Yasuke: the first black samurai !!!
Yasuke was the first black samurai in history, but also the first foreigner to become samurai !!!
A nice story you will tell me, let's not forget that Yasuke was also a slave ...
His journey begins when slave traders remove him from his homeland: Mozambique.
He is then sent to India to Goa. There he serves Jesuits.
One day, the Jesuit to whom he belongs decides to take him to Japan on an evangelistic mission.
Yasuke was therefore part of slaves gone to Asia.
Unlike the West Indies where they worked in plantations like beasts of burden, in Asia the black slaves are used as sailors or as soldiers.
This does not detract from their pain, and their suffering from being captive and abused.
In the case of Yasuke, his fellow slaves were not only African, but also Chinese, Indian or even Japanese.
When presented to Emperor Oda Nobunaga, the Jesuit understood that he could make a good sum of money by selling it. So it was the lure of gain that made him sell Yasuke.
The Japanese are very surprised to see him. In addition to being black, Yasuke was extremely tall, unlike the Japanese who are mostly small. Emperor Oda Nobunaga, thinking that the man was covered with soot, had him washed. Seeing that black was his skin color, he decided to take him to his service and make him the first foreign samurai in the history of Japan!
This is a summary of his story in broad outline. If you want to know more do not hesitate to get the book of Serge Bilé who tells this exciting story.
Hoping that this little story interested you and learned something
😁
