The epic tale of Japan's first foreign-born samurai is soon to hit bookshelves, giving readers a comprehensive picture of a man who witnessed great moments of history but whose story has largely been overlooked in official accounts.

He was an African bodyguard who came to Japan with the Jesuits in 1579 and later became a confidant to chief warlord Oda Nobunaga who was trying to pacify various fighting clans and unify the nation.

Academic Thomas Lockley, an associate professor at Nihon University College of Law in Tokyo and recently a visiting scholar at SOAS University of London, spent nine years trawling through documents and books and visiting battlefields to build up a never-before-told biography of the man, who was called Yasuke in Japan.

Over the years, the African samurai's story has been portrayed in movies, books, anime and manga in Japan. But a lot of the accounts are purely fictional and Lockley thinks now is the time to give a more accurate portrayal.

In an interview with Kyodo News, he said, "I like to find characters who slip through the cracks of history. Japan is now claiming Yasuke to be one of its own as there is a growing appreciation of Japan's multicultural heritage."

While the book is based on primary sources, Lockley has had to add quite a lot of "research-based assumptions" in order to complete the narrative.

Yasuke was born in the 1550s in what is now South Sudan and was part of the Dinka tribe. He was sold as a child slave and trafficked to India where he was employed as a bodyguard to Italian Jesuit Alessandro Valignano, who was charged with developing Catholic missions in the Far East.

They arrived on Japan's southwestern island, Kyushu, in 1579. A few years later, the duo traveled to Kyoto to meet Nobunaga. Hundreds of people in the city turned out to see Yasuke as most people had never seen a black person before.

Nobunaga did not think black people really existed and rubbed Yasuke's skin and tried to "clean it off."

Yasuke could speak Japanese and the two men got on well. Yasuke entertained the warlord with tales from Africa and India. He thrilled Nobunaga with his feats of strength. And it is possible the two may have had a sexual relationship.

As Valignano left Japan he "offered" Yasuke to Nobunaga. Yasuke was subsequently made a samurai -- and is generally accepted in Japan as the first documented foreign-born retainer to a Japanese lord.

Initially, Yasuke was essentially a bodyguard and page and was there to entertain, impress and intimidate visitors to Nobunaga's court.

Lockley said, "Yasuke had a familiarity and ease with Nobunaga that normal Japanese probably couldn't provide."

Yasuke was rewarded with a regular income, servants and an ornate Japanese sword -- "all extremely high honors accorded to only the most privileged retainers," said Lockley.

(Thomas Lockley)

As part of his inner circle, the African samurai fought alongside Nobunaga against other clans.

However, in 1582, Nobunaga was forced to commit ritual suicide during an attempted coup.

Before he died, Nobunaga asked Yasuke to give his head and sword to his son and heir Nobutada. Yasuke did this and then witnessed the son also perform ritual suicide.

But after this point, Yasuke's fate is unclear and Lockley has had to undertake historical detective work.

Yasuke was captured and probably sent back to Nagasaki to work with the Jesuit community.

Evidence points to Yasuke working as a trade advisor to Japanese lords in southwestern Japan and possibly traveling to the Philippines and the Korean peninsula.

Alternatively, he could have been employed as a pirate, given his experience on the high seas and alleged physical strength.

The book also raises the strong possibility that he had descendants living in Japan. It is plausible he had several wives and the book contains an intriguing photo taken in 1864 of a samurai assistant to a Japanese lord who is of mixed race appearance.

Explaining Yasuke's enduring appeal through the generations, Lockley said, "I think it is the romance and tragedy of someone who rises from nothing to become a hero in a far-off country and then perhaps loses it all again.

"Or, then again, maybe he doesn't and he carries on his success in service to another lord? We just don't know. And that is another attraction. Where does fact end and myth begin?

"People instinctively connect with him and find meaning in their own lives from the facts of his."

"African Samurai: The True Story of Yasuke, a Legendary Black Warrior in Feudal Japan," by Thomas Lockley and Geoffrey Girard will be published April 30 by Hanover Square Press.

