"A readable, compassionate account of an extraordinary life." --The
Washington Post
**The remarkable life of history's first foreign-born samurai, and his
astonishing journey from Northeast Africa to the heights of Japanese
society.
Warrior. Samurai. Legend.**
When Yasuke arrived in Japan in the late 1500s, he had already traversed
much of the known world. Kidnapped as a child in Northeast Africa, he
served as a bodyguard to the head of the Jesuits in Asia, traveling to
India and China, and eventually arriving in Japan, where everything
would change.
Most Japanese people had never seen an African man before. Some believed
he was a god. Others saw him as the black-skinned Buddha.
Among those drawn to him was Lord Nobunaga, head of the most powerful
clan in Japan, who made Yasuke a samurai in his court. Soon, Yasuke was
learning the traditions of martial arts and ascending the upper echelons
of Japanese society, where he would live on to become a legend for the
centuries to come.