Yasuke

Yasuke is the first known African to appear in Japanese historical records. Much of what is known about him is found in fragmentary accounts in the letters of the Jesuit missionary Luís Fróis, {{ill|太田牛一|lt=Ōta Gyūichi's|ja}} {{Nihongo|Shinchō Kōki|信長公記||Nobunaga Official Chronicle}}, Matsudaira Ietada's {{Nihongo|Matsudaira Ietada Nikki|松平家忠日記||Matsudaira Ietada Diary}}, Jean Crasset's {{lang|fr|Histoire de l'église du Japon}} and François Solier's {{lang|fr|Histoire Ecclesiastique des Isles et Royaumes du Japon}}.{{Cite web |date=30 August 2019 |title=ハリウッドで映画化!信長に仕えた黒人、弥助とは何者だったのか? |trans-title=Movie made in Hollywood! Who was Yasuke, a black man who served Nobunaga? |url=https://intojapanwaraku.com/rock/culture-rock/28746/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230919001439/https://intojapanwaraku.com/rock/culture-rock/28746/ |archive-date=19 September 2023 |access-date=12 September 2023 |website=WARAKU web |publisher=Shogakukan |language=ja}}{{cite journal |last1=Shihan de Silva |first1=Jayasuriya |title=African Slavery in Asia : Epistemologies across Temporalities and Space |journal=紀要論文 / Departmental Bulletin Paper(1) |date=2023 |volume=72 |issue=特集 |pages=9–39 |url=https://kansai-u.repo.nii.ac.jp/records/23944}}

The earliest record of Yasuke dates to 1581. He received his name from Oda Nobunaga.{{Cite journal |last=Tsujiuchi |first=Makoto |date=1998 |title=Historical Context of Black Studies in Japan |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/43294431 |url-status=live |journal=Hitotsubashi Journal of Social Studies |volume=30 |issue=2 |pages=95–100 |issn=0073-280X |jstor=43294431 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240519003436/https://www.jstor.org/stable/43294431 |archive-date=19 May 2024 |access-date=19 May 2024}} His birth name is unknown.{{cite book |last1=Choudhury |first1=Srabani Roy |title=Japan and Its Partners in the Indo-Pacific Engagements and Alignment |date=May 12, 2023 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=9781000880526}}

Based on Shinchō Kōki, Yasuke was estimated to be in his mid-twenties in 1581. Accounts from his time suggest Yasuke accompanied Alessandro Valignano from "the Indies", a term encompassing Portuguese overseas territories like Goa and Cochin (modern-day Goa and Kochi in India) as well as Portuguese Mozambique.{{Cite EBO|title=Yasuke|url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Yasuke|url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240716194719/https://www.britannica.com/biography/Yasuke |archive-date=16 July 2024|access-date=2024-11-23|last=Lockley|first=Thomas|author-link=Thomas Lockley}} Researcher Thomas Lockley has also proposed that Yasuke might have originated from the Dinka people of what is now South Sudan. A 1581 letter by Jesuit Lourenço Mexia{{Cite book |last=Mexia |first=Lourenço |title=Segunda parte das cartas de Iapão que escreuerão os padres, & irmãos da Companhia de Iesus. Livro primeiro |publisher=Manuel de Lyra |year=1598 |location=Évora |page=17 |language=pt |chapter=Carta que o padre Lourenço Mexía escreueo de Funày ao padre Pero da Fonseca a oito de Outubro de 1581 |access-date=24 May 2024 |chapter-url=https://digitalis-dsp.uc.pt/bg5/UCBG-VT-18-9-17_18/UCBG-VT-18-9-17_18_item1/P680.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240524005319/https://digitalis-dsp.uc.pt/bg5/UCBG-VT-18-9-17_18/UCBG-VT-18-9-17_18_item1/P680.html |archive-date=24 May 2024 |url-status=live}} and a later account from 1627 by François Solier refer to Yasuke as a Cafre.{{efn|name="Cafre"|Originally, the Portuguese used the word {{lang|pt|Cafre}}, plural {{lang|pt|Cafres}} — from Arabic {{Transliteration|ar|kāfir}} ({{lang|ar|كافر}}), meaning "infidels", "renegade" — to designate the non-Bantu peoples they encountered in southern Africa, particularly the Khoisan people of southern Africa. In Asia, the term was applied to individuals with dark skin, who were often enslaved.{{Cite book |last=Sousa |first=Lúcio de |url=https://brill.com/display/title/37924 |title=The Portuguese Slave Trade in Early Modern Japan: Merchants, Jesuits and Japanese, Chinese, and Korean Slaves |date=2018 |publisher=Brill |isbn=978-90-04-36580-3 |series=Studies in Global Slavery |volume=7 |publication-place=Leiden ; Boston |page=12 |access-date=19 July 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240719065044/https://brill.com/display/title/37924 |archive-date=19 July 2024 |url-status=live}}{{Cite journal |last=Arndt |first=Jochen S. |date=2018-01-02 |title=What's in a Word? Historicising the Term 'Caffre' in European Discourses about Southern Africa between 1500 and 1800 |journal=Journal of Southern African Studies |volume=44 |issue=1 |pages=59–75 |doi=10.1080/03057070.2018.1403212 |issn=0305-7070}}}} Solier further described Yasuke as a More Cafre, which has been interpreted as "Moorish infidel", and identified him as a servant from Mozambique. Due to these descriptions, some historians have suggested that Yasuke may have been Muslim.{{Cite journal |last=Morris |first=James Harry |date=2 January 2018 |title=Christian–Muslim Relations in China and Japan in the Sixteenth and Early Seventeenth Centuries |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09596410.2017.1401797 |url-status=live |journal=Islam and Christian–Muslim Relations |language=en |volume=29 |issue=1 |pages=37–55 |doi=10.1080/09596410.2017.1401797 |issn=0959-6410 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240518232323/https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09596410.2017.1401797 |archive-date=18 May 2024 |access-date=18 May 2024|url-access=subscription }}{{Cite book |last1=Thomas |first1=David |title=South and East Asia, Africa and the Americas (1600-1700) |last2=Chesworth |first2=John A. |date=2017 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=978-90-04-32683-5 |series=Christian-Muslim Relations. A Bibliographical History |volume=33 |page=335 |chapter=South-East Asia, China and Japan |doi=10.1163/9789004335585_007 |access-date=27 August 2024 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=v9vzDQAAQBAJ&dq=Yasuke%20Islam&pg=PA335 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240925085616/https://books.google.com/books?id=v9vzDQAAQBAJ&dq=Yasuke%20Islam&pg=PA335#v=onepage&q=Yasuke%20Islam&f=false |archive-date=25 September 2024 |url-status=live}}

