Yasuke

WARRIOR. SAMURAI. LEGEND. The remarkable life of history's first foreign-born samurai, and his astonishing journey from Northeast Africa to the heights of Japanese society. When Yasuke arrived in Japan in the late 1500s, he had already travelled much of the known world. Kidnapped as a child, he had ended up a servant and bodyguard to the head of the Jesuits in Asia, with whom he traversed India and China learning multiple languages as he went. His arrival in Kyoto caused a commotion. Most Japanese people had never seen an African man before, and many saw him as the embodiment of the black-skinned Buddha from local tradition. Among those who were drawn to his presence was Lord Nobunaga, head of the most powerful clan in Japan, who made Yasuke a samurai in his court. Soon, he was learning the traditions of Japan's martial arts and ascending the upper echelons of their society. Yasuke presents the never-before-told biography of this singular figure of the sixteenth century, one whose travels between countries, cultures and classes offers a new perspective on race in world history and a vivid portrait of life in medieval Japan.