The Importance of William Adams: The English Samurai

[@Presbiter]

The famous bestseller book by James Clavell - Shogun is a must read for anyone who wants to understand japanes culture during the sengoku period. Its about that exact englishman, my favorite novel of all time. Really recommend it.

[@VIPERITE16]

The audio book is also very good!

[@mungohalf-brain2743]

Also my all time favorite book.

[@Hrogoff]

It is my 2nd favorite novel! The way he writes flows like water and keeps you asking what is going to happen next. I cannot recommend it enough. The mini series is worth a watch (far from perfect though), and has Richard Chamberlain, Toshiro Mifune, and John Rhys Davis.

[@inthefade]

I think reading it as a teenager really helped me understand Japanese culture. I honestly wasn't sure it was based on a real person though!

[@Infinitebrandon]

@@Hrogoff by my beard, I have to try capon one day, whatever the heck it is lol. Gimli and anjin sama made it look so good. Can't find anyone that sells it though lol

[@うらら-d2k]

William Adams (三浦安針) is described as one of the most important servers in Japanese school’s textbooks, mentioning his feats in international trades and politics in this era

[@7EvanPAC789]

Mandate of Heaven: To be Counted Righteous always meant to reject Evil absolutely never allowed to justify evil crime lawlessness in heart thus when being made aware of Law thus taking God at his word (God's word made flesh: Jesus Christ replacement of First Man & the Lord of Heaven in the Flesh the literal Body of God) hence obedience and sacrifice the test of the heart (In full legal agreement with/Listening to God). The Heart is what has always been judged (pure) as good or evil. (Once learned made aware of Law, All People held to account judged by Law known/Israel.) El-Elyon (Most High), Ahura Mazda "Wise Lord" (Persia) Zoroastrianism, Egyptian Book of the Dead, Ancient China Temple of Heaven (Shang-Di), (Egypt) Ancient of Days, all cultures prove the only first religion and priesthood of humanity the Melchizedek Priesthood Jesus Christ (completed) fulfilled forever as the living High Priest (Promised Virgin Birth Covenant: Christianity is the fulfilled Melchizedek Priesthood through Jesus Christ the only promised savior redeemer who fulfilled the law and prophets and his Church is the only Functioning prophetic Holy Spirit Lead Priesthood of the 12 Tribes of Israel). Children, Free Will, & The Tower of Babel cultural language divide delays Jesus Christ's reign as when he claims throne he is immediately responsible for judging all both living and dead. All ancients knew of the promised resurrection of the Dead (Reincarnation), virgin birth, and Judgement Day of the Righteous and Wicked souls; To be perfect is to be complete according to set standard, mathematical law of absolutes good vs evil. The true opposite of love is unholy selfishness, the epitome of pride is self-righteousness (unmerited value/unlawfully agreed). People confuse pride with its righteous opposite which is Glory/Honor all ancients sought. Good is that of Truth/Holy Lawful Order, & Justice. Evil is that of Lies, unlawful disorder, chaos. Jesus Christ is the Law and the Test of Faith & Heart concerning righteousness and ritual purity that which is Holy; whereby Jesus Christ the word of God in the flesh is the standard of measure how a person is judged as good or evil based on their choice to receive God's payment blood covering sacrifice through Jesus Christ's Perfect Lawful Life. Faith=Trust. (KJV Bible for English) (Romans Ch.10) (Eternal Life) If you confess with the mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that the creator (supreme spirit) Lord of Heaven hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.” Jesus Christ the only worthy Emperor King of Kings Alpha Omega of Humanity has the authority and dominion of the first man and is the Eldest of the Human Race (Virgin Birth promised by Creator before Cain & Able) and First Born resurrected unto Glorification from the Dead. Israel is the church body of Christ Family of God; all people of any nation of the world that choose Righteousness, Honor, & Glory are citizens of Israel the Most High Lord of Heaven's Kingdom. Peace = Jesus Christ the only begotten son of God born from a virgin with no corruption from Adam's Seed. Islam is Satans Counterfeit of The 12 Tribes of Israel. Most people in world (All Ethnicities) including Arabs that identify as muslims are actually Israelites by Blood (All saved by Blood of Messiah Jesus Christ counted as Israelites co-heirs by Blood of Jesus Christ). #Zoroastrianism proves virgin birth (3 Wise Men Kings from East). Confess & Repent of Evil Crime lawlessness by Jesus Christ to Heavenly Father Creator of Life! (stop doing crime and ask for forgiveness for all evil done)

[@jamesmeppler6375]

Servers? Like the people who expect tips for doing basically nothing while the true workers, cooks and dishwashers get zero tips? Those servers? Or servers as in people who serve a lord

[@Skeletors_Closet]

Samurai can be interpreted as “one who serves” or “warrior that serves.” The opposite would be a ronin, which is one that has no master, so it cannot “serve” because it has no master. That’s the way I take his stamens at least.

[@doublep1980]

@@jamesmeppler6375 "Server" as in somebody who serves as a "retainer" or "vassal" of a lord, either as a warrior or advisor.