File:Odanobunaga.jpg, late 16th-century depiction]]

In 1579, Yasuke arrived in Japan in the service of the Italian Jesuit missionary Alessandro Valignano.{{Cite book |last=Crasset |first=Jean |author-link=Jean Crasset |url=https://dl.ndl.go.jp/pid/971162 |title=日本西教史 (Histoire de l'eglise du Japon) |publisher=太陽堂書店 (Taiyōdō Bookshop) |year=1925 |volume=1 |language=ja |oclc=835444691 |access-date=11 September 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230919001438/https://dl.ndl.go.jp/pid/971162 |archive-date=19 September 2023 |url-status=live | at=p. 384, number of frames 207}} Valignano had been appointed the Visitor (inspector) of the Jesuit missions in the Indies (which at that time meant East Africa, South, Southeast, and East Asia). Valignano's party spent the first two years of their stay in Japan, mainly in Kyushu.

Entering 1581, Valignano decided to visit the capital Kyoto as an envoy. He wanted to have an audience with Oda Nobunaga, the most powerful man in Japan, to ensure the Jesuits' missionary work before leaving Japan. These events are recorded in a 1581 letter Luís Fróis wrote to Lourenço Mexia, and in the 1582 Annual Report of the Jesuit Mission in Japan also by Fróis. These were published in {{lang|pt|Cartas que os padres e irmãos da Companhia de Jesus escreverão dos reynos de Japão e China II}} (1598), normally known simply as {{lang|pt|Cartas}}.1581 letters of the Jesuits Luís Fróis and Lorenço Mexia{{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/theycametojapan0000coop/page/70/mode/2up |title=They came to Japan : an anthology of European reports on Japan, 1543–1640 |publisher=University of California Press |others=Center for Japanese Studies, University of California, Berkeley |year=1965 |isbn=978-0-520-04509-5 |editor-last=Cooper |editor-first=Michael |location=Berkeley and Los Angeles |pages=71 |oclc=500169}} On 27 March 1581, Valignano, together with Luís Fróis, who had arrived in Japan earlier, had an audience with Nobunaga, and Yasuke is said to have accompanied them as an attendant.{{Cite web |last=Ando |first=Kenji |date=6 May 2021 |title=織田信長に仕えた黒人武士「弥助」の生涯とは?ネトフリのアニメ『Yasuke -ヤスケ-』のモデルに |trans-title=What was the life of Yasuke, a black warrior who served Oda Nobunaga? The model for the Netflix anime Yasuke |url=https://www.huffingtonpost.jp/entry/yasuke_jp_609347f7e4b09cce6c26a9b2 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230919001439/https://www.huffingtonpost.jp/entry/yasuke_jp_609347f7e4b09cce6c26a9b2 |archive-date=19 September 2023 |access-date=12 September 2023 |website=HuffPost |publisher=BuzzFeed Japan |language=ja}}

