Yasuke | |
---|---|
Born | c. 1555[1] Portuguese Mozambique (most likely) |
Died | After June 1582 (aged 27 or older) |
Allegiance |
|
Battles / wars |
Yasuke (Japanese: 弥助 / 弥介, pronounced [jasɯ̥ke]) was a samurai of African origin who served Oda Nobunaga between 1581 and 1582, during the Sengoku period, until Nobunaga's death.[2][3][4][5]
According to historical accounts, Yasuke first arrived in Japan in the service of Jesuit Alessandro Valignano. Nobunaga summoned him out of a desire to see a black man.[6] Subsequently, Nobunaga took him into his service and gave him the name Yasuke. As a samurai, he was granted a sword, a house and a stipend.[3][7] Yasuke accompanied Nobunaga until his death and fought at the Honnō-ji Incident until the death of Oda Nobutada. Afterwards, Yasuke was sent back to the Jesuits.[8] There are no subsequent records of his life.
Lockley-2024
was invoked but never defined (see the help page).Ōta states that Nobunaga made Yasuke a vassal, giving him a house, servants, a sword, and a stipend. During this period, the definition of samurai was ambiguous, but historians think that this would contemporaneously have been seen as the bestowing of warrior or "samurai" rank.
Impressed with Yasuke's height and strength (which "surpassed that of ten men"), Nobunaga gave him a sword signifying bushi status.
He was granted the rank of samurai and occasionally even shared a table with Nobunaga himself, a privilege few of his trusted vassals were afforded.
Leupp-1995
was invoked but never defined (see the help page).Kaneko-2009
was invoked but never defined (see the help page).Ando-2021
was invoked but never defined (see the help page).