down on paper. It isn’t clear if Yasuke was a slave, an indentured servant, or a free man who willingly chose to be in Valignano’s service, but his appearance in Sengoku-era Japan was certainly enough of a notable event for both sides to record his existence.

The closest contemporary source which confirms the existence of Yasuke is the second volume of a compilation letters entitled Cartas que os padres e irmãos da Companhia de Jesus escreverão dos reynos de Japão e China II published in 1598. Written by the Jesuits for a Catholic European audience, the Cartas reproduces a letter from Portuguese missionary Luís Fróis to fellow colleague Lourenço Mexia based in Macau which chronicles Alessandro Valignano’s 1581 visit to Oda Nobunaga’s court. Fróis, who wrote extensively on his experiences in Japan, was an eyewitness to the meeting and recorded how the daimyo was fascinated with Valignano’s African valet.