By modern accounts and by reliable documentation including “Histoire Ecclesiastique Des Isles Et Royaumes Du Japon”, by Pere François Solier of the Society of Jesus in 1627, Yasuke was a Makua from ”Moçambique”, known today as ‘Island of Mozambique’ or simply Mozambique. Mozambique is part of the Nampula Province in North Africa and was the former Capital of Colonial Portuguese East Africa

Yasuke is spoken of in several highly regarded documents and recordings of the time, including; the 1581 letters of the Jesuits ‘Luis Frois’ and ‘Lorenço Mexia’ and further; in the 1582 Annual Report of the Jesuit Mission in Japan. These were published in Cartas in 1598. They are translated in full in volumes 3-5 and 3-6 of Juuroku.

– Johnpaul Williams: Chronicle of Yasuke [The first Gaijin Samurai]

from Wikipedia

According to Histoire Ecclesiastique Des Isles Et Royaumes Du Japon, written by François Solier of the Society of Jesus in 1627, Yasuke came fromMozambique.^[2]　Some other accounts claim that he came from the Congo. Yasuke is mentioned in some of the 1581 letters of the Jesuits Luis Frois and Lorenço Mexia and in the 1582 Annual Report of the Jesuit Mission in Japan. These were published in Cartas in 1598. They are translated in full in Vols. 3-5 and 3-6 of Juuroku… and there is no reference to him in Frois’s History.

Yasuke arrived in Japan in 1579 as the servant of the Italian Jesuit Alessandro Valignano, who had been appointed the Visitor (inspector) of the Jesuit missions in the Indies, meaning South and East Asia. He accompanied Valignano when the latter came to the capital area in March 1581 and caused something of a sensation. In one event, several people were crushed to death while clamouring to get a look at him. Nobunaga heard about and expressed a desire to see him. Suspecting the black color of his skin to be paint, Nobunaga had him strip from the waist up and made him scrub his skin.^[3]

Nobunaga’s nephew gave him money. In May, Yasuke accompanied a group of Jesuits on a short trip to the province of Echizen. Yasuke could speak some Japanese, so Nobunaga enjoyed talking with him and was also impressed by his strength. At Nobunaga’s request, Valignano left Yasuke with Nobunaga before Valignano left central Japan later that year. Nobunaga treated Yasuke with such great favor that people in Azuchi even said he would probably be made a tono (殿, “lord”). This did not happen, but he was given the position of samurai (仕官 shikan).

A print depicting the attack from Honno-ji, at which Oda Nobunaga was forced to commit suicide. Nobukazu Watanabe (1872-1944)

In June 1582, Nobunaga was attacked and committed seppuku in Honnō-ji in Kyoto by the army of Akechi Mitsuhide. Yasuke was also there at the time. Immediately after Nobunaga’s death, Yasuke went to the lodging of Nobunaga’s heir Oda Nobutada and tried to withdraw with him to Nijō Castle. When they were ambushed halfway, Yasuke fought alongside the Nobutada forces for a long time. Finally he surrendered his sword to Akechi’s men. They asked Akechi himself what to do with him. Akechi said that the black man was a beast and did not know anything, and furthermore, he was not Japanese, so they should not kill him but take him to the church^{[citation needed]} [in Kyoto] of the Visitor from India, so they did, much to the relief of the Jesuits there who had worried about him. There is no information about him after that.

The “Lord Nobunaga Chronicle” (信長公記 Shinchōkōki) has a description of Yasuke’s first meeting with Nobunaga. “On the 23rd of the 2nd month [March 23, 1581], a black page (黒坊主 “kuro-bōzu”) came from the Christian countries. He looked about 26 [24 or 25 by Western count] or 27 years old; his entire body was black like that of an ox. The man was healthy and good-looking. Moreover, Nobunaga praised strength of Yasuke.

After Matsudaira Ietada had met Yasuke in May 1582, Ietada journalized his looks. ” His name was Yasuke. His height was 6 shaku 2 sun (6 ft. 2 in., or 188 cm.). He was black, and his skin was like charcoal.” If so, his tall stature would have been very imposing to the Japanese of the day.

Yasuke was also mentioned in the prototype of Shinchōkōki owned by Sonkeikaku Bunko (尊経閣文庫). According to this, Yasuke was given his own house and a short katana by Nobunaga. Nobunaga also assigned him the duty of carrying his personal spear.^[4]

A 2013 investigation by Discovery of the World’s Mysteries (世界ふしぎ発見) concluded that Yasuke was a Makua named Yasufe.^[5]