10 Reasons Why Yasuke Was Not a Samurai

1. There are absolutely no historical documents that have undergone fact-checking to confirm Yasuke became a samurai.

2. Yasuke does not have a surname. Every samurai has a surname.

3. Being called by the name Yasuke without any honorifics is a sign of being a commoner or lower. Samurai are never called by their first names.

4. There are no records that Nobunaga gave Yasuke his name or hired him. There is only a record that he was presented to Nobunaga by the Jesuit Society (as a slave).

5. After Nobunaga’s death, Yasuke was captured by the enemy. At that time, he was treated like an animal and not even as a Japanese person, and was returned to the Jesuit Society (as a slave). This is recorded. A samurai would never be treated this way. A samurai would either continue to fight for honor or commit seppuku.

6. All the names of Oda Nobunaga’s vassals are known and there is a list. Yasuke’s name is not in the part of the list for the samurai class.

7. To be a samurai, it is basically necessary to come from a family of samurai for generations. It would take a long time and considerable achievements for a commoner or foreigner without such a background to become a samurai. Yasuke has no known achievements and it would be impossible to become a samurai in just one or two years of residence.

8. Samurai are not just warriors, they are a selected class that governs territories, comprising only about 2% (this is the mechanism of the feudal system), and therefore need a high level of education. It is natural to be able to read and write, and it was necessary to be knowledgeable about politics and economics, and to have virtues that were admired by the people. There is no record that Yasuke had such abilities, and he could only speak a little Japanese.

9. Records of family lines in the Japanese family system are strictly managed, especially for the samurai class, and family trees are left in family temples and the like. If a samurai family has descendants, there will always be a record of the family. However, there is absolutely no such thing left for Yasuke.

10. Samurai need their own family crest. This is a mark to appeal to the surroundings when they achieve fame on the battlefield, and it is also necessary for formal ceremonies and costumes. Many Japanese families still have family crests, but nothing like that has been passed down for Yasuke. If Yasuke was a samurai, he would not wear the Oda family crest as in the game, and if he did, it would be proof that he was a lower servant, not a samurai of the Oda family. The game itself confesses that Yasuke was not a samurai.

The points below seven are very common sense for Japanese people, and no one would be able to argue against them. Even if they are historians."