The Jesuit Luís Fróis wrote that while in the capital, a melee broke out among the local townsfolk who fought amongst themselves to catch a glimpse of Yasuke, breaking down the door of a Jesuit residence in the process and ended in a number of deaths and injuries among the Japanese.{{Cite journal |last=Russell |first=John G. |date=1 January 2007 |title=Excluded Presence: Shoguns, Minstrels, Bodyguards, and Japan's Encounters with the Black Other |url=https://repository.kulib.kyoto-u.ac.jp/dspace/bitstream/2433/71097/1/40_15.pdf |url-status=live |journal=Zinbun 40, Kyoto University |volume=40 |pages=15–51 |doi=10.14989/71097 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240517061605/https://repository.kulib.kyoto-u.ac.jp/dspace/bitstream/2433/71097/1/40_15.pdf |archive-date=17 May 2024 |access-date=19 May 2024 |quote=The most well-documented case is that Yasuke, a Mozambican brought to Japan by the Italian Jesuit Alessandro Valignano}} Luís Fróis's Annual Report on Japan states that Nobunaga also longed to see a black man, and summoned him.{{Cite journal |last=Leupp |first=Gary P. |date=March 1995 |title=Images of black people in late medieval and early modern Japan 1543–1900 |url=http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09555809508721524 |url-status=live |journal=Japan Forum |language=en |volume=7 |issue=1 |pages=1–13 |doi=10.1080/09555809508721524 |issn=0955-5803 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230201053947/https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09555809508721524 |archive-date=1 February 2023 |access-date=19 May 2024|url-access=subscription }} Fr. Organtino took Yasuke to Nobunaga, who upon seeing a black man for the first time, refused to believe that his skin color was natural and not applied later, and made him remove his clothes from the belt upwards. Suspecting that Yasuke might have ink on his body, Nobunaga made him undress and wash his body, but the more Yasuke was washed and scrubbed, the darker his skin became.{{Cite web |last=Lockley |first=Thomas |date=2024-07-16 |title=Yasuke |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Yasuke |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240925085715/https://www.britannica.com/biography/Yasuke |archive-date=25 September 2024 |access-date=2024-07-17 |website=Encyclopedia Britannica}}{{Cite book |last=Fujita |first=Midori |publisher=Iwanami Shoten |year=2005 |isbn=978-4-00-026853-0 |language=ja |script-title=ja:アフリカ「発見」日本におけるアフリカ像の変遷 |trans-title=Discover Africa―History of African image in Japan (World History series)}} Nobunaga's children attended the event and one of his nephews gave Yasuke money.{{Cite book |last=Lockley |first=Thomas |authorlink=Thomas Lockley |date=February 2017 |publisher=Ohta Publishing |isbn=978-4-7783-1556-6 |translator-last=Yoshiko Fuji|trans-title=Nobunaga & Yasuke: The Black Samurai who survived the Honnoji Incident |script-title=ja:信長と弥助 本能寺を生き延びた黒人侍}}

The Shinchō Kōki manuscript describes Yasuke as follows:{{Cite web |title=第14回 アフリカの日本、日本のアフリカ 第2章 日本に渡ったアフリカ人 |trans-title=Part 14: Japan in Africa, Africa in Japan Chapter 2: Africans who came to Japan |url=https://www.ndl.go.jp/kaleido/entry/14/2.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231023031849/https://www.ndl.go.jp/kaleido/entry/14/2.html |archive-date=23 October 2023 |access-date=12 September 2023 |website=本の万華鏡 |publisher=National Diet Library |language=ja}}

{{blockquote

|On the 23rd of the Second Month, a blackamoor came from the Kirishitan Country. He appeared to be twenty-six or twenty-seven years old. Black over his whole body, just like an ox, this man looked robust and had a good demeanor. What is more, his formidable strength surpassed that of ten men. The Bateren brought him along by way of paying his respects to Nobunaga. Indeed, it was owing to Nobunaga's power and his glory that yet unheard-of treasures from the Three Countries and curiosities of this kind came to be seen here time and again, a blessing indeed.{{Cite book |last=Ōta |first=Gyūichi |title=The Chronicle of Lord Nobunaga |date=2011 |publisher=Brill |isbn=978-90-04-20162-0 |editor-last=Elisonas |editor-first=J. S. A. |location=Leiden and Boston |pages=385–386 |doi=10.1163/ej.9789004201620.i-510.8 |editor-last2=Lamers |editor-first2=J. P.}}

}}

File:Alessandro Valignano 2.jpg, late 16th-century depiction]]

