Yasuke

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"You are still a frog in a well who knows nothing of the sea. The oceans fill with new ships, but they all come from the same river: greed, power, vengeance."

―Yasuke to Fujibayashi Naoe

Yasuke (弥助; born c. 1555) was an African samurai who served the Japanese warlord Oda Nobunaga. In 1579, the Portuguese Empire brought him as a slave to the port city of Sakai. According to the Chronicle of Nobunaga, he entered into Oda's service a few years later after capturing his attention as the first African man he had ever met and impressing him with his strong stature and intelligence.

In 1581, he invaded Iga Province on behalf of his lord, devastating the region. Despite having destroyed Fujibayashi Naoe's home, Yasuke later allied himself with the young Iga Assassin, assisting her in not just intelligence-gathering but assassinations as well.

Personality and traits

Yasuke was a thoughtful and intelligent man, who was able to learn the Japanese people's language, customs, and martial arts quickly upon arriving in their country. His respect for the local culture enabled his adaptation to his new environment. These qualities, alongside his physical prowess and aptitude in combat, were what earned him Oda Nobunaga's respect. His down-to-earth sensibilities complemented the fiery and passionate temperament of his later ally Fujibayashi Naoe.

Having personally experienced societies worlds apart from another, Yasuke nonetheless observed that they all shared common features no matter their cultural differences. Whether it was the world of his homeland, that of his Portuguese slavers, or that of the Japanese warlords, self-interest, power politics, and violence seemed to be the universal language. It was Naoe who challenged him to discover through his own choices that a world not dictated by these features was possible.

Skills and equipment

On the battlefield, Yasuke was a powerful warrior capable of slaying multiple enemies with ease. Apart from his mastery of the katana, his great physical strength permitted his use of the kanabō while he was also skilled in the arquebus.

Behind the scenes

Yasuke is a historical figure who will star as one of the two protagonists of the 2024 video game Assassin's Creed: Shadows. He is being portrayed by the Zimbabwean actor Tongayi Chirisa.

Gallery

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  Concept art
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  Concept art
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  Promotional art
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  Promotional art
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  Closeup
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  Yasuke in his armor leading Oda clan soldiers
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  Closeup of Yasuke during the attack on Iga

Appearances

• Echoes of History (first mentioned)
• Assassin's Creed: Shadows (first appearance)

Trivia

• Yasuke was not the first black person to live in Japan. Earliest mentions of black people in Japan long before Yasuke can be found in the 日本書紀 (Nihon Shoki, 720), 続日本紀 (Shoku Nihongi, 797), and the 日本後紀 (Nihon Koki, 840). According to the Nihon Shoki, ships carrying envoys from the Kingdom of Champa intended to go to Baekje drifted to the Japanese seashores in the provinces of Tsukushi (筑紫国, modern-day Fukuoka Prefecture) and Mikawa (三河国, modern-day Aichi Prefecture). In respond, a Japanese emissary named Hironari Hiraguni visited Champa in 735 and received a greeting banquet from the King of Champa. According to the Shoku Nihongi and Nihon Koki, in 736 a Cham Buddhist monk named Buttetsu (仏哲) arrived in Japan. He was particularly noted as "black oily skin and woolly hair." His talents quickly earned trusts and praises from Emperor Shomu. In 752, at the opening ceremony of the Tōdai-ji Temple, Buttetsu introduced a new type of Japanese dance and Japanese music known as Rinyugaku (林邑楽, 'Music of the Black Men') while the enjoyed Emperor of Japan highly appreciated Buttetsu's perform. Ancient Chinese and Japanese sources describe the Chams possessed "black skin, eyes deep in the orbit, nose turned up, hair frizzy." The Chinese annals Book of Southern Qi states "For the complexion of men, they consider Black the most beautiful. In all the kingdoms of the southern region, it is the same." American Sinologist Don Wyatt notes that, medieval Chinese, Japanese, and Vietnamese sources all used the term 'kun-lun' to explicitly designate to black people including indigenous Black Asians and Africans. This term was applied for the Chams, Khmers, Thais, Malays, Aboriginal Australians, Ethiopians, and Cengzi (Zanj) in modern-day Kenya, Zanzibar, Tanzania, and Mozambique. In modern times, as early as 1923, Harvard University anthropologist Roland Burrage Dixon noted that the ancient Chams and Khmers were physically "marked by distinctly short stature, dark skin, curly or even frizzly hair, broad noses and thick Negroid lips."