Unraveling Yasuke: New Research Challenges the 'Black Samurai' Legend

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In 1581, the powerful Japanese warlord Oda Nobunaga received an unusual guest at his Kyoto court: an African man of formidable stature. This man, known to history as Yasuke, has since been immortalized in Western popular culture as "the first Black samurai." Books, articles, and a recent Netflix anime have portrayed Yasuke as a warrior who rose from servant to samurai. Most recently, the videogame Assassin's Creed Shadows depicts him standing loyally at Nobunaga's side during the climactic battles of the Sengoku era. According to popular lore, he was a swordsman granted rank and honor in a land far from his birthplace. It's a compelling story that has captivated imaginations.

But is it true? A new study by linguist Alaric Naude takes a closer look at the Yasuke legend. Titled "Unraveling Yasuke: A Historical and Linguistic Reassessment of the 'Black Samurai' Narrative," it argues that the story may be more myth than reality.

The Legend vs. the Records

Yasuke's story has only begun to attract significant attention in the West over the past decade. Any notable interest emerged at most 20 years ago. In these tellings, Yasuke is often described as a "real-life Black samurai who served under Oda Nobunaga," a barrier-breaking hero in 16th-century Japan. Such portrayals, however, have relied on sparse evidence. Yasuke's life in Japan is poorly documented, appearing only in a handful of contemporary sources. These include the Shinchokoki (Chronicle of Lord Nobunaga) and the diary of Nobunaga's retainer, Matsudaira Ietada.

Rather than treating this scant evidence with caution, many writers have filled the gaps with speculation. As Naude points out, Western researchers "frequently insert assumptions that reflect contemporary concerns rather than historical realities" when discussing Yasuke. In other words, modern ideals and imagination have been projected onto a figure who flickers only briefly in the historical record.

*An image of Oda Nobunaga Oda by Munehide Kano (Chokoji Temple collection) (Public domain via Wikimedia Commons)*

One example lies in the very title "samurai." In Japan's Sengoku period, samurai were not simply fighters but an officially recognized class of warriors. Usually, they were granted hereditary surnames, stipends, and retainers of their own. The popular idea that Nobunaga formally made Yasuke a samurai rests on later accounts rather than clear contemporaneous evidence.

Kuroyatsu

Yasuke is not mentioned by name in the earliest Western accounts from the 16th century. Jesuit missionaries such as Luis Frois and Lorenzo Mexia, who were active during Nobunaga's era, refer instead to a black African figure using the Portuguese term Cafre.

In Japanese translations of these reports, however, Cafre is rendered as 黒奴 (kuroyatsu or kokudo, meaning "black slave"). This emphasizes Yasuke's race and status over his individual identity. It suggests he was viewed more as a background presence than a figure of personal significance.

Yet over time, especially in English-language retellings, these references have been "reinterpreted to support contemporary narratives of identity and cultural symbolism." In short, Yasuke's story has been retold to fit a modern desire for a historical black hero in samurai Japan. Naude calls this narrative "mythologized."

Manuscript Mysteries

Crucially, Alaric Naude's new research delves into discrepancies between different manuscripts of the Nobunaga chronicle. It shows how Yasuke's legend evolved through retelling. Japanese scholars have long known that not all historical manuscripts are equal. The chronicle exists in several versions. Earlier manuscripts closer to Nobunaga's time tend to be more sober and factual. Later copies from the Edo period (1600-1868, decades after Nobunaga's death) show signs of embellishment.

Naude's study identifies the Ikeda-bon manuscript (an early version of the Shinchokoki) as "the most accurate source for understanding Sengoku history," given its proximity to the original events.

By contrast, a later version, known as the Sonkeikaku-bon, was compiled in the Edo period under the Tokugawa shogunate and is "laden with Tokugawa-era embellishments." Unfortunately, many Western accounts drew from this embellished version. This was partly because it was among the first to be translated into English in modern times.

What kind of embellishments? The Sonkeikaku text paints a dramatic picture of Yasuke's introduction to Nobunaga. It records that after meeting the warlord, "the black man was granted a stipend and given the name Yasuke (弥助). Furthermore, he was entrusted with a scabbard (dagger) ... and even a personal residence." In this version, Nobunaga marvels at Yasuke's strength and appearance. Additionally, he rewards him with property, a ceremonial sword, and official employment.

