Can we finally leave this Assassin's Creed Shadows debate alone?
"Yasuke" Catastrophe – Ubisoft's nightmare
The recent Assassin's Creed Shadows controversy has taken over social media. The game's portrayal of Yasuke, the African samurai, has come under fire as people question whether he was really a samurai. Japanese historian Hirayama Yu has stepped in to provide some much-needed context.
Yu claims that Yasuke, an African who served under Nobunaga Oda, was really a samurai. He cited historical documents showing that Nobunaga Oda granted him a scholarship, a residence and the symbolic noshi-wrapped scabbard, which were honors usually bestowed on samurai.
Yu's claims were met with skepticism by many Japanese X/Twitter users, who questioned the alleged samurai's status due to the lack of a surname, which is often a marker of samurai status. Yu countered this by explaining that Yasuke's lack of a surname did not disqualify him from being a samurai.
