African Samurai: The True Story of Yasuke, a Legendary Black Warrior in Feudal Japan

by Thomas Lockley, Geoffrey Girard, Gary Furlong (Read by)

Overview

"A readable, compassionate account of an extraordinary life.” —The Washington Post

The remarkable life of history’s first foreign-born samurai, and his astonishing journey from Northeast Africa to the heights of Japanese society.

Warrior. Samurai. Legend.

When Yasuke arrived in Japan in the late 1500s, he had already traversed much of the known world. Kidnapped as a child in Northeast Africa, he served as a bodyguard to the head of the Jesuits in Asia, traveling to India and China, and eventually arriving in Japan, where everything would change.

Most Japanese people had never seen an African man before. Some believed he was a god. Others saw him as the black-skinned Buddha.

Among those drawn to him was Lord Nobunaga, head of the most powerful clan in Japan, who made Yasuke a samurai in his court. Soon, Yasuke was learning the traditions of martial arts and ascending the upper echelons of Japanese society, where he would live on to become a legend for the centuries to come.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781982645113
Publisher:	Harlequin Audio
Publication date:	04/30/2019
Edition description:	Unabridged
Product dimensions:	5.20(w) x 5.70(h) x (d)

About the Author

Thomas Lockley is an associate professor at Nihon University College of Law in Tokyo, where he teaches courses about the international and multicultural history of Japan and East Asia. He has published several dozen research papers and articles, including the first in the world regarding the life of Yasuke. At the time of writing, 2018, he was Visiting Scholar at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London. He and his family live in Chiba, Japan.

Geoffrey Girard is the author of more than a dozen books. Born in Germany and shaped in New Jersey, he currently teaches in Ohio. He was selected for a Writers of the Future prize in 2003, and his debut novel was nominated for a Stoker Award. He has an MFA from Miami University.

Gary Furlong grew up in Wexford, Ireland. Throughout his life he has worn many hats working as a teacher, puppeteer, improv artist, actor, and singer. He can perform in general British, general American, and an Irish accent to a native level and can speak Japanese fluently. He now works full time as an audiobook narrator and voice actor from his home in Ireland.

Table of Contents

Prelude: Yasuke de gozaru 13

Part 1 Warrior

C1 A Welcome to Japan 19

C2 Only the Grace of God 38

C3 The Ghosts of Africa 50

C4 Seminary Life 60

C5 The Terms of Employment 75

C6 The Witch of Bungo 89

C7 Pirates and Choir Boys 99

C8 A Riot on Monday 115

C9 Tenka Fuba 132

C10 Feats of Strength 147

Part 2 Samurai

C11 Guest of Honor 159

C12 Treasures Old and New 172

C13 The Way of Warriors 194

C14 His Lord's Whim 204

C15 Oda at War 219

C16 The Dead are Rising 230

C17 Collecting Heads 242

C18 Fuji-san 260

C19 Battle Cry 272

C20 The Honno-ji Incident 289

Part 3 Legend

C21 Japan, Tomorrow 307

C22 The Guns of Okitanawate 319

C23 Possible Paths 331

C24 Yasuke Through the Ages 358

Afterword 381

Author Note 395

Notes 403

Index 457

Editorial Reviews

The title may seem rather implausible, but Lockley and Girard dispel any doubts as they tell the remarkable story of this legendary, world-traveling African warrior in the war-torn islands of sixteenth-century Japan…An exciting and illuminating tale of action and intrigue.”

Booklist (starred review)

Drawing on abundant sources, including archival material, the authors offer a panoramic view of politics, sex, religion, and war…A rich portrait of a brutal age.”

Kirkus Reviews

With fast-paced, action-packed writing, Lockley and Girard offer a new and important biography and an incredibly moving study of medieval Japan and solid perspective on its unification. Highly recommended.”

Library Journal (starred review)

With fast-paced, action-packed writing, Lockley and Girard offer a new and important biography and an incredibly moving study of medieval Japan and solid perspective on its unification. Highly recommended.” —Library Journal (starred review)

“This fact-checked portrait of an often-mythologized warrior with manga and anime variations is an exciting and illuminating tale of action and intrigue. Fans of manga and anime will enjoy reading this excellent work of Japanese history.” —Booklist (starred review)

“A readable, compassionate account of an extraordinary life.” —The Washington Post

“Eminently readable…. The solid scholarship on and imaginative treatment of Yasuke’s life make this both a worthwhile and entertaining work.” —Publishers Weekly

“A rich portrait of a brutal age.” —Kirkus Reviews

“A gripping tale of politics, war and religion that reads like an adventure story.” —Dave Rear, author of A Less Boring History of the World

