Yasuke

Yasuke, also known as Kurusan Yasuke or Kuru-suke was an African slave who lived in the 16th Century and became a samurai in Japan. There is little available in English about the life and cross-cultural experiences of this remarkable individual. The main historical source is the multi-volume history of Japan by a Jesuit missionary named Luis Frois.

The birth-name of the man who would become Yaskue was born into the kingdom of Bakongo probably in the 1530s or 1540s. Bakongo was located in the region of the modern Republic of Congo and had extensive trade with the Portuguese. At some point he was captured or traded as a slave and ended out the property of the Jesuits.

When the Jesuits led the Christian mission to Japan, they took Yasuke along. He was there when the Jesuits met Nobunaga Oda in 1569. The Japanese leader was fascinated with the first African he had ever seen. Seeing an opportunity to impress him, the Jesuits leader, Father Organtin gave the man to him as a present.

The Japanese has never seen anyone with such dark skin before and Nobunaga ordered him bathed to ensure the color was natural. He soon grew fond of the man and gave him the Japanese name Yasuke. The nickname most commonly given to the African was kuru-san (kuru is Japanese for "black" and Kuru-san roughly translates as "Mr. Black-man"). Nobunaga was impressed with Yasuke's intelligence, his faculity withlanguage, and his physical strength. He was also fascinated by all things exotic and made the slave a permanent fixture at court.

Sources vary about the details of Yasuke's later life. They agree that Nobunaga set him free and gave him some official position, and possibly the rank of samurai. He was also married to a Japanese woman. They disagree on whether he was a bodyguard, an advisor, or simply a court curiosity. When Nobunaga was assassinated in 1582 Yusuke is often said to have been among his defenders. His final fate is uncertain. Some say he was killed attempting to defend his lord, others that he died of a disease, and others that he was returned to the Jesuits.