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Yasuke – The Real Life Afro-Samurai
(弥助 or 弥介, 彌助 or 彌介)
He was a Samurai of African origin who served under the Japanese hegemon and warlord Oda Nobunaga in 1581 and 1582.
bit.ly/2FV84Pp
(弥助 or 弥介, 彌助 or 彌介)
He was a Samurai of African origin who served under the Japanese hegemon and warlord Oda Nobunaga in 1581 and 1582.
bit.ly/2FV84Pp
400 years ago in Japan, on March 23, 1581, foreigners in large black ships came from a far-off land, seeking to convert the Japanese natives to their religion, along with them was a black page in their employ. 
The strange imposing foreigner, standing 6’2 ft. (188 cm) with skin as ‘black as charcoal’, on his arrival to the capital quickly garnered a lot of interest from the locals, including that of a legendary warlord, Oda Nobunaga, who had him summoned.
Skeptical of his skin color, the Nobunaga had him stripped and made his servants scrub the ‘black ink’ off his skin.
Realizing, he was not colored and in fact black, Nobunaga become intrigued and soon had him enter into his service. Oda named him Yasuke, likely a Japanized version of his original or Christian name.
According to Histoire Ecclesiastique Des Isles Et Royaumes Du Japon, written by François Solier of the Society of Jesus in 1627, Yasuke was likely from #Mozambique.
As the Daimyo’s vassal, he quickly rose through the ranks within a year, first becoming his bodyguard and then officially a samurai, the first foreigner to do so from outside of East Asia.
As the only non-Japanese retainer that Nobunaga had in his service, the warlord grew fond of Yasuke and enjoyed talking with him