“The time has come for history to embrace the amazing story of Yasuke. In African Samurai words flex their muscles and pay tribute to a man of physical strength and combat skills. The writing is seductive and the reader sees the world through Yasuke’s eyes. There is much to learn about the wonder of his life, and his story is a sharp blade cutting into invisibility.” —E. Ethelbert Miller

“This book is not only the best account in English of Yasuke, the famous African samurai. It's also a delightful introduction to the vibrant and multicultural world of Asian maritime history. Written novelistically, with a light scholarly touch... Exciting and informative!” —Tonio Andrade, author of The Gunpowder Age

“Rarely do I read a book that challenges my worldview of history, but African Samurai certainly alters my understanding of African and Japanese history. African Samurai gripped me from the opening sentence — a unique story of a unique man, and yet someone with whom we can all identify.” —Jack Weatherford, author of Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World

“African Samurai sounds like a novel, a freaking amazing novel. But Yasuke is real, and Lockley and Girard bring him and his world to life with incredible research and style. Yasuke may have lived in the 1500s, but he is a hero for our modern world. Seriously…when is the movie?” —Bret Witter, #1 New York Times bestselling co-author of The Monuments Men

From the Publisher

African Samurai underscores what can only be defined as global blackness. The story of Yasuke’s journey into the politics and culture of feudal Japan is filled with excitement, danger, and many questions. How was this man who spent his childhood near the Nile able to follow the river of geography to India, China, and eventually Japan? In African Samurai words flex their muscles and pay tribute to a man of physical strength and combat skills…The writing is seductive and the reader sees the world through Yasuke’s eyes. There is much to learn about the wonder of his life. His story is a sharp blade cutting into invisibility.”

award-winning African-American poet E. Ethelbert Miller

This book is not only the best account in English of Yasuke, the famous African samurai. It’s also a delightful introduction to the vibrant and multicultural world of Asian maritime history. Written novelistically, with a light scholarly touch…Exciting and informative!”

author of The Gunpowder Age Tonio Andrade

A gripping tale of politics, war, and religion that reads like an adventure story.”

author of A Less Boring History of the World Dave Rear

The solid scholarship on and imaginative treatment of Yasuke’s life make this both a worthwhile and entertaining work.”

Publishers Weekly

African Samurai certainly alters my understanding of African and Japanese history. Yasuke, a sixteenth-century African travels to India and on to Japan where he becomes an accomplished samurai. Beyond the African stereotypes as either slaves or mythic noble savages, Yasuke emerges as an important and incredibly overlooked force in history—warrior, explorer, polyglot. African Samurai gripped me from the opening sentence—a unique story of a unique man and yet someone with whom we can all identify.”

New York Times bestselling author Jack Weatherford

2019-01-13

Biography of an African slave who rose to fame and fortune in 16th-century Japan.

Making his literary debut, Lockley (Nihon Univ. College of Law) teams up with Girard (Mary Rose, 2018, etc.) to create a fast-paced, novelistic history of Japan's feudal past, centered on the life of Yasuke, who arrived in Japan in 1579 as the indentured bodyguard and valet of Alessandro Valignano, a wealthy and influential Portuguese Jesuit missionary. Drawing on abundant sources, including archival material, the authors offer a panoramic view of politics, sex, religion, and war. They recount in horrifying detail the massacre of African families and kidnapping of boys by Arab, Persian, and Indian slave merchants that resulted in Yasuke's enslavement. Growing up in India as a boy soldier, he was "trained in violence, as well as comportment and service," making him an appealing servant for the Jesuits, who fanned out across Japan, determined to save souls. Over six feet tall, strong and muscular, Yasuke was an intimidating presence and protector as the Jesuits battled religious and political factions in a nation beset by endlessly warring factions. Blood and gore ooze from the pages as the authors describe ruthless slaughter, beheadings, disembowelment, rapes, and torture. Ninjas, who "killed only for money, and had no honor beyond what they were paid," were hardly the most vicious, and Yasuke proved himself a valiant fighter. Seeking favor with the mighty warlord Oda Nobunaga, Valignano handed over Yasuke as "a weapon bearer and novelty." Delighted, the warlord awarded Yasuke the elite status of samurai. "You are my black warrior," Nobunaga proclaimed. "The demon who will ride beside me into battle, the dark angel who protects me and my family." Because black skin, although unusual in Japan at the time, carried "entirely positive" connotations, Yasuke became revered, and his prowess became legendary. "People in the streets did not only gape at him," the authors write, "they bowed, heads to the earth, as they addressed him."

A rich portrait of a brutal age.

Kirkus Reviews