African Samurai

The main character of the novel, Yasuke, is an African who was kidnapped in childhood and turned into a slave – a real historical figure from the late 16th century. As a servant and bodyguard to Alessandro Valignano, the head of the Jesuit order in Asia, he travels through India and China, studying different languages, and in 1579 arrives in Kyoto, causing a tumultuous reaction – Japan had never seen a person of African descent. The unusual foreigner attracts the attention of the head of the powerful Oda Nobunaga clan, who makes Yasuke a samurai at his court. Yasuke becomes a master of Japanese martial arts and participates in battles that determine the further course of the country's history.