1094px-Black_sumo_wrestler_in_17th_century.jpg

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1. :back_from_gab: :musashi_berseker: :abigail_williams: :musashi: :benienma: :astolfo: :chloe: 🏆🏆 winner of the Holy Gab War and Holy Poast War (zemichi@bae.st)'s status on Saturday, 20-Jul-2024 21:51:31 JST :back_from_gab: :musashi_berseker: :abigail_williams: :musashi: :benienma: :astolfo: :chloe: 🏆🏆 winner of the Holy Gab War and Holy Poast War

   in reply to
   @Dowito @japananon
   I decided to do a side quest and look into the sources for Yasuke, navigating Japanese sources is hard so I'm gonna focus on the wikipedia article because this is basically the primary source being used to push this agenda.
   
   The earliest "evidence" for Yasuke (or any black guy) is of various letters about the black people they brought over into Japan. First problem is that they're in languages people can't read. Second some of the cited wiki sources are about what people called black people, which is irrelevant because we're talking about a named individual.
   
   Earliest books about black people were historical fiction. The book "Kurosuke" seems to be the earliest idea for a black samurai. Coincidentally the book was published in 1968, 4 years after the Tokyo Olympics which could mark the first times foreigners were seen en masse by the Japanese public. (Not counting American occupation)
   
   Modern sources ALL reference Lockley's book. From 2019 onwards every Yasuke source comes from Lockley and nobody else. The articles themselves seem to be mirrors of each other referencing the common points of the book and no alternative evidence.
   
   Picture evidence is pretty stupid. As they're all "here's a black guy that could be Yasuke!" uhh... No. I don't know why Japanese would draw black people in old art but take this example posted below of sumo wrestlers. That guy is the only black guy in this art, however taking in the full context of the image the guy having dark skin may be using color to contrast the subject with the rest of the image. The black sumo has a clear powerful grip and ready to toss that guy, other guy only has a one handed grip and his feet are up in the air, as the meme goes bro was not built for this.
   
   Based on everything sourced on Wikipedia I have a funny theory. Lockley could have just plagiarized Kurosuke for his own means and then tried to pass it off as historical fact. :jokerlol:
   
   Look, I know that black people haven't been respected in ancient times. However we are still talking about a person that is supposed to be a samurai working under Nobunaga. Samurai were the celebrities of their time and black people in Japan would be hard to ignore. I don't care how much people think Japan hates black people or how Nobunaga was thought about at the time. There would have been more documentation other than Jesuit letters, there would have been Japanese sources too.
   1094px-Black_sumo_wrestler_in_17th_century.jpg
   Sumō_yūrakuzu_byōbu.jpg