> Yasuke was an African warrior in the employ of Nobunaga, a powerful feudal lord known as the “Great Unifier,” during Japan’s Sengoku period. The first Black samurai, he was at Nobunaga’s side when the daimyo died; according to popular lore, Nobunaga tasked Yasuke with returning his head to his son.
> Beyond his relationship with the famous warlord, Yasuke was a barrier-breaking figure in his own right. Though his life is poorly documented, his story speaks to the surprising cultural connections that existed in 16th-century Japan.
Whenever I see anything like this, I'm immediately skeptical and consider the possibility that some modern is anachronistically and inaccurately interpreting some ancient text through the lens of modern racial categories and descriptions.
Was this guy "Black" in the modern sense (as in a very dark-skinned person of African descent) or "black" in some other sense? I'm reminded of some British scientist or scholar from hundreds of years ago who was described as "black" in some contemporary document, which a lot of people took to mean black-as-African, except that description in that time period probably actually meant something more like white person with black hair and eyes.
Later on, it says the daimyo thought Yasuke's skin looked like it was covered in black paint, which makes it more likely he was actually African, but I'm still not totally convinced.
My understanding is that Yasuke was Black in the way used today.
However he was not considered bound by the same rules as a Japanese samurai, since he was not required to commit ritual suicide on the death of his lord, Nobunaga. That he lived after Nobunaga's death has some sort of meaning; whether that has been fully discovered at this point I don't know.
My experience in threads where black, African, or indigenous people do something historically besides exist as victims of colonialism is that there is always someone who is skeptical and speculates without evidence that the story is probably made up or that the contribution to history is unimportant.
He was given his own house to run and a katana directly by daimyo Nobunaga. That would indicate he was a samurai.
Remember that at that time being a Samurai was a flexible thing. You could become a Samurai even if you were a peasant if you took arms for your lord, survived, and impressed them sufficiently. It was about service and utmost commitment to your lord. There also were women Samurai, including the famed Tomoe Gozen - known as the white tiger with the strength of ten men.
Because as far as Edo society would be concerned, anyone who holds weapons would default to being a samurai if doing so legitimately or a peasant bandit if doing so illegitimately. So essentially he should be one, and seemingly was treated as one from reports of his fine clothing, social standing amongst other bodyguards, and land holding.
Really? My understanding was that the Samurai were a distinct warrior class with a specific social standing either earned or inherited, not just anyone who could buy a sword.
I'm not saying he's not a samurai, just that "holds a sword" does not a samurai make.
Not just any weapon. The samurai were synonymous with the daishou, the paired small and large swords which it was their unique privilege and obligation to wear in public. This is the element that appears to be missing for Yasuke; at least there isn't any record that he wore them.
Ah, I clicked on this article hoping for information but it felt more like an ad for the Netflix series and at times goes in detail to describe fan fiction from historians only to go on record to state there is no evidence behind said claims. At that point why even bother to include it in the article as many reader might not even notice this. This article feels more low effort than most articles from the Smithsonian and I hope it's not a sign of lower quality works to come.
I gave up on Smithsonian magazine a decade ago when they started going woke. The article topics and writing fulfill their agenda, and I choose not to pay for that.
Eh. Not sure about that. Yasuke is a real person or we think he is. But this feels more like speculative fiction with an advertisment rather than anything else.
Why is there no show set in like heyday Mali or one of the other countless African societies of the past. They surely all have their own lore and stories just as much as medieval Europe has had. I would love to watch eg. the rise of Mansa Musa. Certainly there are many more stories I don’t even know about.
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> Beyond his relationship with the famous warlord, Yasuke was a barrier-breaking figure in his own right. Though his life is poorly documented, his story speaks to the surprising cultural connections that existed in 16th-century Japan.
Whenever I see anything like this, I'm immediately skeptical and consider the possibility that some modern is anachronistically and inaccurately interpreting some ancient text through the lens of modern racial categories and descriptions.
Was this guy "Black" in the modern sense (as in a very dark-skinned person of African descent) or "black" in some other sense? I'm reminded of some British scientist or scholar from hundreds of years ago who was described as "black" in some contemporary document, which a lot of people took to mean black-as-African, except that description in that time period probably actually meant something more like white person with black hair and eyes.
Later on, it says the daimyo thought Yasuke's skin looked like it was covered in black paint, which makes it more likely he was actually African, but I'm still not totally convinced.
However he was not considered bound by the same rules as a Japanese samurai, since he was not required to commit ritual suicide on the death of his lord, Nobunaga. That he lived after Nobunaga's death has some sort of meaning; whether that has been fully discovered at this point I don't know.
Remember that at that time being a Samurai was a flexible thing. You could become a Samurai even if you were a peasant if you took arms for your lord, survived, and impressed them sufficiently. It was about service and utmost commitment to your lord. There also were women Samurai, including the famed Tomoe Gozen - known as the white tiger with the strength of ten men.
Because as far as Edo society would be concerned, anyone who holds weapons would default to being a samurai if doing so legitimately or a peasant bandit if doing so illegitimately. So essentially he should be one, and seemingly was treated as one from reports of his fine clothing, social standing amongst other bodyguards, and land holding.
I'm not saying he's not a samurai, just that "holds a sword" does not a samurai make.
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https://myanimelist.net/anime/43697/Yasuke
Another anime, Afro Samurai, which is even more loosely-based, is a lot more interesting, albeit quite over-the-top.
https://myanimelist.net/anime/1292/Afro_Samurai
Great series though!