[@jamesmeppler6375]

@@doublep1980 ah I see thank you

[@TheGeorgeAtkisson]

I have been to William Adam’s memorial in Yokosuka and left a small offering there. I was in the US Navy at the time and had read Cavell’s book. I think this was around 1980.

[@valecious7552]

How life during Japan's bubble economy looked like?

[@jamesmeppler6375]

Real life was so much cooler than clavells book, since he changed everyones name and igored half of the history.

[@warrior7ra]

I did the same in 94. CV63 USS KittyHawk

[@doublep1980]

William Adams AKA "Miura Anjin" is highly regarded in Japan to this day. They even have an annual "Anjin festival" ( "festival of the navigator") every August in Ito city, Shizuoka Prefecture, with a big trad. firework and everything. There are also several memorials for him & his wife.

[@kremesauce]

Wow, that’s really cool and interesting, what an impression he made on the people and culture

[@just_radical]

Ah yes William Adams who prevented Edward Kelley from resurrecting Oda Nobunaga and plunging Japan in to darkness

[@therac197]

Hold on! William didn't! Kelly successfully resurrected Nobunaga! Nobunaga was just not feeling it and told him to fuck of.

[@just_radical]

@@therac197 that would be why there's an "and" XD.

[@michaeldy1139]

Awww... i was gonna make this reference.

[@oyiv1]

Is this Sekiro reference?

[@therac197]

@@oyiv1 No, it´s from Nioh. There are no real historical characters in Sekiro except maybe the Ashina Clan itself

[@BlueHooloovoo]

What a truly fascinating individual William Adams was. His influence on foreign policy and trade stretched the entire reign of the Tokugawa Shogunate. I had no idea he was so instrumental in the Dutch establishing trade in Japan and over time becoming the only European nation to trade with Japan after the borders were closed to foreigners.

[@wadepsilon01]

Joseph Adams(1605-????) William's son. His mother is Magome Kageyu's daughter, yuki In 1620, after William's death, he inherited territory and the name of "Miura Anshin" He was trained as a navigator by William. And there is a record of travel to Cochinchina. His career since 1636 is unknown. His sister's name is Susanna. Details unknown except her name

[@projektkobra33]

Ever since I saw Shogun as a kid..I yearned to go to Japan.....I'll never forget walking up the steps at Morinomiya Stn and seeing Osaka Castle looming far in the distance...What I wouldnt give to make that walk through the park to the tower again.

[@chrislambourne5183]

William Adams has a memorial located in Gillingham England still today. local pub is also named after him.

[@grandadmiralzaarin4962]

Hmmm go home to Europe and be a poor, overworked seaman commoner...or stay in Japan and be a Lord with fief, patronage and influence? Yeah, I'd say Adams made the smart call.

[@projektkobra33]

If he could even survive the voyage back...they had a fully stocked crew and three ships to start with, and barely made it to Japan with one near destroyed ship and only a handful of men, sick and near death....The Portuguese had ports all along the way...the English had none...He DEFINITELY made the right choice...although I feel sorry reading about bis family in England wondering if he had lived or died for all those years before they finally got word back.

[@gothamgoon4237]

Commoner, yes. But not a ordinary seaman. He was a pilot (navigator) and shipwright. Such a position wasn't poor as such and definitely not on the lowest rung of society. Not rich by any standard but he had basic means. In todays society he would have been classified as middle class. In Japan he become a Lord with land and title so it's easy to see why he stayed. Even though he wished to return to his wife and children in England, by staying in Japan as a Lord he probably figured he had vastly more means to save them out of poverty then he ever would as an English pilot. It was to never be though unfortunately.

[@a05odst62]

But home is home...

[@iMadrid11]

He could have paid to bring her wife and children to Japan. But I guess the shoguns wouldn’t approve of that.

[@redneckedcrake7059]

@@iMadrid11 It was a minor miracle that he survived the trip, along with the several others in his crew. He must have been made of extremely tough stuff, I can't imagine surviving the trip myself. Eating the rats and leather cladding of the ship would have been the first step of survival, let alone the Spanish, natives on various islands and nature itself.

[@JL12997]

Absolutely love this piece being an Englishman myself great listen and watch this was!

[@sunjamm222]

When I did a presentation on William Adams I found that he had got the cannons off the Liefde. Which were used at the Battle of sekigahara, for several cannonades. Plus to get one of Lesyasu’s followers to come on to the Tokugawa side and change the battle. Plus in later times whether it was still the original cannons Adams used them at the siege of Osaka castle.

[@TWHueyGuitar]

Are there Adams decendents still around in Japan?

[@JapanMonAmourTheJapanHouse]

According to Giles Milton's book there have been numerous attempts to trace descendants of Adams but with no success. When Hidetada was replaced as Shogun by his sadistic son Iemitsu it would not be safe to be a foreigner in Japan. Iemitsu harboured a passionate hatred for foreigners so Adams children, grandchildren etc would have kept their English ancestry a secret.

[@toddkorson6390]

Willing to bet he spread his seed.

