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Yasuke, the Truth About the "African Samurai", Ninja- NInjutsu Podcast #10
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 12 พ.ค. 2024
- There are many myths and misconceptions about the fabled Yasuke, an African brought to Japan by the Europeans and served Oda Nobunaga. In this podcast, I go into detail about why there are so many mistakes when talking about him.
There are a few things said about the ninja in the podcast, appropriate for the subject.
The thumbnail for this podcast is a period illustration of Nobunaga while he still served as a battlefield commander. Take note that he carries his own sword, for reasons I explain in the podcast.
Apparently, Ubisoft saw Afro Samurai once and thought it was based on a true story.
they also consulted with Lockley
I made these exact points on twitter and the comment section lit me up. Comments like "idiot", "low IQ take", "Source?" Like nobody wanted to do the research. It's easier to just attack, rather then dig for truth they don't want to hear. And when I responded with sources, Crickets. Never got another comment.
Thank you. Many Japanese are saying the same thing saying Yasuke is not a samurai, but these Americans and the West are playing mental gymnastics to rewrite history according to DEI
I'm Japanese, so I use the translation function.
Assassin's Creed games are really influential, and facts are altered and plagiarized.
Japanese people are getting angry and complaining because the main character is black.
This is racism in Japan!
Or white people pretending to be Japanese and posting racist comments.
I learned that there are such opinions and articles from overseas.
And that there are people who mistake them for fact.
I understand that it's too late to stop selling that game now.
There may be people who want to buy it at this stage.
The inherent goodness of games is that people who want to enjoy them can enjoy them.
There are many Japanese people who don't mind that the main character is Yasuke, who is black.
I wish they could just enjoy it.
But there were too many problems that I couldn't forgive.
There were so many plagiarized images on the screen.
People from old photographs of historical Japanese people are appearing as non-player characters without permission.
The screen shows all four seasons at the same time,
cherry blossoms blooming in early spring,
out-of-season rice planting,
plants that only exist in autumn,
and when I found it,
I thought it was a comedy game and laughed.
In Japan, torii gates are barriers that separate the sacred world of shrines from the secular world where humans live,
and indicate the entrance to the sacred world.
Torii gates are gates that have meaning in the religious sense of Shinto.
They are definitely not village gates.
Moreover, in the advertisement for the game aimed at Japanese people, the subtitles displayed on the screen were in Chinese instead of Japanese.
It was also strange that the advertising catchphrase was written in a different language.
Some people felt that they were being mocked.
If this game is based on historical facts and the real Japan,
it is unacceptable that the content is full of misunderstandings and prejudices,
the creators have no intention of learning about Japan,
and the streamers have a bad attitude towards the game.
Also, I don't want game companies to treat the content of this game as if it were real information and
intentionally spread misunderstandings and prejudices against Japanese people all over the world.
But in reality, Japanese people just pointed out mistakes and facts,
and for some reason they are called racists against black people.
They keep being called that.
They just pointed out plagiarism.
They just checked the history.
They just pointed out something strange on the screen.
Many Japanese people think that the fact that Yasuke is a black protagonist is no longer relevant.
Our voices as Japanese people are being ignored so much that
some people are starting to mistake us for racists.
This is because game companies are making the world think that way by answering articles and interviews.
Also, Yasuke certainly existed in Japan for a short period before Oda Nobunaga died.
I couldn't find any records of him as a samurai, but there is no doubt that he was one of his subordinates.
There is little documentation, and he was not well known in Japan until recently.
But it is an indisputable fact that he was with Oda Nobunaga, who is famous in Japanese history.
If the game company had at least said from the beginning that it was a Japanese-style parody fantasy game, I don't think Japanese people would have been so angry.
I don't really care if Japanese people are killed on screen or not.
It's just that people who enjoy it can enjoy it.
It's fiction after all.
But the game company is intentionally stirring up Japanese anger.
If this game is based on historical facts and the real Japan,
it is full of misunderstandings and prejudices, the creators have no intention of learning about Japan,
and I don't want the game company to treat the content of this game as if it were real information and intentionally spread misunderstandings and prejudices against Japanese people all over the world.
Just by pointing out mistakes and facts, some people are starting to seriously misunderstand Japanese people as racists.
Japanese people want to preserve the facts and history left by their ancestors as accurately as possible.
And above all, they absolutely do not want to be treated as a race that has discriminatory opinions.
