A Japanese pop song titled “Why Yasuke” mocks Ubisoft and Assassin’s Creed Shadows for feature Yasuke as one of the game’s main protagonists as well as taking liberties with Japanese history.
A screenshot from Assassin’s Creed Shadows (2024), Ubisoft
The song, which was released on July 6th has already obtained over 912,000 views.
The uploader of the song, which appears to be generated by AI, posted a comment on the video reading, “Hello, my overseas brothers, we Japanese are angry about Assassin’s Creed Shadows and UBI. But day by day, history is being revised and Yasuke is being spread as a legendary samurai. We want to stop this revision of history. So we’re sending you a song that expresses our anger, sadness, and doubts about the DEI of the game. Please listen.”
A screenshot from Why Yasuke video
Based on English captions for the video on YouTube, the lyrics for the song state, “Isn’t that Yasuke? Even though it’s Assassin’s Creed, the main Samurai character is Yasuke. Assassin’s Creed didn’t show a real person. It’s the first time it’s been staged in Japan. We are UBI Sunshine.”
It continues, “But what will we do? Japan’s history is deep. Difficulty in the research. And here comes Sweet Baby. According to them, the future of gaming colored people are a must need. So they thought about any historical improvement and see what sticks. The Samurai Nobunaga, Akechi, and comes along Yasuke.”
A screenshot from Assassin’s Creed Shadows (2024), Ubisoft
“This is the only way! Everyone thought. Do your best to prove the history. Do your best the guys who knows Japan. Do your best the guys who made Shadows,” the lyrics read.
It goes on, “When we made it public, it was criticized. What should we do? Yasuke. For the time being, make him gay and do with Nobunaga. Yasuke, Japan’s pride. Tatami is square. Rice harvesting in Spring. Burning incense at a shrine. The Samurai are all sitting in seiza. We UBI are immortal.”
A screenshot from Assassin’s Creed Shadows (2024), Ubisoft
It then continues, “It’s AC and the main character is a Samurai might be really bad. Hire a real Japanese history expert. As a result of searching for various literature, books, and novels. Yasuke isn’t actually that great?”
“That’s why we filled the blanks with our history. So what are you going to do? Difficulty in the concept art. Then Elon Musk comes along. He said DEI kills art. No, no Shadows is the best AC in the series. Don’t look down on us, Elon. Elon privated the likes.
A screenshot from Assassin’s Creed Shadows (2024), Ubisoft
It then details, “And this is where they made a China. Chinese subs for the Japanese users. AI made concept art. Alright, we burning in passion were just unknown. When we made it public, it was criticized. What should we do, Yasuke? We regret that we used Yasuke. Don’t underestimate us, Elon. Shut Up. Elon privated the likes.
Next, it repeats and concludes, “And this is where they made a China. Chinese subs for the Japanese users. When we made it public, it was criticized. What should we do, Yasuke? For the time being, make him gay and do with Nobunaga. Yasuke, Japan’s pride. Tatami is square. Rice harvesting in Spring. Burning incense at a shrine. The Samurai are all sitting in seiza. We UBI are immortal.”
A screenshot from Assassin’s Creed Shadows (2024), Ubisoft
An English version was also uploaded by a different user on July 9th and it has already received over 145,000 views.
Since the release of the song, Japanese politician Satoshi Hamada signaled that he would bring up the game’s altering of Japanese history and promotion of Yasuke before the Japanese Diet, Japan’s legislature.
Using DeepL to translate, Hamada wrote on X, “Request for Opinions: We have received a consultation regarding the alteration of Japanese history by a French game company. We share the consultation below with images. We have also quoted a post that we believe points out the problem with the game in question. We would be happy to receive your comments and suggestions, including specific requests.”
ご意見募集
フランスのゲーム会社による日本の歴史改変について、ご相談をいただきました。相談内容を以下に画像で共有します。
また、当該ゲームの問題を指摘していると思われるポストを引用させていただきました。
具体的なご要望等、皆様からのご意見を賜れればと思います。 https://t.co/O1MBWe5bO7 pic.twitter.com/WhuM4ticLA
— 浜田 聡 参議院議員 WBPC問題調査中 💉💉💉 YouTubeやブログは毎日発信 (@satoshi_hamada) July 10, 2024
In a subsequent post, he added that he would potentially investigate the historical accuracy of Yasuke as well. As translated by DeepL he wrote, “Thank you for your many comments about the new ‘Assassin’s Creed’ series of games set in Japan. In relation to the above, we received a consultation from another person about cultural theft and cultural invasion regarding “Yasuke,” a black man who served Nobunaga Oda. We share the content of the consultation with you.”
↑からの続き
ご相談内容の共有。（2/2） pic.twitter.com/VtA6vZ4Yeq
— 浜田 聡 参議院議員 WBPC問題調査中 💉💉💉 YouTubeやブログは毎日発信 (@satoshi_hamada) July 11, 2024
What do you make of this song lampooning Ubisoft and Assassin’s Creed Shadows going viral in Japan?