[@flipkiller8521]

Miura is a fairly common surname in Modern Japan.

[@samuraijosh1595]

@@toddkorson6390 he was described too ugly. proabbly not.

[@jeffreysams3348]

It should be noted that the Catholic mission in Japan had hurt itself politically when due to Spanish/Portuguese internal struggles, the Franciscans entered Japan for proselytizing. They were much more aggressive than the more subtle (and should I say devious) Jesuits (and one can argue the Jesuits made a huge own goal when Hideyoshi asked for a ship (outfitted with the latest cannon) for use in the upcoming Korea campaign and effectively was told to bugger off.....A Japanese expression is that a free gift is very expensive to the receiver as it binds him to the giver). Anyway, the aggressiveness of the Franciscans did not go down well. And then a Spanish ship foundered in Japan and the Japanese took the goods... The Spanish governer made some rather stupid, crude but honest threats against Japan (basically outright said missionaries are the first step in taking over your pathetic country)..... Then after Ieyasu had power, the Spanish tried to make a deal with Ieyasu but the terms were ridiculous (take half the income from all mining operations (Japan at that time supplied about 30% of the world`s silver, much of it from Sado island), allow missionaries free reign in Japan, kick out all Dutch etc....) The Dutch terms to Ieyasu were just let us trade and that is all... No religion, no comment on the Spanish...Just trade...Needless to say the Dutch won... Then before Osaka, the Spanish were making promises/deals with Hideyori in Osaka and many of the ronin in Osaka were Christian....So at some point it became pretty easy for Ieyasu to get rid of the Spanish.

[@simpicusmaximus]

@yeh nah imagine thinking Japan is without issues and that they would have had more issues from Christianity. Imagine unironically making a statement like that when Japanese people are suffering from the highest rates of depression and suicide and also having some of the lowest birth rates. Comments like that show a lack of greater historic context understood and that you also don't understand the current global political situation. You're comment just shows you hate middle eastern groups in general because you probably don't understand them, the history, or the global destabilization that the US, Russia, Israel, China and all the other great world powers have done to these places using them as theaters for their squabbles and self interest but please keep blaming the 'desert people' and their 'desert religion'. (By the way, The middle east isn't a desert, if maybe you looked at a map or read about the world ever you would have known that)

[@Owari-No-Kami]

@@simpicusmaximus Hardly the highest suicide rates, yes, Japan's suicide rates are high, but not the highest, South Korea's suicide rates are much higher than Japan's (and Korea has a way higher Christian population than Japan, so Japan being Christian probably wouldn't make the suicide rate lower, if that's what you're implying, in fact, many Christian majority countries have a much higher suicide rate than Japan, such as Russia , Lithuania and Lesotho), and to be honest, just the fact that homophobia and other bigotry that abrahamic religions bring, have no religious justification to grow in Japan, probably makes it much better for Japan to not be a Christian majority country.

[@deanfawcett2085]

@@simpicusmaximus Continuous growth in a finite world is idiotic. The world needs fewer people not more.

[@Owari-No-Kami]

@Marcelo Henrique Soares da Silva Are you really going to say "asian people don't tolerate homosexuality" in the same channel that made a video about samurai sexuality? kzbin.info/www/bejne/i5qQpomOiLyEmKM In fact, japan only started prohibiting homosexuality in the 19th century, after the U.S. forced it to open it's borders. In fact intolerance towards homosexuality is mostly a recent thing in China, due to the CCP. As for Russia, it's said that in the 10th century, the Russian Prince Vladimir rejected Islam as a state religion, due to it not allowing the consumption of alcohol, so no, Russians were always famous for their high alcohol consumption, with or without communism, that would've continued. Also, South korea has a much higher Christian population than Japan (More than 25% of the population), and yet, it's suicide rates are much higher than Japan, guess being Christian is not helping them not to commit suicide.

[@Cephalopod51]

Even though I don't like how overzealous and severe the Spanish and Portuguese Catholics were, the Jesuits at least made the effort to learn the language and the cultures of the peoples they sought to convert. And even though the Jesuits were still severe in their own ways, they were still willing to educate, recruit, and help anybody, regardless of caste or class. There may have even been some Franciscans who were more compassionate than others. But of course, as you said, the Spanish Catholics were pretty arrogant and assumed that they could easily take on the Feudal Japanese. I think they were just so used to being successful in conquering other civilizations, like the Aztecs, the Maya, and the Inca, that they thought could do the same in Feudal Japan. I like how in the novel Shogun, though is set in an allegorical alternate reality of Japan, there is a Japanese Jesuit which Blackthorne encountered, named Michael, who was much kinder, smarter, more forgiving, and more Christian than the other Jesuits in the book. Even Blackthorne liked him. I admire priests like that who are learned, worldly, wise, kind, and moderate. Unfortunately, not all Jesuits were like that back in Will Adams' time. On one hand, I'm glad the Spanish Catholics were no match for the Japanese warriors under Tokugawa, and that they didn't succeed in conquering Japan. On the other hand, I'm both a foreigner and half-Catholic, and I would have had a hard time living in Feudal Japan during Tokugawa's reign. Even if I had a warrior spirit like Musashi, and was able to speak their language, I would still have a hard time.

