The Japanese government and specifically the Gunma Prefecture exposed another contradiction of Assassin’s Creed Shadows collaborator Thomas Lockley.
Thomas Lockley via Lance E. Lee Podcast from Tokyo YouTube
Lockley collaborated with Ubisoft on Assassin’s Creed Shadows for an episode of the company’s Echoes of History podcast titled Yasuke: The First African Samurai podcast.
The description of the episode states, “Yasuke is one of the most captivating and yet mysterious figures within Japanese history. In 1581, at the height of the civil war, he crossed paths with the country’s most powerful warlord, Oda Nobunaga. Their meeting bound the two men together and set Yasuke on a path to becoming the first known samurai of African descent in Japan.”
“Delving into the history behind one of the two main characters in the latest Assassin’s Creed game, Assassin’s Creed Shadows, Matt Lewis and Thomas Lockley examine the few surviving historical sources to reveal what we know about Yasuke, Japan’s first African samurai,” it adds.
The description concludes with making it clear it’s produced by Ubisoft, “Echoes of History is a Ubisoft podcast, brought to you by History Hit.”
A screenshot of Ubisoft’s Echoes of History: Yasuke: The First African Samurai podcast episode on Spotify
Podcast host Matt Lewis also introduces the episode saying, “In case you haven’t had the chance to see it yet, the world premiere trailer for Assassin’s Creed Shadows was released and you can see it takes place in Feudal Japan. This is a time famous for its samurai and ninjas, an era rich in history, culture, and stories. For the next few episodes in this series we’ll be exploring this fascinating period in history. So far we’ve traveled back in time to the Sengoku period, sowed the seeds for the unification of Japan, and culture collider with the arrival of Portuguese missionaries on Japanese shores.”
He continued, “Today we’re tracing the story of a key figure in this era of upheaval. Japan’s first black samurai, Yasuke. As one of the main two characters in Assassin’s Creed Shadows, you’ll get to see the world of Feudal Japan through the eyes of the legendary African samurai. But how and when did Yasuke end up in Japan? What was his journey to becoming Japan’s first black samurai? And what can his story tell us about life in Sengoku Japan? To find out more about this notorious and yet mysterious figure from Japanese history, I’m joined by Thomas Lockley, Associate Professor at Nihon University in Tokyo and author of African Samurai:
A screenshot from Assassin’s Creed Shadows (2024), Ubisoft
Clearly, Ubisoft brought in Lockley due to his work on African Samura: The True Story of Yasuke. However, as initially reported by Tebow at Minimal Effort Podcast, the Gunma Prefecture noted that Lockley misinterpreted the word “Kuroho” during a Television special titled “Black Samurai: Yasuke, the African Samurai Who Served Nobunaga”.
In the archives of the Gunma Prefecture’s website, a question is asked, “I have heard that an ancient document in the Gunma Prefectural Archives contains a description of a “kuroho” (black man). Is this true?”
As translated by DeepL, the government entity responded, “In the Kurima family document (P00101) No. 1 ‘Letter of Kiyomasa Kato, year unknown’ (addressed to Matazaemon Shimokawa and others), the word ‘Kuroho’ appears in a description related to Hideyoshi Toyotomi’s invasion of Korea. In “Black Samurai: Yasuke, the African Samurai Who Served Nobunaga” broadcast on NHK BS4K on March 30, 2021, Thomas Lockley, Associate Professor of Nihon University, stated that the ‘Kuroho’ mentioned in this document may be the successor of Yasuke, a black samurai who served Oda Nobunaga. The document is a ‘Kuroho’ document.”
A screenshot from Assassin’s Creed Shadows (2024), Ubisoft
They continued, “First of all, we at the archives have not recognized this ‘Kuroho’ as a black person at all, and we are surprised by Mr. Lockley’s suggestion. In fact, whether or not this ‘Kuroho’ was Yasuke, there had been a view that he was presumed to be black (Nakajima Rakuaki, “16th Century Late Kyushu – Southeast Asia Trade,” Shigaku Zasshi, No. 118-8, etc.). At this point, however, it is difficult to make a definite determination, since the blacks appear in only one place in this document. For example, the word ‘kuroho’ also appears in ‘The Tale of Genji,’ which means ‘kuroho’ (kneaded incense) and seems to occur frequently in Japanese classics.”
“In addition, some of our staff members have suggested that it would be more natural to see it as a description of an object, rather than a person, when reading our documents. Based on the above, it is the opinion of the archives staff of the museum that it is difficult to immediately conclude that “kuroho” is a black person at this point in time,” it concluded.
A screenshot from Assassin’s Creed Shadows (2024), Ubisoft
This appears to be one of the many contradictions from Lockley. One of the biggest he’s told is that he has had nothing to do with Assassin’s Creed Shadows. He posted on Facebook, before shutting it down, “Thank you for your support over the years. Due to hate mail connected with Assassin’s Creed game, with which I have nothing to do and have no intention of playing but many people seem to think I am responsible for, I will be freezing this account. I hope not forever, but who knows.””
Thomas Lockley Author on Facebook
Clearly, Lockley did indeed collaborate with Assassin’s Creed Shadows given his appearance on the podcast promoting the game and justifying Yasuke being the game’s protagonist.
In an interview on the Lance E. Lee Podcast from Tokyo on YouTube, Lockley stated, “I don’t know whether the game Assassin’s Creed should have him as the main character or should have somebody else as main character. Quite frankly, I don’t care.”
Lee then asks him, “But you have nothing to do with it anyway?” Lockley replies, “Nothing to do with it.”
A screenshot from Assassin’s Creed Shadows (2024), Ubisoft
Lee then asks, “You see no royalties or anything?” Lockley responded, “No, no it was nothing to do… Though my book is starting to sell well again, which is nice. That’s nice.”
He then added, “But don’t attack Yasuke as a man. Let’s remember this man for who he was and the great things that he did.”
Interestingly, Lance E. Lee has removed the video from YouTube in the wake of That Park Place covering it.
Screenshot of Lance E. Lee Podcast from Tokyo showing he deleted his interview with Thomas Lockley
What do you make of this Japanese government entity exposing another contradiction of Thomas Lockley’s?
