Yasuke

Another work for the Chilean TCG "Mitos y Leyendas.

Let's see some of Wikinformation about Yasuke xD:

Yasuke was a black man (African, or of African origin) samurai of the Japanese hegemon and warlord Oda Nobunaga between 1581 and 1582. The name "Yasuke" was granted to him by Nobunaga, although why and when is unclear. His original name is not recorded in any known source, so it is unclear if Yasuke is a Japanese rendering of his previous name, or a wholly new name granted by his lord.

Yasuke arrived in Japan in 1579 as the servant of the Italian Jesuit Alessando Valignano. He accompanied Valignano when the latter came to the capital area in March 1581 and caused something of a sensation. In one event, several people were crushed to death while clamouring to get a look at him, the Jesuits feared their church would be flattened but they managed to avert disaster. Nobunaga heard the noise from the temple where he was staying and expressed a desire to see him. Suspecting the black color of his skin to be black ink, Nobunaga had him strip from the waist up and made him scrub his skin. Satisfied that he was in fact black, Nobunaga seems to have taken a shine to him, and at some point, although when is not clear, he was either given (Japanese accounts indicate him presented to Nobunaga, although European accounts do not mention this) or allowed to enter Nobunaga's service.

It is likely that Yasuke could speak considerable Japanese, perhaps due to Valignano's efforts to ensure his missionaries adapted to the local culture better, because Nobunaga enjoyed talking with him (there is no indication that Nobunaga spoke Portuguese and it is unlikely that Yasuke would have been able to communicate in classical Chinese, the oriental lingua franca of the time). He seems to have become a close retainer, and was perhaps the only non-Japanese 'warrior' that Nobunaga had in his retinue, which could account for his rapid rise in favour and status.

In June 1582, Nobunaga was attacked and forced to seppuku in Honnō-ji in Kyoto by the army of Akechi Mitsuhide. Yasuke was also there at the time and fought the Akechi forces. Immediately after Nobunaga's death, Yasuke went to the join Nobunaga's heir Oda Nobutada who was trying to rally the Oda forces at Nijō Castle. Yasuke fought alongside the Nobutada's forces for a long time but he eventually surrendered his sword to Akechi's men. They asked Akechi himself what to do with him. Akechi said that the black man was a beast and did not know anything, and furthermore, he was not Japanese, so they should not kill him but take him to the nanban-dera or nanban-ji. It is said that the reason why Akechi spoke in such a manner was a form of taking pity on him, i.e. giving a clear reason why not to kill him. Black people were not in fact discriminated against in Japan at this time, in fact they were even admired, for the Buddha was often portrayed in black in Japanese temples . However, perhaps Akechi also did not want to offend the Jesuits, needing all the friends he could get at this time of political turmoil. This was much to the relief of the Jesuits there who calmed him down and thanked God for his deliverance. There is no further written information about him after this although Frois, in his 'History of Japan, does mention a black African gunner in the service of Arima Harunobu in 1584, shortly after Yasuke's time with Nobunaga. This is highly likely to be a different man however, and there were many Africans in the service of Japanese and European employers, as well as independently employed men, in Japan at this time.


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