Database: Yasuke (Shadows)

This individual, whose existence is corroborated by multiple sources, is believed to have arrived in Japan with the Jesuit Visitor Alessandro Valignano in 1579. Of African origin, possibly from Mozambique, he was brought along as a servant, likely with the status of a slave. He was part of Valignano's delegation when the latter visited Oda Nobunaga in Kyoto on March 23, 1581. Yasuke, as he was later named by Nobunaga, made a significant impression on the Japanese lord, leading Valignano to entrust him to Nobunaga (the conditions of this transaction remain unknown).

Yasuke is described in Nobunaga's chronicle (the Shinchō Kōki) as a man of 26 or 27 years, "black all over his body like a buffalo," and possessing the strength of ten men. Another chronicle notes that he stood around 1.85 meters tall, a remarkable height for Japan at that time. Nobunaga took Yasuke into his service, bestowing upon him a ceremonial sword and possibly land, thus making him his vassal. According to the chronicle of Lord Matsudaira Ietada, Yasuke was neither a dependent nor a mercenary but a samurai, receiving an income from Nobunaga.

When Nobunaga was besieged at Honnō-ji by the forces of his treacherous general Akechi Mitsuhide on June 21, 1582, Yasuke was present. He is said to have fought for Nobunaga. Yasuke was taken prisoner but freed by Mitsuhide. From that point on, Yasuke's trail is lost, and he appears to have been sent back to a Christian church in Kyoto.

Yasuke served Nobunaga as a samurai for only 15 months. Nobunaga likely enhanced his prestige as a military leader by having such an imposing figure as Yasuke by his side. Luís Fróis mentions a black gunner who fought alongside the forces of the Arima clan's daimyō during the Battle of Okita Nawate in May 1584. Could this have been Yasuke? We do not know.