And yet, I read in an interview that the production team made statements that made it seem as if Japanese people were racist.
The production and sales teams said that this is a historical fact, and that Japanese people who complain are racist.
The production and sales teams repeatedly made statements that could be interpreted as discriminatory against Japanese and Asian people,
revealing the dishonesty of the creators one after another.
Even these are only a small part of the problem.
There are even tweets from the official website that hint at punishment for Japanese people.
But if we Japanese don't speak up now,
discriminatory behavior that denies humanity just because of skin color is truly incomprehensible from a Japanese moral perspective.
I hate being treated as a racist who does such incomprehensible behavior the most.
I also find it very unpleasant that Yasuke's name is used just to cover up the terrible treatment of the game as a whole.
I feel like it's denigrating the people who lived through that era.
It's just a game.
But the attitude of the game company distorts the identity of Japanese people.
So, at the very least, please do not believe that Japanese people are a racist group.
We Japanese want at least one person who believed the mistake to know the truth, so I left a comment on TH-cam, where comments are less likely to be blocked.
I have watched a lot of related videos.
Videos by people overseas who believe in and defend Japan.
Criticism videos that take the game company's word for it.
But as a Japanese person, I am truly grateful and respectful that there is someone out there who speaks accurately about Japan's historical understanding,
and for the sincerity with which he tried to convey the facts as accurately as he knows them, without exaggeration.
Humans are selfish creatures who find their own values in the course of their lives, and sometimes only believe in what they want to believe.
Each person's values and truth are right in front of us.
I sincerely hope that no one will criticize the person who posted this video.
I apologize if there are any typos.
An amazing, very well-researched and reasonably phrased analysis. Many thanks!
I love how he cited his sources.
“Well-researched” might’ve been a phrase you’ve heard eavesdropping
But this is just a man coping
I was also going to comment on the "sword page" role that Yasuke was possibly given. Also, there are some... unsettling stories about samurai and their relationships with such sword pages. But that's something else....
I hope that people who were fooled by Yasuke novels will learn to distinguish between history and fantasy, and that Japanese history and Yasuke's history will not be tampered with and used for political purposes overseas.
I tried to read that book on the „Black Samurai“ you mention a while ago. I gave up on it, because it’s so badly written.
What are some trusted sources about History in Japan (or history in general) you can recommend? Can't really trust Wikipedia or anything online anymore for historic accuracy.
I would start with anything from Stephen Tunnbull. His stuff, for the most part, is excellent. You might find him at your local library system, so you can see what he is like before you shell out cash for other books of his.
@@Tantojutsu I live in a rural town in Europe, so, chances are slim. We don't even have public libraries nearby, so I might have to look online anyway :/
@@BlueHarvey Robert Sepher has some great videos on youtube, enjoy!
@Don Roley, I recently listened to a podcast that had Eric Shahan (Shinobu Books) on. Both he and the host are Jinenkan practitioners. Eric stated that the 1980’s ninja films were inspired by 1970’s ninja books, which themselves were inspired by an earlier surge in ninja popularity just before the 1920’s in Japan. This is not specific to the topic of this video podcast, but I felt it was worth mentioning since you touch on fictional works in this video. Do you know this to be true?
Kind of. There was a surge of interest in the ninja about that time in Japan. I translated a book, The Honor of Koga-ryu Ninjutsu. from that era. And there was a series of movies, comics, and such from the 60s and 70s in Japan such as Shinobi no Mono. If they inspired the 80s movies and such in America is not something I am sure of. I think SKH had a huge hand in it myself.
I heard that the Ninja boom of the 80'ties started because of the popularity of Eric van lustbader's Novel Ninja. It became so popular that the rights to it where snacth up by a movie company but for some reason they made Enter the Ninja instead of the Novel and that set of the western movie ninja boom. I dont know if this is true but timeline wise it fits. There was also the James bond flic about this time with al the ninjas in it. (you know the one Hatsumi should have been a consulant on but they trieted him like shit and he left)
@@sonnychabert Yeah, I kind of think it was a combination of a few things, Hayes starting to write, that novel, the movies, and a few other things. Ninja were known since Ian Fleming's novel at least, but something about 1980 was just a perfect storm.
Some "experts" on Reddit, particularly in the r/AskHistorians sub-reddit claim he must have been a samurai because 1. He was given a stipend, 2. Sword bearer is claimed to be a very highly regarded position which would automatically make him samurai, and 3. Samurai was a term that was allegedly loosely given to anyone who fought or was a warrior pre the Japanese unification by Hideyoshi Toyotomi. So basically, it seems like they're reaching. What do you think though?
