> Yasuke was an African warrior in the employ of Nobunaga, a powerful feudal lord known as the “Great Unifier,” during Japan’s Sengoku period. The first Black s

> Yasuke was an African warrior in the employ of Nobunaga, a powerful feudal lord known as the “Great Unifier,” during Japan’s Sengoku period. The first Black samurai, he was at Nobunaga’s side when the daimyo died; according to popular lore, Nobunaga tasked Yasuke with returning his head to his son. > Beyond his relationship with the famous warlord, Yasuke was a barrier-breaking figure in his own right. Though his life is poorly documented, his story speaks to the surprising cultural connections that existed in 16th-century Japan. Whenever I see anything like this, I'm immediately skeptical and consider the possibility that some modern is anachronistically and inaccurately interpreting some ancient text through the lens of modern racial categories and descriptions. Was this guy "Black" in the modern sense (as in a very dark-skinned person of African descent) or "black" in some other sense? I'm reminded of some British scientist or scholar from hundreds of years ago who was described as "black" in some contemporary document, which a lot of people took to mean black-as-African, except that description in that time period probably actually meant something more like white person with black hair and eyes. Later on, it says the daimyo thought Yasuke's skin looked like it was covered in black paint, which makes it more likely he was actually African, but I'm still not totally convinced.