Nobunaga was impressed by Yasuke and asked Valignano to give him over. He gave him the Japanese name Yasuke,{{efn|The origin of his name is unknown.{{Cite journal |last=Wright |first=David |date=1998 |title=The Use of Race and Racial Perceptions Among Asians and Blacks: The Case of the Japanese and African Americans |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/43294433 |url-status=live |journal=Hitotsubashi Journal of Social Studies |volume=30 |issue=2 |pages=135–152 |issn=0073-280X |jstor=43294433 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230313173327/https://www.jstor.org/stable/43294433 |archive-date=13 March 2023 |access-date=19 May 2024 |quote=In 1581, a Jesuit priest in the city of Kyoto had among his entourage an African}}}} accepted him as attendant at his side and made him the first recorded foreigner to receive the rank of samurai. Nobunaga granted Yasuke the honor of being his weapon-bearer and served as some sort of bodyguard.{{Cite magazine |last=Moon |first=Kat |date=2021-04-30 |title=The True Story of Yasuke, the Legendary Black Samurai Behind Netflix's New Anime Series |url=https://time.com/6039381/yasuke-black-samurai-true-story/ |access-date=2024-06-27 |magazine=TIME |language=en}}{{Cite book |last=Lopez-Vera |first=Jonathan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qXvgDwAAQBAJ&q=yasuke&pg=PT8 |title=A History of the Samurai: Legendary Warriors of Japan |publisher=Tuttle Publishing |year=2020 |isbn=978-1-4629-2134-8 |pages=140–141 |access-date=16 July 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240925085617/https://books.google.com/books?id=qXvgDwAAQBAJ&q=yasuke&pg=PT8#v=snippet&q=yasuke&f=false |archive-date=25 September 2024 |url-status=live}} According to Jonathan López-Vera,{{who2|date=May 2025}} he was occasionally allowed to share meals with the warlord, a privilege extended to few other vassals.

The Shinchō Kōki of the {{Nihongo|Sonkeikaku Bunko|尊経閣文庫}} archives states:

{{blockquote

|It was ordered that the young black man be given a {{Nihongo|stipend|扶持|fuchi}}, named Yasuke, and provided with a {{Nihongo|sword|さや巻|sayamaki}}, and a private residence. At times, he was also entrusted with carrying the master's weapons.{{Cite book |last=Kaneko |first=Hiraku |title=織田信長という歴史 － 「信長記」の彼方へ |date=2009 |publisher=Iwanami Shoten |isbn=978-4-585-05420-7 |page=311 |language=ja |trans-title=The History of Oda Nobunaga: Beyond the Shinchōki |quote=然に彼黒坊被成御扶持、名をハ号弥助と、さや巻之のし付幷私宅等迄被仰付、依時御道具なともたさせられ候、}}

}}

According to historians this was the equivalent to "the bestowing of warrior or 'samurai' rank" during this period.{{cite journal | last = Lockley | first = Thomas | title = The Story of Yasuke: Nobunaga's African Retainer | journal = 桜文論叢 (Sakura Bunron Sō) | volume = 91 | date = February 2016 | publisher = Nihon University College of Law | url = https://www.publication.law.nihon-u.ac.jp/pdf/treatise/treatise_91/all.pdf | access-date = 24 March 2025 | language = ja | page=109 | quote=he was granted a short sword called a koshigatana, which in this period was a specific symbol of status and wealth, rather than possessing any notable fighting utility.}} According to Lockley, Yasuke was also granted servants.{{Cite web |last=Jozuka |first=Emiko |date=2019-05-20 |title=The legacy of feudal Japan's African samurai |url=https://www.cnn.com/2019/05/19/asia/black-samurai-yasuke-africa-japan-intl/index.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230406221038/https://www.cnn.com/2019/05/19/asia/black-samurai-yasuke-africa-japan-intl/index.html |archive-date=6 April 2023 |access-date=2024-06-27 |website=CNN |language=en}}

Father Lourenço Mexía wrote in a letter to Father Pero da Fonseca dated 8 October 1581:{{Cite book |last=Mexia |first=Lourenço |title=Segunda parte das cartas de Iapão que escreuerão os padres, & irmãos da Companhia de Iesus. Livro primeiro |date=1598 |pages=16–17 |chapter=Carta que o padre Lourenço Mexía escreueo de Funày ao padre Pero da Fonseca a oito de Outubro de 1581 |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/segunda-parte-das-cartas-de-iapao-que-escreuerao-os-padres-irmaos-da-companhia-d/page/n37/mode/2up}}

{{blockquote

|The black man understood a little Japanese, and Nobunaga never tired of talking with him. And because he was strong and had a few skills, Nobunaga took great pleasure in protecting him and had him roam around the city of Kyoto with an attendant. Some people in the town said that Nobunaga might make him as tono ("lord").

}}

Yasuke next appears in historical records on 11 May 1582. The Ietada Diary of Matsudaira Ietada, a vassal of Tokugawa Ieyasu, mentions that Yasuke accompanied Nobunaga on his inspection tour of the region after he destroyed his long-time arch-enemy, the Takeda clan of Kai. The description of 11 May 1582 states:

{{blockquote

|Nobunaga-sama was accompanied by a black man who was presented to him by the missionaries and to whom he gave a stipend. His body was black like ink and he was 6 shaku 2 bu [182.4 cm or near 6 feet] tall. His name was said to be Yasuke.