*Promotional image from the game Assassin’s Creed Shadows featuring the protagonists Yasuke and Naoe, a fictional female ninja. (Courtesy of Ubisoft)*

Missing Pieces

However, Naude's study urges caution: these vivid details do not appear in the earlier Ikeda manuscript at all. In fact, neither does the name "Yasuke." They seem to have been added by later scribes or editors, reflecting Edo-period storytelling rather than Sengoku-period reality. In the Ikeda version — favored by Japanese historians — Yasuke is described as a foreign attendant of Nobunaga. He is noted for his dark skin and impressive physique, but there is no mention of any grand conferral of rank.

The new research argues that the "receiving of [a] wakizashi (short sword), stipend and housing" for Yasuke is likely "an artifact of later political writing rather than a reflection of Sengoku reality." In simpler terms, Edo-period writers wove the idea that Nobunaga made Yasuke a samurai into the historical record. Many modern commentators then took that story at face value.

No Family Name

Beyond parsing manuscripts, historians also look at naming conventions and social context to gauge Yasuke's status. Here, too, the evidence undermines the samurai narrative. Samurai of that era were always given a family name (姓) upon receiving their rank. In feudal Japan, this was a mark of honor and identification.

Yet no historical record ever attributes a surname to Yasuke. He is referred to simply by a given name, which itself appears in varying kanji forms as if it were a phonetic nickname. "The complete lack of any such surname in any historical record related to Yasuke is highly unusual," the study notes. This absence "casts significant doubt on claims that he was formally enfeoffed as a samurai."

If Nobunaga had officially made Yasuke a samurai, we would expect to see a proper Japanese surname in the historical record. That was the customary practice for foreigners who were naturalized into the warrior class.

Servant, Not Samurai?

Moreover, the name "Yasuke" itself is telling. Far from sounding like a lofty warrior's appellation, it follows a pattern common among servants or lower-ranking retainers of the time. Most samurai of status had two-character or three-character names, often including their clan or origin. However, Yasuke's name – written with characters meaning "Ya" and "suke" – is different. It fits the mold of "lower-class or servant names of the period."

Such names with the -suke suffix were typically used by attendants or common soldiers, not elite samurai. As the study observes, if Yasuke had truly been elevated to samurai status, we would expect a more formal name or title to appear in records. "Yet no such record exists," Naude observes.

Taken together – the absence of a surname, the humble style of his given name, and the fact that lavish rewards appear only in suspect later texts – the scholarly evidence strongly suggests Yasuke was never recognized as a samurai. He was undoubtedly a person of great interest to Nobunaga. Moreover, he did serve in Nobunaga's entourage in 1581–1582, likely as a retainer or bodyguard. But there is no contemporaneous evidence that Nobunaga conferred samurai rank upon Yasuke. In the words of the study's author, all signs point to Yasuke's recorded name being "an informal or practical designation rather than an official warrior title."

When History Meets Myth

Why does it matter if we call Yasuke a samurai or not? The distinction is more than semantic – it speaks to how history gets interpreted and transformed over time. Yasuke's story is a rare intersection of African and Japanese history, and it has understandably attracted global fascination.

But as this case shows, popular culture can sometimes get ahead of the facts. The new research highlights how easily a "mythologized figure" can emerge when later writers (and modern audiences) impose "modern cultural preoccupations rather than historical realities" onto the past. In Yasuke’s case, the desire for a black samurai hero was so strong it shaped an entire narrative on scant evidence.

This has broader implications. African figures in Japanese history are exceedingly rare in the records, which makes it tempting to celebrate Yasuke as a symbol of early global connections or diversity. However, if that celebration is based on exaggerated claims, it does a disservice to historical truth.

As Naude's study argues, there is a "need for a more integrated and evidence-based approach" to such stories. In practice, that means historians must carefully reconcile Japanese-language sources with foreign accounts. They must also be wary of later edits or mistranslations that fit too neatly into modern narratives.

Author: Daniel Manning

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