Here's a hit to preconceptions. Translated from Portuguese.
Black, Portuguese and Samurai: the extraordinary life of Yasuke, the first African samurai.
Black, Mozambican and Portuguese, natural; black, Portuguese and samurai, less common.
If we believe in Father François Colier, Yasuke, a Japanese derivation of what may have been Isaac, was born in Mozambique.
It is believed that he would be Ajaua(1). Whether he converted to Catholicism or was born to Catholic parents is, however, a mystery that historians have not, and probably will not, unravel.
In 1579, in the service of the Society of Jesus(Jesuits) and the Portuguese Padroado(2), Yasuke, or Isaac, arrived in Japan. Father Luís Fróis tells that Yasuke found considerable commotion in Japan, where a black man had never appeared before.
Oda Nobunaga, powerful Daimyo - nobleman and war chief - at the time, did not believe that an individual could be dark-skinned.
Upon meeting Yasuke, he demanded that he undress; when he did, the Japanese ordered him to scrape the "black ink" from his body.
Shincho Koki, Nobunaga's chronicle, corroborates Frois' observations.
The following is said of the meeting: "The black page was healthy and handsome. Nobunaga praised him for his strength, which he said was equal to that of ten men combined."
Isaac placed himself at the service of the Japanese. In 1582 he participated, with Nobunaga, in the battle of Tenmokuzan. Matsudaira Ietada, a samurai ally of Nobunaga, described Isaac as being six feet tall;
If really of that stature, there is no doubt that Yasuke will have caused a surprise among the Japanese population.
The Mozambican was ennobled by Nobunaga, and served him to the end. In 1582, betrayed and besieged by a former general of his, Nobunaga was forced into seppuku, the Japanese ritual suicide.
The victorious captain, Akechi Mitsuhide, captured Yasuke. He thought of killing him, but ended up handing him over to the protection of a nanban-ji-a "temple of southern barbarians", or, of course, a Portuguese church.
What later became of Yasuke, the Christian, Mozambican, black and Portuguese samurai, is unknown to historians.
(1)https://pt-m-wikipedia-org.translat...l=pt&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en-US&_x_tr_pto=nui
(2) Padroado: The Padroado or "patronage", was an arrangement between the Holy See and the kingdom of Portugal, affirmed by a series of treaties, by which the Vatican delegated to the kings of Portugal the administration of the local Churches. The Portuguese Padroado dates back to the beginning of the Portuguese maritime expansion in the mid-1400s and was confirmed by Pope Leo X in 1514. At various times the system was called Padroado Real, Padroado Ultramarino Português and, since 1911, Padroado Português do Oriente,. The system was progressively dismantled throughout the 20th century.
Black, Portuguese and Samurai: the extraordinary life of Yasuke, the first African samurai.
Black, Mozambican and Portuguese, natural; black, Portuguese and samurai, less common.
If we believe in Father François Colier, Yasuke, a Japanese derivation of what may have been Isaac, was born in Mozambique.
It is believed that he would be Ajaua(1). Whether he converted to Catholicism or was born to Catholic parents is, however, a mystery that historians have not, and probably will not, unravel.
In 1579, in the service of the Society of Jesus(Jesuits) and the Portuguese Padroado(2), Yasuke, or Isaac, arrived in Japan. Father Luís Fróis tells that Yasuke found considerable commotion in Japan, where a black man had never appeared before.
Oda Nobunaga, powerful Daimyo - nobleman and war chief - at the time, did not believe that an individual could be dark-skinned.
Upon meeting Yasuke, he demanded that he undress; when he did, the Japanese ordered him to scrape the "black ink" from his body.
Shincho Koki, Nobunaga's chronicle, corroborates Frois' observations.
The following is said of the meeting: "The black page was healthy and handsome. Nobunaga praised him for his strength, which he said was equal to that of ten men combined."
Isaac placed himself at the service of the Japanese. In 1582 he participated, with Nobunaga, in the battle of Tenmokuzan. Matsudaira Ietada, a samurai ally of Nobunaga, described Isaac as being six feet tall;
If really of that stature, there is no doubt that Yasuke will have caused a surprise among the Japanese population.
The Mozambican was ennobled by Nobunaga, and served him to the end. In 1582, betrayed and besieged by a former general of his, Nobunaga was forced into seppuku, the Japanese ritual suicide.
The victorious captain, Akechi Mitsuhide, captured Yasuke. He thought of killing him, but ended up handing him over to the protection of a nanban-ji-a "temple of southern barbarians", or, of course, a Portuguese church.
What later became of Yasuke, the Christian, Mozambican, black and Portuguese samurai, is unknown to historians.
(1)https://pt-m-wikipedia-org.translat...l=pt&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en-US&_x_tr_pto=nui
(2) Padroado: The Padroado or "patronage", was an arrangement between the Holy See and the kingdom of Portugal, affirmed by a series of treaties, by which the Vatican delegated to the kings of Portugal the administration of the local Churches. The Portuguese Padroado dates back to the beginning of the Portuguese maritime expansion in the mid-1400s and was confirmed by Pope Leo X in 1514. At various times the system was called Padroado Real, Padroado Ultramarino Português and, since 1911, Padroado Português do Oriente,. The system was progressively dismantled throughout the 20th century.
Last edited:
Hitler's way of dealing with massive unemployment, among other Public works, they built the Autobahn.