}}

According to Fujita, on 14 May 1581, Yasuke departed for Echizen Province with Fróis and the other Christians.{{efn|Midori Fujita says that during this trip they met local warlords such as {{ill|Shibata Katsutoyo|ja|柴田勝豊}}, Hashiba Hidekatsu, and Shibata Katsuie.}} They returned to Kyoto on May 30.

On 21 June 1582, Oda Nobunaga was betrayed and attacked by his senior vassal Akechi Mitsuhide at Honnō-ji temple in Kyoto, an event known as the Honnō-ji incident. At the time of the attack, Nobunaga was accompanied by a retinue of about 30 followers, including Yasuke. They fought but were defeated by the Akechi's forces, and Nobunaga committed seppuku.{{Cite web |last=Watanabe |first=Daimon |date=19 May 2021 |title=織田信長が登用した黒人武将・弥助とは、いったい何者なのか |trans-title=Who was Yasuke, the black warlord promoted by Oda Nobunaga? |url=https://news.yahoo.co.jp/expert/articles/d194e53c49a9b820a56755a998831cd6ec13f430 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230919001438/https://news.yahoo.co.jp/expert/articles/d194e53c49a9b820a56755a998831cd6ec13f430 |archive-date=19 September 2023 |access-date=12 September 2023 |website=Yahoo! News |publisher=Yahoo! Japan |language=ja}}

On the same day, after his lord's death, Yasuke joined the forces of Nobutada, Nobunaga's eldest son and heir, who was garrisoned at the nearby Nijō-goshō imperial villa. They fought against the Akechi clan but were overwhelmed. Yasuke was captured by Mitsuhide's vassals, then sent to the Jesuits by Mitsuhide who suggested that because Yasuke was not Japanese, his life should be spared.

There are no historical documents to show the true meaning of Mitsuhide's statement, and it is not known whether it was a sign of his discriminatory mindset or an expedient to save Yasuke's life.{{Cite web |last=Ayukawa |first=Tetsuya |date=4 October 2020 |title=信長に仕え本能寺の変を生き延びた"黒人侍" |trans-title=Black Samurai who served Nobunaga and survived the Honnoji Incident |url=https://dot.asahi.com/articles/-/83724 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230919001438/https://dot.asahi.com/articles/-/83724 |archive-date=19 September 2023 |access-date=12 September 2023 |website=Aera |publisher=The Asahi Shimbun Company |language=ja}} It is certain that Yasuke did not die. Mitsuhide's vassals accompanied him to a Jesuit church, and Luís Fróis wrote five months after the Honnō-ji Incident thanking God that he did not lose his life. However, there are no historical sources about him since then and what happened to him afterwards is unknown.{{Cite book |last=Vaporis |first=Constantine Nomikos |title=Samurai. An Encyclopedia of Japan's Cultured Warriors |date=2019 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=978-1-4408-4270-2 |publication-place=Santa Barbara, California |page=114}}

File:Black sumo wrestler in 17th century.jpg}}, drawn in 1605. It has been suggested that the dark-skinned man on the left is Yasuke.]]

Sumō Yūrakuzu Byōbu

The {{Nihongo|Sumō Yūrakuzu Byōbu|相撲遊楽図屏風||Sakai City Museum collection}}, drawn in 1605 by an anonymous artist, depicts a dark-skinned man wrestling a Japanese man in the presence of noble samurai. There are various theories regarding the work: some believe that this samurai is Oda Nobunaga or Toyotomi Hidetsugu, while others believe that the dark-skinned man wrestling in the center is Yasuke and the one further to the right of the wrestlers (not depicted in the detailed image), playing the role of a gyōji (referee), is Oda Nobunaga.

Rinpa Suzuri-bako

An ink-stone box ({{transliteration|ja|suzuri-bako}}) made by a Rinpa artist in the 1590s, owned by {{ill|Museu do Caramulo|pt}}, depicts a black man wearing Portuguese high-class clothing. Author Thomas Lockley argues that it could be Yasuke, as he does not appear to be subservient to the other Portuguese man in the work.{{Cite book |last=Lockley |first=Thomas |authorlink=Thomas Lockley |date=February 2017 |publisher=Ohta Publishing |isbn=978-4-7783-1556-6 |translator-last=Yoshiko Fuji|trans-title=Nobunaga & Yasuke: The Black Samurai who survived the Honnoji Incident |script-title=ja:信長と弥助 本能寺を生き延びた黒人侍 |pages=147, 150}}

File:Namban-17.jpg

Nanban byōbu

A Nanban byōbu painted by Kanō Naizen, a painter active in the same period, depicts dark-skinned followers holding parasols over Europeans as well as a spear. It was not uncommon for individual Africans to be brought to Japan as attendants of Jesuit missionaries.