A ceremony is held to welcome the arrival of a replica of a ship that carried diplomatic missions from the Joseon dynasty in the Korean Peninsula to Japan during the Edo period, in Shimonoseki in the western Japan prefecture of Yamaguchi on Aug. 24, 2024. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

 

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Reactor in central Japan fails to pass post-Fukushima safety review

TOKYO - Japan's nuclear watchdog on Wednesday decided that a reactor in Fukui Prefecture failed to pass its restart safety review, marking the first such case since the regulatory body's founding after the 2011 Fukushima nuclear crisis.

The No. 2 reactor at the Tsuruga plant in central Japan, operated by Japan Atomic Power Co., fell short of the safety requirements due to a possible active fault underneath the offline unit. The Nuclear Regulation Authority plans to seek public comments on its assessment report before making its decision official possibly in the fall.

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Japan issues special typhoon alert for Kagoshima Pref.

TOKYO - Japan's weather agency issued a rare special typhoon warning on Wednesday for most parts of Kagoshima Prefecture in the country's southwest as powerful Typhoon Shanshan approaches.

The typhoon was moving in a northerly direction south of Yakushima Island off the prefecture and could make landfall on the southwestern main island of Kyushu on Thursday, the Japan Meteorological Agency said.

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Rising LDP star Koizumi to announce party leadership bid next week

TOKYO - Former Japanese Environment Minister Shinjiro Koizumi will announce on Sept. 6 his bid for the leadership of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, his office said Wednesday, in his first attempt to become prime minister.

Koizumi, 43, has gained support from younger LDP members, and the entry into the Sept. 27 party presidential race of one of the public favorites for future leader could spark greater interest in the election. However, some question whether the fifth-term lower house member has the experience to lead the ruling party.

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BOJ prepared to raise rates if prices move in line with estimates

TOKYO - The Bank of Japan is prepared to raise rates further if inflation in the country remains in line with its expectations, although current volatility in the financial markets needs to be monitored closely, a deputy governor said Wednesday, reiterating the view expressed by the bank's chief last week.

"If (the BOJ) has growing confidence that its outlook for economic activity and prices will be realized, it will adjust the degree of monetary accommodation," BOJ Deputy Governor Ryozo Himino said at a speech in Yamanashi Prefecture, central Japan.

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Japan mulls removing tax-free limit on consumable goods purchases

TOKYO - The Japan Tourism Agency said Tuesday it is considering removing a 500,000 yen ($3,500) tax-free limit for purchases of consumable goods such as cosmetics, alcohol, food and medicine, as it seeks to boost spending by inbound travelers.

As part of its tax reform requests for fiscal 2025, the agency also called for scrapping a requirement that tax-free items be packed and sealed in bags, a rule put in place to prevent consumption or reselling of the items before leaving Japan.

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Nagasaki gets protest emails in English over Israel snub in ceremony

NAGASAKI - The Nagasaki city office has received some 1,500 instances of critical feedback in English regarding its decision not to invite the Israeli ambassador to Japan to a recent ceremony marking the 79th anniversary of the U.S. atomic bombing, its mayor said Tuesday.

Of the total, some 1,400 were emails with the same subject line and including the same text protesting the city's decision, Mayor Shiro Suzuki told a press conference.

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Senior U.S. official meets China's top diplomat to avoid conflicts

BEIJING - U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan met with China's top diplomat, Wang Yi, in Beijing on Tuesday, emphasizing the need for the world's two largest economies to avoid conflict, according to media reports from both countries.

Sullivan, on a three-day visit to the Chinese capital through Thursday, is believed to be laying the groundwork for a possible final summit between U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping before Biden steps down in January.

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Tennis: 2-time champion Naomi Osaka makes winning return at U.S. Open

NEW YORK - Two-time champion and wildcard Naomi Osaka made a winning return to the U.S. Open Tennis Championship on Tuesday as the Japanese eased past world No. 10 Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia 6-3, 6-2 in the women's first round.

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A Chinese man believed to have been involved in a graffiti incident at the war-linked Yasukuni shrine in Tokyo earlier this year has been detained by Chinese authorities, local media reported Tuesday.

Tokyo police placed Dong Guangming on a wanted list in July, alleging he spray-painted "toilet" in English on a stone pillar of the Shinto facility on the night of May 31. He left the country for China the day after the incident.

