Thomas Lockley

In 1586, privateer Thomas Cavendish captured the Spanish galleon "Santa Anna" off the coast of California. It's a vicious fight, and among the 190 captives are Christopher and Cosmus, two Japanese men. Christopher had been a member of a small pirate band in Japan. They had been attacked by Portuguese-led Filipino warships and he was subsequently sold into slavery. Cosmus was an orphan at a Jesuit mission when it was brutally raided by slavers. But Christopher is literate and both captives are familiar with Chinese maps. Hoping to raise his own societal status, Cavendish brings them both back to England, fêting them as noble "gentlemen." It's an international first, but Christopher's insight proves more impactful on English/Japanese relations and navigational history than anyone could've imagined.

Combining pirate, maritime and Japanese history, Lockley successfully builds a timeline for Christopher based on the scant records available. It's a perspective rarely discussed. At first, Lockley utilizes some dramatic, creative license to describe Christopher's encounter with Cavendish. It's historically accurate, but tonally it was unexpected. Thankfully, Lockley blends this style seamlessly throughout the rest of the narrative. I only wish that Lockley included more of Cosmus. He was always seemingly in Christopher's shadow. We also get too little of Christopher's Japan before he was captured. There were missed opportunities to discuss the specifics of 16th century Japan, in favor of general European exploration. I'm thankful for at least the epilogue in that regard. Still, I ended with four pages of notes and 348 pages really flew by! I'll definitely have to check out Lockley's biography of Yasuke soon!… (mere)

I had never heard of Yasuke before, and his life was fascinating. He was (presumed) born in Africa, stolen by slave traders, and eventually ended up in Japan in 1579 as part of a Jesuit missionary expedition. He attracted the attention of Nobunaga, leader of powerful Oda Clan. As Nobunaga’s retainer, Yasuke became samurai. Nobunaga bestowed honors and property upon him. Yasuke fought in series of battles with Nobunaga and (perhaps) witnessed his death. This book combines biography, history, and adventure.

The authors took license with parts of the narrative due to lack of documentation. They have made some educated assumptions. It gives the reader a “sense” of what life was like in Japan in the late 1500s. There are segments of fabricated dialogue and descriptions of what people are thinking, which contribute to a sense of adventure, but fall into the category of historical fiction. Samurai methods can be extremely brutal, so be prepared for horrific violence, including many beheadings and suicides by seppuku.
… (mere)

Brilliantly researched and depicted story of a (presumed) Sudanese native who found his way to Japan in the late 16th century and became a legend. The man known to history only as Yasuke, the name he acquired in Japan, is believed to have been born in what is now Sudan where he was captured and sold into slavery. From there he found employment with a high ranking Portuguese Jesuit at the height of missionary expansion into eastern Asia. In his company Yasuke travelled to several countries before arriving on the shores of southern Japan in 1573, 27 years before the more well-known William Adams. Shortly after arrival, Yasuke was introduced to Oda Nobunaga, the man who strove to unite Japan under one rule and end a hundred years of skirmishing among the provinces. And then, he became samurai.

This non-fiction work employs a novelistic style for most of its length, presenting its historical figures and scenes just as they would be portrayed in fiction. Speculation about thoughts and feelings, and many of the specific actions etc. are transparently fictional, but are used to set up the descriptive passages where the real meat lies and to alleviate the dryness. This is interspersed with considerable background information that interrupts the 'story'. I think it works for the most part, but it could be distracting and even disorienting until I was accustomed to it. This format made me especially curious about the sources, so it was very rewarding when Yakuke's story came full circle at the end to explore those in detail.

While the book is ostensibly about Yasuke, it is just as much a biography and history of Oda Nobunaga and all that he accomplished towards achieving a united Japan after a hundred years of chaos, prior to the Tokugawa Shogunate completing his work. I was more than happy when it did so, and anyone who wishes to learn Nobunaga's story would actually do well to begin here. There are so many other sidebars that go deep into exploring other elements of Japanese history and the period, I think this is a credible gateway to the subject in general. Even burdened with an enormous subtitle, this book's content is still far more than what the cover promises. Rarely does one of my spontaneous buys pay off this well.… (mere)

If you like books about history in which the author(s) do historical investigative work to weave a rich story, this book is for you.

Is everything in its pages 100% fact? No, but the authors admit to that and even spend the last section going over all the possible things Yasuke could have done once history lost track of him.

Yasuke's story aside, the context the authors give of life in Japan during the 1500s, as well as the small window they give into the complicated history of warfare in Japan, is alone worth the read.… (mere)