• In 1968, author Yoshio Kurusu and artist Genjirō Mita published a children's book about Yasuke titled {{Nihongo||くろ助|Kurosuke}}. The following year, the book won the {{Nihongo|Japanese Association of Writers for Children Prize|日本児童文学者協会賞|Nihon Jidō Bungakusha Kyōkai-shō}}.{{Cite web |title=Kuro-suke [Black One] |url=http://www.iiclo.or.jp/100books/1946/htm-e/frame050-e.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210513180159/http://www.iiclo.or.jp/100books/1946/htm-e/frame050-e.htm |archive-date=13 May 2021 |access-date=13 May 2021 |website=International Institute for Children's Literature, Osaka}}{{Cite web |last=Jozuka |first=Eimiko |date=19 May 2019 |title=African samurai: The enduring legacy of a black warrior in feudal Japan |url=https://www.cnn.com/2019/05/19/asia/black-samurai-yasuke-africa-japan-intl/index.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230406221038/https://www.cnn.com/2019/05/19/asia/black-samurai-yasuke-africa-japan-intl/index.html |archive-date=6 April 2023 |access-date=21 May 2019 |website=CNN}}
• Yasuke inspired the 1971 satirical novel {{Nihongo||黒ん坊|Kuronbō}} by Shūsaku Endō.{{Cite book |last=Bridges |first=Will |title=Playing in the Shadows: Fictions of Race and Blackness in Postwar Japanese Literature |date=2020 |publisher=University of Michigan Press |isbn=978-0-472-07442-6 |series=Michigan Monograph Series in Japanese Studies |volume=88 |page=137 |chapter=Genre Trouble: Breaking the Law of Genre and Literary Blackness in the Long 1970s |quote=... Kuronbō (Darkie), Endō Shūsaku's (1923–96) 1971 satirical more-fiction-than-history historical fiction of Yasuke and Nobunaga? |access-date=13 May 2021 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=n9LGDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA137 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210513180157/https://books.google.com/books?id=n9LGDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA137 |archive-date=13 May 2021 |url-status=live}}{{Cite web |last=Berlatsky |first=Noah |date=2 May 2021 |title=The Real Yasuke Is Far More Interesting Than His Netflix Show |url=https://foreignpolicy.com/2021/05/02/the-real-yasuke-is-far-more-interesting-than-his-netflix-show/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230601170214/https://foreignpolicy.com/2021/05/02/the-real-yasuke-is-far-more-interesting-than-his-netflix-show/ |archive-date=1 June 2023 |access-date=12 May 2021 |website=Foreign Policy}}
• Yasuke appears in the 2008 novel {{ill|Momoyama Beat Tribe|ja|桃山ビート・トライブ}} as one of the main characters. This novel was later made into a play in 2017.{{Cite web |script-title=ja:舞台「桃山ビート・トライブ Momoyama Beat Tribe」 |url=http://mottorekishi.com/momoyamabeat/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210514071026/http://mottorekishi.com/momoyamabeat/ |archive-date=14 May 2021 |access-date=21 May 2021 |website=Mottorekishi.com}}

• Yasuke appears as Alessandro Valignano's servant in volume 29 of the ongoing manga series The Knife and the Sword by Takurō Kajikawa.{{Cite news |last=Kayama |first=Ryūji |date=29 April 2021 |script-title=ja:Netflixアニメ『Yasuke -ヤスケ-』の主人公・弥助、マンガの世界ではどう描かれてきた？ |url=https://news.yahoo.co.jp/byline/kayamaryuji/20210429-00230505/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230409074008/https://news.yahoo.co.jp/byline/kayamaryuji/20210429-00230505 |archive-date=9 April 2023 |access-date=7 May 2021 |website=Yahoo! Japan |language=ja}}
• The ongoing time-travel manga series Nobunaga Concerto by Ayumi Ishii portrays Yasuke as a black baseball player from the present day.
• Yasuke was the inspiration for Takashi Okazaki's Afro Samurai franchise.
• Yasuke plays a minor role in the 2005 to 2017 manga series {{transliteration|ja|Hyouge Mono}} by Yoshihiro Yamada.
• Yasuke is featured in the 2016 to 2020 manga series {{Nihongo||信長を殺した男|Nobunaga o Koroshita Otoko|"The Man Who Killed Nobunaga"}} by Akechi Kenzaburō and Yutaka Tōdō.
• Yasuke is the main protagonist in the 2021 Netflix anime series Yasuke, created by LeSean Thomas and animated by MAPPA. He is voiced by Jun Soejima in Japanese and LaKeith Stanfield in English.{{Cite web |date=13 April 2021 |title=Yasuke Anime Unveils Japanese Cast With New Teaser |url=https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2021-04-13/yasuke-anime-unveils-japanese-cast-with-new-teaser/.171694 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210414010039/https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2021-04-13/yasuke-anime-unveils-japanese-cast-with-new-teaser/.171694 |archive-date=14 April 2021 |access-date=30 May 2022 |website=Anime News Network}}{{Cite web |last=Armstrong |first=Vanessa |date=1 April 2021 |title=Netflix's epic Yasuke trailer finds LaKeith Stanfield as a reluctant ronin in magic & mech-filled Japan |url=https://www.syfy.com/syfywire/netflix-yasuke-trailer |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210402050926/https://www.syfy.com/syfywire/netflix-yasuke-trailer |archive-date=2 April 2021 |access-date=3 May 2021 |website=Syfy Wire |language=en}}