Screenshot from a video posted on Chinese social media shows a man graffitiing a pillar at Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo. (Kyodo)

The reports said that police from Hangzhou in Zhejiang Province detained an influencer who goes by Iron Head on suspicion he was involved in an alleged extortion case.

After the vandalism was discovered June 1, a video of a man who identified himself as Iron Head drawing the graffiti at the shrine was shared online.

Japanese investigative authorities believe two other Chinese men were involved in the incident, indicting Jiang Zhuojun, a resident of Japan, on charges of damaging property and disrespecting a place of worship, and obtaining an arrest warrant for Xu Laiyu who left for China with Dong.

Tokyo police said they believe Xu shot the video and Jiang bought the spray paint used by Dong.

Yasukuni has long been a source of diplomatic friction with China and other Asian countries as it honors Japan's wartime leaders, who were convicted as war criminals in a post-World War II international tribunal, along with the war dead.

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Nagasaki Mayor Shiro Suzuki speaks at a press conference at Nagasaki city hall on Aug. 27, 2024. (Kyodo)

The Nagasaki city office has received some 1,500 instances of critical feedback in English regarding its decision not to invite the Israeli ambassador to Japan to a recent ceremony marking the 79th anniversary of the U.S. atomic bombing, its mayor said Tuesday.

Of the total, some 1,400 were emails with the same subject line and including the same text protesting the city's decision, Mayor Shiro Suzuki told a press conference.

"The reactions indicate we failed to make them understand that our decision was not political," Suzuki said, reiterating that Nagasaki did not invite Israel to the Aug. 9 ceremony over fears that possible protests against the country's ongoing conflict in the Gaza Strip could affect the solemnity of the event.

The city also got more than 2,000 phone calls, emails and online messages in Japanese, mostly in support of the city's decision, the mayor added.

Doves are released at the Peace Park in Nagasaki on Aug. 9, 2024, during a ceremony marking the 79th anniversary of the U.S. atomic bombing of the city. (Kyodo) 

On July 31, Nagasaki revealed its plan to refrain from inviting the Israeli ambassador to the ceremony, drawing criticism from the United States, Britain and other countries.

The top envoys from all the Group of Seven major industrialized countries other than Japan -- the two Western nations along with Canada, France, Germany and Italy, as well as the European Union -- skipped the ceremony held in the city.

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A rare blue bee species Thyreus decorus is spotted at a flower garden within the Chojuji temple grounds in Konan, Shiga Prefecture, western Japan, on Aug. 26, 2024. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

 

The following is the latest list of selected news summaries by Kyodo News.

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Japan says Chinese military's airspace breach "totally unacceptable"

TOKYO - Japan on Tuesday slammed an unprecedented breach of its airspace by a Chinese military plane the previous day, calling it a "totally unacceptable" violation of its sovereignty and safety.

"We are firmly determined to protect our land, sea and airspace and to stand up to say what we need to say," Defense Minister Minoru Kihara told a press conference.

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Toyota, BMW to expand fuel cell vehicle tie-up

NAGOYA - Toyota Motor Corp. and BMW AG will expand their tie-up in operations of fuel cell vehicles, sources familiar with the matter said Tuesday, in a bid to increase the competitiveness of their hydrogen-powered cars.

Under the deeper partnership due to be announced on Sept. 5, Toyota will provide key components such as hydrogen tanks to BMW, which in turn will build and sell mass-produced FCVs in the next few years, the sources said.

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Western Japan city OKs deployment of U.S. Navy version of Osprey

YAMAGUCHI, Japan - The mayor of a city in the western Japan prefecture of Yamaguchi said Tuesday he will accept the deployment of the U.S. Navy's variant of the Osprey, despite lingering safety concerns over the tilt-rotor transport aircraft.

The U.S. military's stationing of the CMV-22s at the Iwakuni base will be their first deployment in Japan. MV-22s, the variant used by the Marine Corps, are deployed at the Futenma air station in Okinawa while CV-22s, used by the U.S. Air Force, operate from the Yokota base in the western suburbs of Tokyo.

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Transport disrupted as typhoon expected to hit western Japan

TOKYO - Transportation in Japan including bullet trains and flights faced suspensions and possible further cancellations in the coming days as the weather agency said Tuesday a powerful typhoon may make landfall in the country later this week.