[@mikotagayuna8494]

Fun fact: the 90's cartoon Denver the Last Dinosaur was an allegory for the life and times of William Adams according to an interview with one of its creators.

[@jamesmeppler6375]

How's that fun? I'll check it out

[@CeetjeBeetje]

Nioh actually sparked my interest in William Adams' story. Nioh is a fictional fantasy take on the story, though. Adams is a Yokai slaying badass in the game, so that's probably a bit different from reality. But a lot of characters and events are taken straight from history, so you'll learn a lot of stuff about that. It's a really cool game! Difficult, though :)

[@birdofhermes3506]

I got instantly pissed it wasn't on Xbox lmao

[@almalone3282]

Your explanation made me realize Nioh is Japan's take on Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter

[@DemoniteBL]

I'm only on this channel due to Nioh. As obscure and mythical as Nioh's story is, it's still an INCREDIBELY atmospheric game and it still sparked an interest for japanese history for me.

[@mauauauauaua14]

nioh is an interesting game, because even though it is fantasy, it had a lot of historical basis or based on obscure rumors of that time to deliver its creative liberties such as 1. There being two Ieyasus, one doppelganger/decoy and the real one 2. Sanada Yukimura almost killing Ieyasu. Or Sarutobi Sasuke being the one to charge at Tokugawa camp to kill him. The game made it so that Sasuke disguised himself as Yukimura and charged at Ieyasu's camp 3. Akechi Mitsuhide faking his death and become Tenkai 4. Cannons on Williams Adams ships being used at Sekigahara. In the game, it was William himself who fired the cannons at Hideaki Kobayakawa to spur him into action. 5. Shima Sakon surviving Sekigahara, because his body/remains was never actually found although it was believed he was fatally shot.

[@quintork4100]

i think i saw shogun on tv when i was about seven it had a huge impact on my view of samurai,then my mum took me to see kagemusha and the awsome ran by akira kuroswa i gave up my wu shu and karate lessons just to study kendo which by fourteen made my 1st dan under the guidance of sensei mansfield,thank you for this insight ,i reccomend anyone to watch the zatoichi series from thr very start it is beautiful!!

[@brettogata4410]

I lived in anginzuka near Yokosuka, there is a matsuri every year for him.

[@philipdemaeyer1665]

My childhood favorite, Anjin-san.

[@KS2teacher18]

Just started watching the new Shogun series - its excellent btw - and background research brought me here. Great video - sounds like your background music at 2:58 is from Empire Total War.

[@carlsberg-gs6rl]

William Adams is hella important. Without Adams we wouldn't have one of the better Dark Souls clones Nioh.

[@jasontakahashi6374]

Thank you for video on the interesting insight into the life of Adams!

[@Chaos8282]

I've listened to or read shogun well over a dozen times. It's probably my favorite novel ever. To Blackthornes slow molding into someone essentially Japanese, all the way up to Toronaga's grand scheme to become Shogun, despite claiming otherwise, it's full of interesting characters and places. You even come to admire and respect characters that the Anjin-San himself does. To Vasco Rodrigues, and father Alvito down to Kasigi-Omi who went from literally pissing on him to a friend. It was that novel that got me into researching the Japan of that age, and I was pleasantly surprised how events unfolded similarly to the book in a general way. If you haven't read it, go grab a copy. Don't let the around 1500 pages scare you. Or grab the audiobook, it's also 50 hours but a great listen. Oh and one more thing, Tai-Pan is also a very good novel by Clavell. China traders during the 1800's. Check that out as well.

[@jamesmeppler6375]

Its a good read, even the tv movie was good. Its just not reality, it came close to it but I wonder why he couldn't just say the main character was William adams not blackthorn or used Tokugawa iyesu instead of.....

[@irishgrl]

Also King Rat

[@Skeletors_Closet]

Shogun is the first book of what Clavell called The Asian Saga. It’s a total of three books.

[@TheRiceShogun]

As a fellow Shogunate I respect these kinds of content. Keep up the good work!

[@christianschaefer9343]

It was the Mini Series "Shogun" which played a vital role in kindling my interest for just about anything concerning Samurai back in 1996.

[@Soronacabricot]

I loved that video, and, as a French, I hope you'll do an other one to speak about Jules Brunet !

[@TheShogunate]

For sure!

[@PortbyhanMan]

Shogun is where I got my love for the Samurai, and Japan. This used to be on Sunday on the BBC in the late afternoon if I recall, and I never missed it.

[@JapanMonAmourTheJapanHouse]

Fantastic book on William Adams by Giles Milton, "SAMURAI WILLIAM - The Adventurer Who Unlocked Japan" (2002).

[@kennithdupree7534]

Thanks for sharing your knowledge and expertise.

[@mstr293]

Hagrid: "Yer a Samurai, Harry!"