• In March 2017, Lionsgate announced plans for a live-action film about Yasuke titled Black Samurai.{{Cite web |last=Fleming |first=Mike Jr. |date=23 March 2017 |title=Lionsgate Taps 'Highlander' Creator Gregory Widen To Script Film On First Black Samurai |url=https://deadline.com/2017/03/lionsgate-taps-highlander-creator-gregory-widen-to-script-film-on-first-black-samurai-1202049635/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210512021658/https://deadline.com/2017/03/lionsgate-taps-highlander-creator-gregory-widen-to-script-film-on-first-black-samurai-1202049635/ |archive-date=12 May 2021 |access-date=12 May 2021 |website=Deadline}} In May 2019, Deadline reported that the film, retitled Yasuke, had left Lionsgate for Picturestart. Chadwick Boseman signed on to portray Yasuke.{{Cite web |last=Fleming |first=Mike Jr. |date=7 May 2019 |title=Chadwick Boseman To Play African Samurai 'Yasuke' In Deal With Picturestart, De Luca Productions, Solipsist & X●ception Content |url=https://deadline.com/2019/05/chadwick-boseman-yasuke-african-samurai-black-panther-1202608769/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201231032939/https://deadline.com/2019/05/chadwick-boseman-yasuke-african-samurai-black-panther-1202608769/ |archive-date=31 December 2020 |access-date=14 February 2021 |website=Deadline}}{{Cite web |last=Vlessing |first=Etan |date=7 May 2019 |title=Chadwick Boseman to Star in Samurai Drama 'Yasuke' |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/chadwick-boseman-star-yasuke-samurai-drama-1208369/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210512021658/https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/chadwick-boseman-star-yasuke-samurai-drama-1208369/ |archive-date=12 May 2021 |access-date=12 May 2021 |website=The Hollywood Reporter}} The project appears to have been cancelled after Boseman's death on August 28, 2020.{{Cite web |last=St. Clair|first=Joshua|date=30 April 2021|title=Yaskuke Is Based on the True Story of a Real African Samurai Warrior in Feudal Japan. |url=https://www.menshealth.com/entertainment/a36276360/yasuke-true-story/ |access-date=20 May 2025|quote=After Boseman’s death, the project appears to have been cancelled.}} As of May 2025, Picturestart's official website states that the film is "in development".{{Cite web |title=Yasuke: Not just an action movie, a cultural event. |url=https://www.picturestart.com/projects/yasuke/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210513174536/https://www.picturestart.com/projects/yasuke/ |archive-date=13 May 2021 |access-date=20 May 2025 |website=Picturestart}}
• In April 2019, MGM announced plans for their own live-action film about Yasuke, to be produced by Andrew Mittman and Lloyd Braun of Whalerock Industries, with a script written by Stuart C. Paul.{{Cite web |last=Fleming |first=Mike Jr. |date=18 April 2019 |title=MGM Sets Film On 'Yasuke', History's Sole African Samurai |url=https://deadline.com/2019/04/yasuke-mgm-african-samurai-film-1201904332/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210512060204/https://deadline.com/2019/04/yasuke-mgm-african-samurai-film-1201904332/ |archive-date=12 May 2021 |access-date=12 May 2021 |website=Deadline}} The script was included in The Black List of most liked unproduced scripts for 2021.{{Cite web |last=Donnelly|first=Matt|date=13 December 2021|title= Black List 2021 Features Kanye West and Shania Twain Biopics, Wild Mickey Rourke 'Masked Singer' Adventure.|url=https://variety.com/2021/film/news/black-list-2021-kanye-west-masked-singer-shania-twain-1235132174/|access-date=20 May 2025}}
• In the 2023 historical drama film Kubi directed by Takeshi Kitano, Yasuke, in another portrayal by Jun Soejima, served as a retainer to Oda Nobunaga.{{Cite web |title=Kubi 2023 |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt27502365/|access-date=5 October 2024 |website=IMDb}}
• In April 2024, a new feature film spec script titled Black Samurai written by Blitz Bazawule was acquired by Warner Bros. for Bazawule to direct.{{Cite news |last=Jackson |first=Angelique |date=10 April 2024 |title=Warner Bros. Lands 'Black Samurai' Movie From 'The Color Purple' Director Blitz Bazawule (EXCLUSIVE) |url=https://variety.com/2024/film/news/warner-bros-black-samurai-yasuke-movie-blitz-bazawule-1235965842/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240410190751/https://variety.com/2024/film/news/warner-bros-black-samurai-yasuke-movie-blitz-bazawule-1235965842/ |archive-date=10 April 2024 |access-date=10 April 2024 |work=Variety}}

