The “Assassin’s Creed” series is known for bringing virtual action to real-world history, but the latest game in the long-running franchise, “Assassin’s Creed Shadows,” has sparked controversy. One of two playable protagonists in “Shadows” is Yasuke, a real historical figure and African man who rose from his servitude to Portuguese Jesuits to become the first foreign samurai in Japan’s history. Yasuke’s story is full of drama and novelty, yet some “Assassin’s Creed” fans questioned Yasuke’s inclusion.
Some have criticized Ubisoft, the game’s developer, for not including a Japanese male protagonist (the game’s playable protagonist, Naoe, is a Japanese woman). Others have claimed Yasuke wasn’t a samurai. In turn, others have called out the critics for being racist, and Japanese historians have even weighed into the debate about whether Yasuke was actually a samurai as defined by 16th-century Japanese society. All of the criticism comes back to one central question: Who was Yasuke? Was he, in fact, the first foreign samurai? And why has his story become so overrepresented in pop culture?