Typhoon Shanshan, located near the Amami island region in southwestern Japan, was advancing at a sluggish pace that could cause extended disruption, with the Japan Meteorological Agency forecasting heavy rain in a wide area covering Amami and western and eastern Japan's Pacific coast.

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Japan mulls removing tax-free limit on consumable goods purchases

TOKYO - The Japan Tourism Agency said Tuesday it is considering removing a 500,000 yen ($3,500) tax-free limit for purchases of consumable goods such as cosmetics, alcohol, food and medicine, as it seeks to boost spending by inbound travelers.

As part of its tax reform requests for fiscal 2025, the agency also called for scrapping a requirement that tax-free items be packed and sealed in bags, a rule put in place to prevent consumption or reselling of the items before leaving Japan.

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Japan coast guard plans to build its largest patrol vessel

TOKYO - The Japan Coast Guard said Tuesday it plans to make a budget request for funds to construct what would be its largest multipurpose patrol vessel to respond to disasters and evacuate remote island residents in the event of emergencies.

It will seek 3.43 billion yen ($23.7 million) in the fiscal 2025 budget as part of the cost of constructing the 200-meter-long vessel at a time when it is strengthening surveillance near the Japanese-controlled Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea, claimed by China.

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Shizuoka Prefecture mulls collecting fees from Mt. Fuji climbers

SHIZUOKA, Japan - The Shizuoka prefectural government is considering charging fees for climbers ascending Mt. Fuji on three trails from next summer in a bid to restrict access, following neighboring Yamanashi Prefecture, an official said Tuesday.

Yamanashi has implemented several measures since earlier this year to deter dangerous activities such as "bullet climbing," which refers to attempts to summit the 3,776-meter peak for the sunrise without an overnight rest, but Shizuoka has yet to introduce any steps.

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A number of Chinese vessels blocked Philippine patrol ships on a resupply mission in the Philippines' exclusive economic zone in the South China Sea on Monday, in the latest confrontation in the contested waters.

Reporters from several domestic and foreign news organizations, including Kyodo News, were onboard Philippine Coast Guard ships accompanying the mission. They witnessed the Chinese vessels approach and encircle the two Philippine patrol boats headed for the Sabina Shoal, one of the sea's flashpoints.

The disruption by the ships -- six coast guard vessels, three navy ships and 31 militia boats -- took place on Monday, according to the Philippine Coast Guard, following an incident the previous day that saw Chinese vessels ram a Philippine fishery agency boat traveling to the shoal, fire water cannons and damage its engine.

A China Coast Guard ship (R) sails close to a Philippine Coast Guard patrol vessel in the South China Sea on Aug. 26, 2024. (Kyodo)

Since April, the Philippines has deployed a coast guard ship named the Teresa Magbanua, which the Philippines acquired from Japan, to the shoal's vicinity, located about 110 nautical miles from the western island of Palawan. China claims sovereignty over the shoal and calls it Xianbin Jiao.

Monday's mission involving the Philippine patrol ship was being carried out to bring fresh food and water to the crew stationed on the Teresa Magbanua and to rotate personnel.

The Philippines has also regularly sent provisions to a naval outpost on the Second Thomas Shoal, also located the in South China Sea and which China calls Ren'ai Jiao. Since last year, Beijing has been disrupting Philippine ships sailing to the shoal more frequently.

People onboard a Philippine Coast Guard patrol vessel keep an eye on a China Coast Guard ship (back) in the South China Sea on Aug. 26, 2024. (Kyodo)

China claims sovereignty over nearly all of the South China Sea. The Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague invalidated China's sweeping claims in 2016, but the country rejected the decision and has continued its military buildup in the area.

The Philippines and China reached a tentative deal last month to de-escalate tensions between the two countries over Manila's resupply missions to the Second Thomas Shoal.

Earlier this month, the Chinese Foreign Ministry protested the deployment of the Teresa Magbanua near the Sabina Shoal and demanded that the Philippines withdraw the vessel at once.

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The mayor of a city in the western Japan prefecture of Yamaguchi said Tuesday he will accept the deployment of the U.S. Navy's variant of the Osprey, despite lingering safety concerns over the tilt-rotor transport aircraft.