• Yasuke is a recurring minor character in Koei Tecmo's Nobunaga's Ambition series, appearing in the 1992 video game Nobunaga's Ambition: Tales of the Conquerors as a character added in the expansion pack, and returning in 2013's Nobunaga's Ambition: Sphere of Influence as a recruitable officer.{{Cite web |last=Muthi |first=Joshua |date=22 October 2024 |title=The Portrayal of Black Samurai Yasuke in Video Games |url=https://universityobserver.ie/the-portrayal-of-black-samurai-yasuke-in-video-games/ |access-date=4 February 2025 |website=University Observer}}
• Koei Tecmo's 2017 video game Nioh and its 2020 sequel features a portrayal of Yasuke as a boss fight, voiced by Richie Campbell.{{Cite web |title=Yasuke Voice – Nioh (Video Game) |url=https://www.behindthevoiceactors.com/video-games/Nioh/Yasuke/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230408181125/https://www.behindthevoiceactors.com/video-games/Nioh/Yasuke/ |archive-date=8 April 2023 |access-date=30 May 2022 |website=behindthevoiceactors.com |postscript=. Check mark indicates role has been confirmed using screenshots of closing credits and other reliable sources.}}
• Koei Tecmo's 2021 video game Samurai Warriors 5 includes Yasuke as a playable character, voiced by Paddy Ryan.{{Cite web |last=Romano |first=Sal |date=23 April 2021 |title=Samurai Warriors 5 adds Nobunaga Oda (Mature), Mitsuhide Akechi (Mature), Hanzo Hattori, Sandayu Momochi, Magoichi Saika, and Yasuke |url=https://www.gematsu.com/2021/04/samurai-warriors-5-adds-nobunaga-oda-mature-mitsuhide-akechi-mature-hanzo-hattori-sandayu-momochi-magoichi-saika-and-yasuke |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230408202427/https://www.gematsu.com/2021/04/samurai-warriors-5-adds-nobunaga-oda-mature-mitsuhide-akechi-mature-hanzo-hattori-sandayu-momochi-magoichi-saika-and-yasuke |archive-date=8 April 2023 |access-date=12 May 2021 |website=Gematsu}}
• A black samurai inspired by Yasuke, named Nagoriyuki, appears in Arc System Works' 2021 fighting game Guilty Gear Strive.{{Cite web |last=Walker |first=Ian |date=26 June 2021 |title=Guilty Gear Strive's Vampire Samurai Says Black Lives Matter |url=https://kotaku.com/guilty-gear-strive-s-vampire-samurai-says-black-lives-m-1847177569 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230722195924/https://kotaku.com/guilty-gear-strive-s-vampire-samurai-says-black-lives-m-1847177569 |archive-date=22 July 2023 |access-date=16 September 2021 |website=Kotaku}}
• Yasuke is one of the protagonists of Ubisoft's video game Assassin's Creed Shadows,{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nszrx939ZVA |title=Assassin's Creed Shadows: Who Are Naoe and Yasuke? |date=15 May 2024 |publisher=Ubisoft |access-date=15 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240515161357/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nszrx939ZVA |archive-date=15 May 2024 |url-status=live |via=YouTube}} voiced by Tongayi Chirisa.{{Cite tweet |number=1791036763848192225 |user=ZiFMStereo |title=American based Zimbabwean actor Tongayi Chirisa will feature in the upcoming Assassin's Creed:Shadows game where he voices the character Yasuke |author=ZiFM Stereo |date=16 May 2024 |access-date=6 August 2024}}

• Senjutsu: Battle for Japan features Yasuke as a playable character in the "When Two Worlds Collide" character pack.

• In February 2023, the Brazilian samba school Mocidade Alegre of the São Paulo city carnival performed a samba song about Yasuke, winning that year's competition.{{Cite web |date=23 February 2023 |title=Watch: Sao Paulo carnival champions tell the story of Mozambique's Yasuke, who was a samurai in Japan |url=https://clubofmozambique.com/news/watch-sao-paulo-carnival-champions-tell-the-story-of-mozambiques-yasuke-who-was-a-samurai-in-japan-234301/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230224234336/https://clubofmozambique.com/news/watch-sao-paulo-carnival-champions-tell-the-story-of-mozambiques-yasuke-who-was-a-samurai-in-japan-234301/ |archive-date=24 February 2023 |access-date=25 February 2023 |website=Club of Mozambique}}

• Black people in Japan
• List of foreign-born samurai in Japan

{{Notelist}}

{{reflist}}

• Matsuda, Kiichi, ed., {{transliteration|ja|Jūroku-jūnanaseiki Iezusukai Nihon Hōkokushuu}}, Hōdōsha, 1987–1998.
• Ōta, Gyūichi, {{transliteration|ja|Shinchō Kōki}}, 1622.

{{People of the Sengoku period|state=autocollapse}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:16th-century African people

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