Reaching.
This is the foundation of their claim.
然に彼黒坊被成御扶持、名をハ号弥助と、さや巻之のし付幷私宅等迄被仰付、依時御道具なともたさせられ候
Thomas Lockley's translation
This black man called Yasuke was given a stipend, a private residence, etc., and was given a short sword with a decorative sheath. He is sometimes seen in the role of weapon bearer.
Google Translation
"Naturally, he was a black priest. (As he was with the Jesuit Missionaries). his name was Yasuke. He was sent to the private residence (Probably Nobunaga's or an affiliate), where he was brought as a prop"
You may argue that the Google Translation is not perfect but I was looking for a kanji of sword or any similarities of it... it's nowhere near the original statement.
@@RaiosSephi that 坊 doesn't necessarily mean priest or monk, it also means boy or young man
@@TheLateScottBaio a 26-year old man who has a strength of a 10-men is called... "boy"?
in the Sengoku Period, nonetheless?
@@RaiosSephi yes if the person describing him is of an older age the term can be used. If you're thinking of boy in the literal sense you're taking it wrong, the closest way would be as something like "sonny" in English
Amazing, you saw this way before the truth exploded. This is what sincere research will do . Thomas Lockley's teaching career is now in shambles and he is being discredited as an academic
Subbed. Great research.
Good video.
just have to say this. you werent saying that Yasuke was gay. You were saying that based on what we know about Nobunaga, Yasuke may have been a sex slave.
Well, I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm simply destroyed to know that ninja didn't sleep with a pillow made of rat poops.
Just destroy my dreams, why don't you?
read my comment fully so I have no issue with gay people I am american you do you but I am christian and it doesnt fallow my morals so I dont support it but I have no issue with people who do it as long as they are not forcing it on others and I wont force my christian opinions on them thats just with things and opinions generally I dont care what people do you do what you like as long as you are not forcing it on others or harming others
well ubisoft is working with sweet baby inc. if not, why would it has ubi on its website?
now I know why I was angry about that.
first all ac games had people for their region, but not japan. which is racism towards japanese.
second givig him a never worn long sward and a kabuto is cultural appropriation, especially claming him as a legendary samurai.
even in games like sengoku basara there where no yasuke...
This is the same Ubisoft that relies on pseudoscience for the Ass Creed games to even work (the Animus is based on a heavily-debunked theory of "genetic memories" being inherited from generation to generation, when in reality, all skills have to be practised and learned, often via the Prussian system of Education, lest the skill becomes lost to time by way of lack of practice). Almost as if relying on Computer Games for historical accuracy is about as dumb as crying "We wuz Samurai and shit" to soothe your unproductive egos for the sake of being inept people.
@@DR3ADER1 it's a video game
@@sir.retr0661 Reductio Ad Absurdum. Just because it is a computer game does not exempt it from any historical scrutiny.
@@DR3ADER1 okay buddy
@@sir.retr0661 Admit to being full of shit and use capital letters first before you run away like Ron Collins.
Didn't the Jesuits write that Oda Nobunaga treated him as samurai?
Nope, they didn’t. That would have stuck out if they had.
No, it's the reverse... Oda Nobunaga referred to him as a "black priest" considering that he is black and with the jesuits
@@RaiosSephi And even then, Nobunaga's description of Yasuke is also inaccurate, considering that Yasuke never had any formal training or study within the Jesuit Order, he was merely a slave they (the Portuguese Jesuits) just so happened to bring over from Portuguese East Africa (Mozambique didn't exist until the 1970s) to the old Yamashiro Province and Owari Domain (now modern-day Kyoto and West Aichi Prefectures respectively) where the Oda clan were based in, and Nobunaga, being the paranoid politician that he was, used him for marketing purposes.
Why is this something that black people care about anyway? They had their own badass warriors like the Zulus. This is obviously just a small segment of anime lovers that are really living in fantasy land.
They are Afrocentrists.
If you actually know the history of them and the stories of Shaka Zulu being such a sick fuck that his own brothers had to assassinate him you wouldn't be impressed by the culture
Because he’s an African Samurai he’s from Mozambique 🇲🇿
@@scorpzgca not a samurai
@@TheLateScottBaio He is to us