[@Ainomato]

Nioh! When I first played that game I thought he was an original character but apparently not

[@therac197]

All of the characters were real or are based on a popular depiction of them existing. Kelly and Dee were both real alchemists too. Dee is even the father of the British Empire. The ones that have the least amount of real basis are Okatsu and Maria as far as I am aware.

[@Ainomato]

@@therac197 Yeah! It was very interesting knowing they are fictionalized versions of real people

[@Aegis---]

Nope, but they did change him from English to irish as there was more to work with in terms of irish mythology (like his spirit saorise)

[@hemmingwayfan]

Anjin-san!!!

[@christadauria4362]

At Gallaudet University as the undergraduate college student, I watched “Shogun “ in the true story of William Adams as the English samurai as the TV movie. Then I later read the bestselling paperback- “Shogun “ as it is the history of samurai warriors in pre-modern Japan in 1600’s.

[@richardwebb2348]

Shogun is a novel loosely based on the life of William Adams - neither the book or the later TV series is a "true" story.

[@justsomeguywithlonghair6595]

I hope no one calls this historic figure a weeaboo I hate that term. Love this vid

[@Maioly]

*glances under this comment to see 'the first western weeb' and then get a flashback to Nioh weeb jokes*

[@whathell6t]

But then again. Weaboo isn’t a monolith. You have your anime weebs and then there’s the Tokusatsu weebs which is the camp that William Adams the English samurai belongs to.

[@hotshot9228]

dweeb is the bad term which our overlords in KZbin are. Weebs is fine as a term, just keep it a secret.

[@cadethumann8605]

Agreed. Weeaboo is not even necessarily someone who likes or speaks the language of Japan. A weeaboo is a non-Japanese person who rejects his/her background and pretends to be Japanese based off of little information they get from anime and other things. In the end, they get the language, culture, and other things wrong and make asses of themselves. William did learn about Japan and became accustomed to it legitimately. Weeaboo shouldn't be thrown around so liberally.

[@BBeowulf]

Found the weeaboos

[@佐藤広-q2u]

What's unfortunate about this video is that it makes no mention of Jan Joosten van Lodenstijn a Dutch trader who was on the same shipwreck as Adams, survived, and was also favored by Ieyasu (the 八重洲Yaesu district, east of Tokyo Station is derived from his name). Like Adams, he also married a Japanese wife and had a child or children, but his Japanese name was 耶楊子Ya-yohsu, which sounds Chinese, so he was probably not a samurai. Sadly, he later died in a shipwreck during a trading voyage (1623). As a matter of common sense, no Japanese person would think of Yasuke as a samurai. [PS] This is an important matter, so I will go into more detail. The biggest reason why Yasuke is not considered a samurai is that he "did not have a 苗字surname." The samurai class began with military officers who were in charge of guarding the nobility and the Imperial Palace, and were also in charge of domestic security and national defense, and they belonged to the intellectual class, so even the lowest rank of samurai always had a surname. If there were samurai without a surname, it would be a major discovery that overturns common sense. William Adams' Japanese name was the surname "三浦Miura" and his personal name was "按針Anjin," so he was a respectable samurai. The conjecture that 弥助Yasuke had a surname, but that the missionaries or visitors of the time had forgotten to write it, is an insult to them and is impossible. There is no way that Yasuke's "弥Ya" was a surname and "助Suke" was a personal name. There are still people today with personal names such as "--助、--suke" with some character at the front, or "助--、Suke--" with some character at the end, but I have never heard of a personal name with "only one kanji 助suke." Most Japanese surnames are two characters long, with one or three character surnames being a minority, but I have never heard of the surname "弥Ya." In other words, the name 弥助Yasuke itself can only be considered a personal name, and since he was not given a surname, we have no choice but to assume that he was not a samurai. It is a complete mistake to say that Yasuke was a samurai because he was allowed to carry swords. This is because it was only after Hideyoshi carried out a nationwide 刀狩りkatana-gari, sword hunt (1588) that it was publicly forbidden for those of a lower rank than samurai to carry weapons, and this was put into practice. During times of upheaval, even peasants were called into battle, and it was natural for them to carry weapons for self-defense. Although it is completely unthinkable today, from an even earlier time (around the 10th to 11th centuries), large temples (Kofuku-ji, Todai-ji, Enryaku-ji, etc.) had private soldiers (僧兵so-hei, monk soldiers) and tried to get their demands met by force. Furthermore, during the 戦国時代Warring States period, a sect of Buddhism (一向宗the Ikko sect) grew in number, and armed groups made up mainly of peasants were born that were armed and could rival the military strength of the warring lords, and 一揆ikki (armed uprisings against feudal lords) also broke out. Nobunaga and Ieyasu had no choice but to fight these groups thoroughly, as they were very difficult to deal with because they had believers among their vassals. Therefore, determining whether or not someone was a samurai based on whether or not they were allowed to carry swords was a mistaken idea that was thought up in the later, peaceful 江戸時代Edo period (1603-1867). There is no samurai without a lord. Such people were called "浪人ronin" and in the Edo period, although they kept their surnames, they were treated as lower in status than samurai. In today's terms, they would be unemployed or have temporary employment that could be terminated at any time, and would barely be able to make ends meet, so the idea that Yasuke was able to make a living as a wanderer by selling his lone wolf-like sword skills is an unreal setting for a video game or anime. First of all, the idea that Yasuke was a guard for the missionarries and had considerable sword skills is the fantasy of someone who has no idea what swordsmanship is. Mastering swordsmanship is not easy. Western swords and Japanese swords are different weapons, and it takes years of harsh training under the guidance of an expert. Therefore, Yasuke's swordsmanship with the Japanese sword was at beginner's level at best. Also, in real battlefields, spears were used more than swords in close combat, so there is no significance in practicing only the sword. The story that Yasuke served as Nobunaga's sword bearer is not credible. In Japan, sword bearing was one of the chores performed by 小姓kosyoh(pages). Pages were young boys (about the age of a junior high school student today) selected from among reliable vassals of good families. Since they were by the side of their lord, they could not be someone who was absolutely trustworthy and who might even harm the lord. The adult Yasuke certainly could not have done so. Also, the specialized job is mistaken for that of some other country. Since he was a slave, it is unlikely that he could speak everyday conversation well. It would be more appropriate to consider his job as subordinate work. Also, if it is true that he fought against Akechi's rebels at the Honnoji Incident, was captured, and handed over to the missionaries, that is proof that he was not a samurai. If he was a samurai, he would have fought to the end and died together with Nobunaga, since his lord was killed. Being captured by the enemy is the greatest disgrace for a samurai, so if he could no longer fight, it would be strange if he did not commit seppuku. The reason why Akechi's army did not kill him was probably because he did not look like a samurai (i.e., he was not worth killing). They may have only thought of him as a servant, or perhaps as Nobunaga's rare pet. In any case, he was a nuisance, so they pushed him onto the missionaries. The reason there are no records of what happened to him after that is because he was no longer of interest to anyone. The most likely speculation is that he was made a slave again and sent overseas, but it is also possible that he was secretly killed by the missionaries. Living alone in Japan away from the missionaries would have been very conspicuous for a big black man like him, so there would have been some kind of record of his actions, and such a development could only be fiction.

