Many historians speculate that the man we know today as Yasuke was born somewhere in East Africa around 1555. His early years remain largely obscured by time, but prevailing theories suggest a harrowing youth spent as a child soldier—bought, sold, and passed among warlords across the African continent and into India. In 1579,Yasuke would find himself in Goa, displaced, but finally free after an unsuccessful war effort. At some point during this time, Yasuke was hired as a bodyguard to accompany the Italian Jesuit priest Alessandro Valignano on his journey to the far east archipelago of Japan.

 

Upon their arrival, Yasuke's presence alone became legend. Towering in stature with black skin and the bearing of a seasoned warrior, he was unlike any man the Japanese had seen. Word of the formidable foreigner spread swiftly, eventually reaching the ears of Oda Nobunaga, the most powerful warlord in the land.

 

In 1581, Yasuke was summoned to Kyoto to stand before Nobunaga himself. The daimyo, a visionary leader known as much for his ambition as his ruthlessness, was captivated. Yasuke's strength, composure, and martial prowess left a profound impression. So impressed was Nobunaga that he bestowed upon the African warrior the title of Kuro-senshi—the Black Warrior of the Oda Clan. To Nobunaga, Yasuke embodied Daikokuten, the god of great darkness and prosperity. In recognition of his valor and worth, Yasuke was granted the sacred katana of the samurai.

 

A man once torn from his homeland and cast into a life of servitude had now risen to stand among the most elite warriors the world had ever known. He had become samurai.

 

Over the year that followed, Yasuke would fight alongside Nobunaga in several significant campaigns. The bond between lord and vassal deepened through the fires of war. But in the shadows, betrayal brewed.

 

One of Nobunaga’s most trusted generals, Akechi Mitsuhide, was plotting a revolt—his reasons lost to history, but his intent unmistakable. In the summer of 1582, Akechi launched a sudden and brutal attack on Honno-ji, the temple fortress where Nobunaga resided. Yasuke fought at his lord’s side as the enemy forces set the compound ablaze and closed in. With no path to escape and no reinforcements in sight, Nobunaga chose death over dishonor. In a final act of defiance, he committed seppuku. The Oda Clan fell that day.

 

What followed was swift and merciless: a calculated purge of anyone loyal to the Oda name. Yet somehow, Yasuke survived.

 

Official records end there. No chronicler, no historian can say for certain what became of the Black Samurai after the fall of Nobunaga.

 

And that... is where our story begins.