The U.S. military's stationing of the CMV-22s at the Iwakuni base will be their first deployment in Japan. MV-22s, the variant used by the Marine Corps, are deployed at the Futenma air station in Okinawa while CV-22s, used by the U.S. Air Force, operate from the Yokota base in the western suburbs of Tokyo.

The CMV-22s, along with the state-of-the-art F-35C stealth fighter jets, will serve as replacement aircraft for a U.S. aircraft carrier. The changeover comes in line with the departure of the U.S. Navy's nuclear-powered aircraft carrier Ronald Reagan from Japan, to be replaced by the George Washington carrier.

File photo taken on May 23, 2024, shows a U.S. Navy CMV-22 Osprey at U.S. Air Force Kadena Air Base in Okinawa Prefecture. (Kyodo)

"I believe they will be safely operated. I accept the aircraft replacement," Iwakuni Mayor Yoshihiko Fukuda told a city assembly, saying that the safety of the aircraft has been confirmed by both the Japanese government and the U.S. side.

Fukuda also said that the environment around U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, including the noise level, is unlikely to change substantially as the number of aircraft will be reduced by about 10 after the replacement.

In Tokyo, Defense Minister Minoru Kihara told a press conference that he is grateful to the mayor for accepting the deployment.

The development came after the central government informed Iwakuni and Yamaguchi Prefecture in July of the U.S. plan to station CMV-22s in the city. The consent of local governments is not a requirement for deployment.

Ospreys, capable of taking off and landing like a helicopter but also cruising like a plane, have a track record of accidents and mishaps both in Japan and abroad.

Iwakuni Mayor Yoshihiko Fukuda (front) speaks at a city assembly session in Yamaguchi Prefecture on Aug. 27, 2024, expressing the western Japan city's intention to accept the deployment of U.S. Navy Ospreys at the U.S. military's Iwakuni base. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

In November, a U.S. Air Force CV-22 crashed into the sea near Yakushima Island in Kagoshima Prefecture in southwestern Japan, killing all eight crew members in the deadliest incident involving an Osprey since it entered service in 2007.

The U.S. military grounded all of its Ospreys worldwide in December, but lifted the flight ban in March before details regarding the cause of the accident had been released. Japan's Self-Defense Forces also temporarily halted their Ospreys' operation.

Early this month, the U.S. Air Force concluded in its investigation report that the incident was caused by a gearbox failure and faulty decision-making in response to the malfunction during a routine exercise.

The Japanese government has explained to the Iwakuni city after the accident that Ospreys have no structural defect.

File photo taken in January 2022 shows a gate at U.S. Marine Corp Air Station Iwakuni in Iwakuni, Yamaguchi Prefecture. (Kyodo)

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Japan on Tuesday slammed an unprecedented breach of its airspace by a Chinese military plane the previous day, calling it a "totally unacceptable" violation of its sovereignty and safety.

Japanese Defense Minister Minoru Kihara holds a press conference at the Defense Ministry in Tokyo on Aug. 27, 2024. (Kyodo)

"We are firmly determined to protect our land, sea and airspace and to stand up to say what we need to say," Defense Minister Minoru Kihara told a press conference.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said at a separate press conference that the Chinese military's "operations around our nation are apparently expanding and intensifying" and that Japan will continue to monitor them "with strong interest."

The Defense Ministry confirmed Monday that a Chinese military Y-9 spy plane flew over waters in the East China Sea off the Danjo Islands in the southwestern prefecture of Nagasaki for about two minutes from 11:29 a.m. The Air Self-Defense Force scrambled fighter jets immediately after the intrusion.

Japan has declined to comment on China's potential motive and purpose behind the incident, apparently for national security and diplomatic reasons.

Hayashi, the top government spokesman, said Japan has already lodged an "extremely serious protest" with China and strongly urged it to take steps to prevent any further such incidents.

The intrusion was the first by a Chinese military aircraft that Japan has confirmed. Nonmilitary Chinese aircraft have violated Japanese airspace twice in the past, in 2012 and 2017 around the Tokyo-controlled, Beijing-claimed Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea. Japan scrambled fighter jets in both cases.

Ties between the two neighbors have been strained recently following the release of treated radioactive water from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant into the ocean in August 2023, leading China to impose a blanket ban on Japanese seafood.

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