[@dannygreenland4853]

I have not read the book myself I did watch the 1980's tv series Shogun, It was nice to learn more about William Adams though.

[@carlbowles1808]

The shogun TV series is memorable. This video sheds additional light on the first European samurai.

[@MetalGearTenno]

Play as William Adams in Nioh. Amazing game!

[@EvilXero359]

Yeah, at least till the difficulty gets to Way of the Wise and Nioh

[@BCIronThunder]

I lived in Osaka in 92-93, and I read Shogun twice while I was there.

[@txshasta1968]

I want to hear more about this black samurai. Please enlighten me i find interesting and want to learn more

[@Kungen940127]

Question about Yasuke. Was he actually awarded the rank of samurai? Wasn't he basically a servant to Nobunaga, a bodyguard of sorts? I don't think he was ever awarded with a fief (like Adams was). I do not think he was actually samurai. And when I say "samurai" I mean a member of the bushi societal class. I'm not trying downplay Yasuke or anything, his story is interesting, but we do not really known that much about his life. And there are a lot of misconceptions and myths around him.

[@KingFlameHawk]

He probably wasn't. The biggest clue is the fact that he never got a family name. However, as I saw in another video, him not being a samurai wasn't that big of a deal as there were thousands of samurai in Japan at the time that no one cares about. Yasuke was more important as he was a member of Oda's inner circle, even if not a samurai.

[@CatnamedMittens]

He was a retainer and was allowed to bear arms, I think. Not really a landlord.

[@boobio1]

no

[@oriont6944]

Yasuke was one of the few survivors of all the battles he was in and also the ones he lost. He survived the ambush on Nobunaga and supposedly was tasked with delivering Nobunaga's head to his son where he'd go on to survive another attack by Mitsuhide's forces when he went to serve Nobunaga's Son, Yasuke fought alongside Nobutada's warriors and only surrendered his sword when the last of Nobutada's warriors did likewise. He most likely received Samurai training and was a skilled warrior to be able to survive battles where most Samurai perished in. So, yes, technically, he was a Samurai and a very skilled one at that.

[@Historybuff_769]

​​​@@oriont6944From everything ive read on him,it seems he was never called a samurai and Highly dought he was one the the finest samurai the man was only in Japan for 3 years also things like iaido take years to learn and can take a life tome to master

[@sengokusanada2690]

That was a really good episode! keep up the good work!

[@strifefraser5102]

I remember this as a kid it was awesome .

[@OniMetsuki]

Beautifully told story, outstanding people are in short supply it sometimes feels. I'm jumping straight into the Life of Yasuke next. Oh, I also really enjoyed the film: Yamada: The Samurai of Ayothaya, for folks wanting to watch some more Samurai based content.

[@rantingtheverse008]

Did his crew made it back to England? What happened to William's wife and children back in England?

[@intergalactickoala665]

William wasn't allowed to leave Japan, essentially. He was considered too important. It is believed, maybe outright proven somewhere, that he continued to support his family from afar.

