African Samurai
Read by
Gary Furlong
Release:
04/30/2019
Release:
04/30/2019
Release:
04/30/2019
Runtime:
10h 8m
Runtime:
10h 8m
Runtime:
10h 8m
Quantity:
“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.”
Jack Weatherford, New York Times bestselling author
Warrior.
Samurai.
Legend.
The remarkable life of history’s first foreign-born samurai, and his astonishing journey from Northeast Africa to the heights of Japanese society.
When Yasuke arrived in Japan in the late 1500s, he had already traveled much of the known world. Kidnapped as a child, he had ended up a servant and bodyguard to the head of the Jesuits in Asia, with whom he traversed India and China learning multiple languages as he went. His arrival in Kyoto, however, literally caused a riot. Most Japanese people had never seen an African man before, and many of them saw him as the embodiment of the black-skinned (in local tradition) Buddha. Among those who were drawn to his presence was Lord Nobunaga, head of the most powerful clan in Japan, who made Yasuke a samurai in his court. Soon, he was learning the traditions of Japan’s martial arts and ascending the upper echelons of Japanese society.
In the four hundred years since, Yasuke has been known in Japan largely as a legendary, perhaps mythical figure. Now African Samurai presents the never-before-told biography of this unique figure of the sixteenth century, one whose travels between countries, cultures and classes offers a new perspective on race in world history and a vivid portrait of life in medieval Japan.
Samurai.
Legend.
The remarkable life of history’s first foreign-born samurai, and his astonishing journey from Northeast Africa to the heights of Japanese society.
When Yasuke arrived in Japan in the late 1500s, he had already traveled much of the known world. Kidnapped as a child, he had ended up a servant and bodyguard to the head of the Jesuits in Asia, with whom he traversed India and China learning multiple languages as he went. His arrival in Kyoto, however, literally caused a riot. Most Japanese people had never seen an African man before, and many of them saw him as the embodiment of the black-skinned (in local tradition) Buddha. Among those who were drawn to his presence was Lord Nobunaga, head of the most powerful clan in Japan, who made Yasuke a samurai in his court. Soon, he was learning the traditions of Japan’s martial arts and ascending the upper echelons of Japanese society.
In the four hundred years since, Yasuke has been known in Japan largely as a legendary, perhaps mythical figure. Now African Samurai presents the never-before-told biography of this unique figure of the sixteenth century, one whose travels between countries, cultures and classes offers a new perspective on race in world history and a vivid portrait of life in medieval Japan.
Release:
2019-04-30
2019-04-30
2019-04-30
Runtime:
Runtime:
Runtime:
10h 8m
10h 8m
10h 8m
Format:
audio
audio
audio
Weight:
0.0 lb
0.75 lb
0.55 lb
Language:
English
ISBN:
9781488205545
9781982645113
9781982645120
Praise