The image of the Japanese samurai is one of a bold and fearless warrior. And, it goes without saying, a Japanese one.
But there are exceptions to all rules: the samurai known as Yasuke, who not only was not Japanese, but did not come from Asia. He had been kidnapped as a child in Africa, and had traveled a good bit of the world by the time he landed in Japan in the late 1500s.
Yasuke's story is told in the book African Samurai, by Thomas Lockley and Geoffrey Girard. Thomas Lockley, who teaches history in Tokyo, is our guest.