[@sunjamm222]

Some of the crew did make it back to Holland. Thus was able to set up trade with Japan. His English wife was supported some how.

[@siobhankenny6380]

Some of the crew are buried beside Adams on the island of Hirado, off Nagasaki. They were excavating the grave site when I was there in 2019 and although they found remains purporting to belong to a North-western European male in his fifties, they have no source to compare the DNA with. Last I heard, they were trying to find descendants of Adams in his home town of Gillingham.

[@nps5886]

This man was born in my hometown

[@SeanHiruki]

Aw yeah Nioh time

[@BlueGoblin1]

Never forget the martyrs for Christ and Liberty at Shimabara. Thier last stand at Hara Castle is legendary.

[@richardwebb2348]

- and their imaginary sky god.

[@autisticphaglosophy7128]

@@richardwebb2348 What's the purpose of adding this reddit commentary

[@vidarodinson5246]

​@@richardwebb2348 factual God

[@richmondlandersenfells2238]

@@richardwebb2348 Now go back to your mother's basement.

[@jeanbethencourt1506]

@richard very edgy.

[@Infinitebrandon]

F yes shogunate! You've done a great work and can't wait to watch this. Really, this information may heal nations. Just had to shout out as soon as I saw blackthorne. Arigato

[@TheIlustrado]

MIURA ANJIN!!!

[@TehSkullKid]

I picked up Shogun about 10 years ago and expected to only get a few chapters into it because of how massive it looked - my trade paperback was over a thousand pages. I couldn't put it down. Just a damn good story, any way you slice it.

[@scorpzgca]

William Adams is a very exceptional and important Samurai. it’s amazing to learn about foreign historical real samurai. He contributed to trade and worked with Oda Nobunaga as a retainer awesome

[@jamesmeppler6375]

Um....the heck you smoking boy? William adams didn't get over until AFTER oda nobunaga died. This was long after the invasion of Korea and the death of the taiko toyatomi hideyoshi. The samurai William adams served was Tokugawa Ieyesu, the future shogun on Japan. Odd nobunaga was betrayed and killed by his retainer akechi mitsuhide. Maybe 20 + years before the battle of sekigahara of 1600

[@oriont6944]

@@jamesmeppler6375 He confused Yasuke with Williams🤣.

[@einezcrespo2107]

Didn't several more of William Adams shipmates live in Japan? Vincent Romeyn is said to have a quiet life in Nagasaki and Melchior van Santvoort who became a merchant. It's a shame there wasn't much info on Romeyn. Jan Joosten van Lodensteijn was also given the status of hatamoto and samurai. Though Shogun is a work of fiction based on Adams life it's one I always recommend. There's a remake of the 1980 TV series starring Cosmo Jarvis and Hiroyuki Sanada on FX on Hulu.

[@donarenkodiazu8807]

I love this tv seriers! I have growing up when i see mifune toshiro in japanese... but my mom play with me and tell me that mifune is my uncle 😆

[@aaronporter4586]

Mifune was the greatest

[@edwinmason123]

Interesting. Thank you for this.

[@stevenhearnden66]

Born in Gillingham, Kent.

[@halbertzod527]

I played Nioh and now i'm watching this channel everyday

[@FrankyBlack]

Very cool. The samurai and the ninja and japanese culture I general have always been a fascination for me ever since childhood. I can see why he wanted to stay In japan.

[@rodneylove8027]

Excellent as usual!

[@jackthunderbolt4307]

Do we know anyone who is descended from adams?

[@gregnezz]

Love your shout outs to the lecturers and educators who know there stuff!

[@ClumpyWoods]

I think the main guy from the book series Young Samurai by Chris Bradford, Jack Fletcher, might actually be based on this guy, as in the series he is an English boy who gets shipwrecked in Japan on his fathers ship after they get attacked by pirates, and he gets adopted by a samurai family as trains to become the first foreign samurai. Good book series

[@Xioungshou]

Patient zero of the "last samurai disease" has been identified

[@therac197]

Last Samurai disease? I thought that movie was inspired by Jules Brunet.

[@HamanKarn567]

I read that Tom Cruise was going to make a movie about Frederick Townsend Ward an American general in the Taiping rebellion but when that failed they decided to do a movie about the satsuma rebellion and instead of him being french they just kept the American parts.

[@squeebbb]

The Last Samurai was in reference to the collective class of Samurai as a whole, not Tom Cruise's character Nathaniel Algren. The Last Samurai were warriors like Ujio, Matsumoto, and the notoriously feared Bob.

[@Cdre_Satori]

I found out about Addams through Young Samurai series of books. its YA literature so he is a teenager and having romances and school bullies and all that, but it was fascinating when I was a kid. Now I am much closer to real Adams in age.

[@jimmacpherson8706]

Will Adams was born in Gillingham, Kent, there is a memorial to him near a pub there.

[@rolandgdean]

I think it would be interesting to know if there are any surviving descendants of Will Adams in Japan. What a rich lineage that would be. Great video again as always.

