Directors and Yasuke, the African Samurai

"Yasuke was a slave, who came to Japan with the power of Jesus. The shogun asked him to grow cotton. It wouldn’t grow, so the Shogun made him a samurai instead.” 

That is probably the narrative your favorite Hollywood director will try and spin when telling the story of Yasuke (pronounced Yash-kay), an African who came ventured to Japan during the late 16th century and became the first foreigner promoted to the rank of samurai.

In the wake of Black Panther, several Hollywood production companies have announced Yasuke projects, all of which do not include Black writers or directors at the helm. 

However, several Black filmmakers are determined to tell Yasuke's story, each of them, offering their own unique narrative and storytelling strengths.  

Award-winning director Mandla Dube spoke on the importance of Yasuke story and how it will impact the global Black audience saying “It is important because it connects African history to the East and shows that our narrative did not start with slavery or when the West arrived. With the rise of superheroes in recent years, Yasuke is an example of a real-life superhero for young people, especially Black youth, to connect with and see themselves.” 

Traditionally in cinema, when Africans are depicted, it is often through the perspective of Europeans. Documentary filmmaker and historian Floyd Webb noted that Yasuke traveled extensively before he reached Japan. Speaking on the historical perspective associated with a Yasuke project, he said “It is essentially a re-examination of history. The discovery and construction of new narratives based on recent archaeological studies of medieval Africa. We have to take into account the 2,000-year history of the Spice Trade. Unlike Columbus, East African traders knew where India was. It is important to study the history of the rise and fall of City-states in Medieval Africa, to look for record of warfare and to seek those similarities between Eastern African experiences that would prepare Yasuke to be invited into the inner circle of a nobleman the stature of [Oda] Nobunaga"

There isn't an abundance of factual information on Yasuke. This requires that filmmakers perform a significant amount of research and detective work. “Any time piece will have its obstacles. When developing a script about the royalty of countries in Africa or aboriginal tribes of North American colonization, hidden, or lost information will be among many of the challenges to obtain” explained screenplay writer Al Yisrael. 

Although Yasuke's character is well known in Japan, only recently has he become familiar in the West. There has been an attempt to label him as a slave of sorts, who got over because of his size, not due to any special training or ability that he may have acquired in Africa. 

Depicting Yasuke as a brute slave that rose to the rank of samurai would make him more palatable to a Caucasian audience, but in doing so, history will again be distorted. “In the 21st century, we are charged with redefining and deconstructing Black histories as they are defined by European scholars. This is the challenge in a project like Yasuke. It's easy to be lazy and reference the Middle Passage as a trope for Yasuke's identity... Saved and redeemed by another” explained Webb.

The work of Black filmmakers throughout the years has actually provided the opportunity for Yasuke's story to come to cinematic fruition. “It is important to give credit to filmmakers like Julie Dash’s Daughter's of the Dust, Haile Garima of Sankofa, Ava Duvernay of A Wrinkle In Time, and recently Ryan Coogler of Black Panther. These hallmark majority Black productions and stories have influenced the way the audience reacts to Black film and stories” explained Dube.

As I type this article, there are several Yasuke film projects listed on IMDB, a few online comics and at least one anime in the works. Is it possible that there will be a Yasuke overload? “It's a good thing that there are a lot of projects. Not all of them will happen. This deluge of projects speaks to the viability of the material, the hunger for the character and the story” explained Webb. 

Dube's The Legend of Yasuke is an African based production. Webb's documentary Yasuke: An African Warrior In Japan, is based on his historical research from Africa and India, while Yisrael's Yasuke: The Soul Of The Sword, is unique due to his background in martial arts and research. 

Collectively, each of these Black filmmakers realizes the importance of their work and their duty to tell the story properly. They also know, that if they fail, Hollywood will control Yasuke's narrative, and if that happens, the world will know of him, as a lucky Black slave, a samurai who didn't have to pick cotton