Japan Journal Presents The Story of Yasuke~The First Black Samurai
Yasuke was a retainer of African origin who served under the Sengoku Period Japanese daimyō Oda Nobunaga and was made the first Black Samurai. Yasuke arrived to Japan in 1579 in the service of Italian Jesuit missionary Alessandro Valignano. Yasuke is thought by some to have been the first African that Nobunaga had ever seen, but he was one of the many Africans to have come to Japan during the Nanban trade.
Japan former resident, Kim Bass, is poised and determined to bring the story of Yasuke to the silver screen despite attempts by several others to get a greenlight on an original screenplay as has Bass. Japan Journal presents both stories of Yasuke and Bass in this report.
Japan Journal’s Mal Adams reports.