[@samidavis3146]

This white dude lived a fascinating life, must be very intelligent, charming, and loyal to gain the Shogunate trust.

[@knuthamsun6106]

@fightfannerd9 exactly

[@KOISAMURAI-y2y]

are there any decedents of him? currently

[@WilliamDoyle-rb6lt]

The Shimabara Revolt is such a tragic ,epic story ,I have been hoping for years for some one to make a movie worthy of the epic. Ridley Scott, are you busy?

[@akatosh2795]

Great vid! Do you see yourself going over Jules Brunet since you mentioned the Last Samurai? Or the Boshin War and the Republic of Ezo at all after the Sengoku era and the Edo era?

[@jeffreysams3348]

As a satisfied reader, I can say that Lockley`s book on Yasuke was excellent. Very well done

[@dixiefallas7799]

Anjin Asan. Arigato.🇬🇧

[@fourshore502]

what a coincidence that he reached japan in 1600, the year of the battle of sekigahara, the largest and most important battle in japanese history.

[@mungohalf-brain2743]

Excellent.

[@kevinnorwood8782]

This is the character you play as in the first Nioh game, correct?

[@therac197]

Jup

[@HorsesArePeople2]

William Adams essentially got isekai'd

[@JC-fk4cb]

BTW, I did read "Shogun" by James Clavell way back when. Great novel!

[@nolisarmiento1719]

great video again....I hope you'll also make a video about Kawakami Gensai (aka the real "Kenshin Himura") in the future

[@bcaye]

There are scenes in the book when Blackthorn questions his desire to return.

[@demnmonkey]

Will Shogun show up on your movie reviews?

[@foxdoesyoutube2621]

Noice video shogun

[@simpicusmaximus]

William Adams crawled so weebs today could run

[@mohammedibrahim42]

I like your channel buddy God bless you and bless your family 😊忍者

[@andriswood5434]

Fun fact: Michaelangelo died in 1564, and Shakespeare was also born the same year.

[@Slicksterpat]

You are getting close to doing one about James Clavells Shogun. LOL

[@Infinitebrandon]

I've been begging him for it lol. Shogun is probably the only novel I read in 2 days

[@Slicksterpat]

@@Infinitebrandon Me too bud.

[@TheShogunate]

Trust me, we will.

[@Infinitebrandon]

@@TheShogunate bless you. Matter of fact, shogun was the 1st time I heard of the great blessing, namo amida butsu. Sri amitabha bless you

[@martinhodan3271]

@@TheShogunate good message and what about Taiko?

[@marleyjr00]

Wait... there's actually a white samurai named William?! Holy shit Nioh wasn't joking around.

[@mikenikep5202]

Could you do a Quick overview of the different remaining Japanese families Before during and afterward war 2?

[@clark987878]

Reminded me of "The last samurai" movie

[@countiblis1246]

“There are no ‘mitigating circumstances’ when it comes to rebellion against a sovereign lord.” ... “Unless you win.”

[@TheMacedonianGeneral]

shogunate, can you recommend any good books on Tokugawa Ieyasu?

[@johnmarlin4661]

History !!

[@fishypaw]

Correction: His Japanese wife, Oyuki, was the daughter of a highway official, she was not "high-born". It is believed he married her out of love, rather than social status.

[@seanpoore2428]

Was Addams at Sekigahara do we know?

[@Infinitebrandon]

Great question.

[@TheShogunate]

No, it does not appear he was.

[@Hrogoff]

Unlikely. He was primarily focused on naval/maritime things.

[@stonedig]

Shogun was such a long but great novel

[@jozebutinar44]

where can i get this movie

[@mattwobes3625]

Between William adams and Yasuke who was the better foreign samurai

[@poloshirtsamurai]

The one who have marketable skill and not just a novel mascot.

[@just_radical]

William Adams beat Yasuke in Nioh so....

[@Knoloaify]

Definitely William Adam. Yasuke's role was mainly honorific, meanwhile William played a huge role in Japanese foreign affairs.

[@HexaDecimus]

Depends on what you mean by better, as a warrioi id say yasuke was better, but in terms who had a bigger impact id say adams .

[@georgemoralezii6529]

@@HexaDecimus IDK Yasuke was taken as a slave by the Portuguese at age 10 and remained one until he was made a Samurai so no military experience for him while Adams fought in Wars (yes naval battles but still battles) before he was made a Samurai it is interesting question though

[@zsnooze6724]

You are awesome

[@mr99official28]

Commodore Perry would be proud 👍

[@jlarissou]

The real "Mariko" and her husband are important historical figures. I can not imagine her meeting Adams. Rodrgues is another interesting subject. His book on Japan is worth readind. "This Island Japan", was translated by a modern Jesuit.

[@Arahansannihilation]

First I found out there was a black samurai. If there's black there should be a white one as well.

[@bierlichen1]

Why?

[@Gary_a_normal_human_being]

Wasn’t his name Yasuke, obsidian samurai

[@Arahansannihilation]

@@Gary_a_normal_human_being Lol, obsidian.