Alessandro Valignano around 1579 « Some sources claim he was from Mozambique others still from Nigeria or Ethiopia, these origins are still very uncertain »
In any case, he must certainly have been born in Central Africa or West Africa, since the majority of slaves came from these regions.
At the time, seeing European gaijins was rare, and much more so when these gaijins were of African descent, and this, especially since his imposing stature (over 1m88) was a big surprise. In the early days, the Japanese of this period who claimed to have seen colored men were considered liars and some were even executed.
– Through the tasks assigned to him, he quickly acquired knowledge in the Japanese language, the arts, but also in the art of the sword.
– He caused such a stir that news of the dark-skinned foreigner caught the attention of Oda Nobunaga, one of Japan’s greatest unifiers. This one, always very curious about things which came from the West, wished very much to meet this force of nature.
– An anecdote goes that the Daimyo, not believing that the ebony black color was Kurusan Yasuke’s true skin color, demanded that he be vigorously cleaned to verify.
– Due to the qualities of Yasuke, whose intelligence is said not to be the least, as well as the stories of his country of origin, the Daimyo named him Samurai (Hamamoto to be exact), and offered him a daisho whose katana was replaced by an odaishi, more adequate in view of the stature of the latter.
– In 1582, Nobunaga, accompanied by his personal guard, was attacked by one of his own generals: Akechi Mitsuhide. Defeated, the Daimyo made himself seppuku.
– Yasuke, wishing to put the legitimate son of Nobunaga on the throne, saw himself imprisoned by Mitsuhide who had a strong disdain or even hatred for this « Beast » as he called it.
– He decided to leave it in the hands of the Jesuits who wished to wash away the affront made by this former slave (he had regained his freedom on his own).
The story ends here, because after his return to the Jesuits, there is no trace of what happened to him. Many stories, however, recount Yasuke’s adventure, including the Shinchokoki.
He was not, however, the first foreigner to take the status of Samurai. He was predeceased by an Englishman William Adams (James Clavell’s novel « Shogun », is based on his adventures), but his story, due to its originality, has been remembered to this day.
