I feel that people are ironically applying their own bias onto history, and ignoring what even Japan believes. Thomas Lockley is passionate about Yasuke's role in history, that's a given, but his paper is also properly peer reviewed. There are already articles that pre-date his, that points to Yasuke being a samurai.
Here's a post from someone else who also did their research:
And additionally:
"Kaneko Hiraku (professor at the Historiographical Institute of the University of Tokyo, the most prestigious historical research institution in Japan) includes in his book below, paired with the translation in Thomas Lockley's book (which is correct):
The meaning of the word stipend alone is not supposed to prove Yasuke was a samurai. What proves Yasuke was a samurai is not that he received a stipend, but that he received a samurai stipend & carried Nobunaga's weapons which was usually the job of a
koshō and
koshō were samurai & was awarded a residence by Nobunaga and the only non-samurai to be awarded one in the
Shinchōkōki was the special one given to the Jesuits & he was given 10
kanmon by Nobunaga's nephew Tsuda Nobuzumi which was a lot more than the annual income of some samurai & he was mobilized and followed Nobunaga on the Takeda campaign of 1582 and remained by Nobunaga's side even after Nobunaga dismissed all his
"ordinary soldiers" & he fought with a katana at Nijō.
If you've read this and all my other posts and links on Yasuke and still don't believe Yasuke was a samurai, then you either a) prefer to believe your own bias over historical research or b) should post an academic level publication arguing Yasuke wasn't a samurai so I could read it."
Him getting a "stipend" AKA Salary (Fuchi = Rice Salary) is something that everyone at that time got, even housekeeper or mule that carrying luggage, which doesn't say much about it
he was given a house since he is now under oda, So he got a Yashiki (Housing) & Tachi (Large Katana), and tachi in that era is common, even farmer have it, and saying it's equal to samurai is false.
Now if u actually follow his work and understand, Thomas Locklee based his work from information from Hirayama Yu, a historian that specialized in Takeda family (also a commie) but not Nobunaga clan.
Now if u understand in Takeda family specifically, farmer & soldier are not differentiated much and chaotically mixed together with very lax law about it, so in his Theory it's only a "Possibility" under Takeda clan rule
And Nobunaga like sumo, the reward for the winner is usually given samurai sword or even a house, in 1579, two years before Yasuke came to Japan, there was a sumo wrestler named Ban Seirin who received an award at a sumo tournament presided over by Nobunaga and was kept as a vassal. He fought to the end along with Nobunaga during the Hongan-ji Incident that occurred three years later in 1582, and died in the battle with honor as a samurai. However, there is no record of a sumo tournament hosted by Nobunaga after 1579. Therefore, in Thomas Locklee's novel, Yasuke was in Japan two years earlier and competed in sumo, and as a result, he received Sayamaki and Fumochi from Nobunaga. In the first place, there is only one document that says that Yasuke received podwood, and that is not a document from that time, but a later record with very little credibility.
And mind you, Akechi himself say Yasuke isn't a samurai hence why he didn't join the Oda forces to commit seppuku.
Now from all that information, it's way more likely for this guy to steal and use Ban Seirin story and mix it up with Yasuke due to how little information recorded about him since he is that unimportant.
They basically went with, "well he got a sword, so he can be a 'Samurai' ", while in actuality the position mentioned is probably more or less just a hired muscle bodyguard rather than actual Samurai that hold territory or working & leading certain forces under the Daimyou
Among the historical materials that are said to be highly reliable, the name ``Yasuke'' appears in only two places. Among the multiple manuscripts of the Nobunaga Koki, there is one in the manuscript called the Sonkeikaku-bon. The other is an entry in Ietada's diary.
"Sonkeikakubon" was copied about 100 years later by a descendant of the person who wrote Nobunaga Koki. It contains additional descriptions not found in other manuscripts. As a result, opinions are divided among Japanese historians over whether parts of the story are presumed to have been added with facts discovered later and parts of the story are presumed to have been exaggerated to suit the times and social conditions.
Information about Yasuke in the Sonkeikaku version of the Nobunaga Koki includes the following addition: "
His name was Yasuke.He gave him a sheath scroll with a noshi, a fumochi, and a private residence." Other manuscripts only mention that
"There was a black man brought by the missionaries," and it is unclear whether Nobunaga hired him or not. The Ietada diary states, "
There was a black-skinned person beside Nobunaga.He was about 182cm tall and had skin like ink.His name was Yasuke."Therefore, it is possible that the Sonkeikaku version incorporated this information. In the historical materials written by the Portuguese missionary Frois, there is only mention of the people as "
Cafre people." Portuguese missionaries at the time did not identify each black slave individually. The details of the Hongan-ji Incident are quoted from this historical document. However, the original of this historical material has been lost, and it is actually a tertiary source because it is based on a manuscript that was retranslated into Portuguese from an Italian manuscript.
That is all the actual historical record of this guy, and from this few word, they make a novel and fanfic outta him.