Japanese YouTuber Shohei Kondo explained why the Japanese are calling on Ubisoft to “immediately discontinue” their upcoming Assassin’s Creed Shadows game.
A screenshot from Assassin’s Creed Shadows (2024), Ubisoft
Thousands of Japanese players have signed a petition calling on Ubisoft to shut the game down and have accused Ubisoft of insulting Japanese culture and history which they claim “can lead to racism in Asia.”
As translated by Google’s machine translation, the petition created by Shimizu Toru states, ““Recently, lack of historical accuracy and cultural respect has been a serious problem for game developer Ubisoft, which is scheduled to release Assassin’s Creed Shadows. This game is based on the samurai of Japan, ignoring the fact that the samurai is the upper class of the samurai class and should be [my family] or a person who serves you.”
It adds, “In fact, William Adams (Miura Prodor), the first European to receive the title of Samurai, was the one who served Tokugawa Ieyasu as the flag book for 250 stoning. (sp?)”
A screenshot from Assassin’s Creed Shadows (2024), Ubisoft
The petition then declares, “In such history, Ubisoft continues to misunderstand the essence and role of samurai. This is a serious insult to Japanese culture and history and can lead to racism in Asia.”
It then calls on Ubisoft to stop developing the game, “We call on Ubisoft to immediately discontinue the launch of Assassin’s Creed Shadows and show sincere research and respect for Japanese history and culture.”
As of writing the petition has received over 89,000 signatures.
Key art for Assassin’s Creed Shadows (2024), Ubisoft
In a recent upload to his YouTube channel, Kondo explains why Japanese players are signing the petition and are taking issue with the game.
First, he notes that Ubisoft is promoting the game as historical and points to an interview that Game Director Charles Benoit conducted with Xbox Wire.
Benoit was asked, “This is a familiar setting for gamers – how does this game differentiate its take on the setting?”
He responded, “We’re at the end of Sengoku era, in a turning point of Japan history. Assassin’s Creed is well known for its depiction of the history and accurate recreation of the world and it’s what players can expect with Assassin’s Creed Shadows. We’re showing real historical figures, such as Oda Nobunaga and a lot of events that happened during that time, so you’re not only playing in feudal Japan, but learning about this fantastic time period.”
“Also, we’re giving the opportunity to the players to live not just one, but the two best fantasies of Japan: the Samurai and Shinobi,” he concluded.
A screenshot from Assassin’s Creed Shadows (2024), Ubisoft
After pointing this out, he listed off a number of reasons why he and other Japanese gamers are opposing the game, “We are protesting marketing DEIs, historical distortion stemming from their disregard for Asians and their arrogance, and discriminatory responses to protest from Japan.”
From there, he focuses his video on what he describes as “the biggest attempt to distort history Japan, that is the legendary Samurai, they claim, Yasuke.”
A screenshot from Assassin’s Creed Shadows (2024), Ubisoft
He then brings up a number of historical documents and begins with a samurai’s diary that mentions Yasuke. He uses an AI translation that states, “He was taken under the care of Nobunaga and given the name Yasuke. He was granted a residence and given personal items. From time to time, he was also entrusted with Nobunaga’s tools and belongings carrying them for him.”
Next, Shohei Kondo brings up a second historical document called Chronicles of Lord Nobunaga. An AI translates, “Lord Nobunaga provided support to a black man who was presented to him by missionaries. His skin was as black as ink and he was about 1.82 meters tall. His name was Yasuke.”
He notes that this document also indicates that Yasuke was given something, but it’s unclear what exactly it is as it can be translated a number of different ways including a place to live, a short sword, or rice.
A screenshot from Assassin’s Creed Shadows (2024), Ubisoft
From there, he brings up a third document titled Jesuit Annual Reports of Japan. An AI translates, “On the Monday following Easter, Nobunaga was in the capital. A commotion arose as many people wanted to see the ‘black slave,’ leading to injuries and near fatalities from thrown stones, Observers speculated that showcasing the ‘black slave’ for a fee could easily raise significant funds. Nobunaga invited him to his presence, causing quite a stir and confirmed his skin color was natural. Nobunaga’s sons were also please, and Nobunaga’s nephew, the commander in Osaka, rewarded him with 10 kanmon.”
It continues, “The priest accompanied a black slave, and since no one in the capital had ever seen a black slave before, countless people came to see him. Nobunaga himself was amazed, confirming that his skin color was natural and not painted, and stared at him. The man understood some Japanese, so Nobunaga talked with him endlessly. Impressed by his strength and some art skills, Nobunaga was very pleased, decided to protect him, and assigned guards to escort him around the city. Some rumored that Nobunaga would make him a lord.”
“The black slave given to Nobunaga by the visitor went to the residence of Nobunaga’s heir after Nobunaga’s death and fought for quite a long time,” the document details. “An Akechi retainer approached him and told him to surrender his sword without fear, so he handed it over. When the retainer asked Mitsuhide how to handle Yasuke, Mitsuhide replied, ‘The black slave is like an animal and knows nothing, and since he is not Japanese, do not kill him.’ Instead, he ordered, ‘Place him in the church of the Indian padre.'”
A screenshot from Assassin’s Creed Shadows (2024), Ubisoft
After the AI finishes Shohei Kondo states, “There is no document saying Yasuke was a samurai. There’s no document.”
He then shared a translation of another Japanese YouTuber explaining that the idea that Yasuke was a samurai came from Wikipedia edits. The YouTuber specifically points to a Wikipedia edit done on Yasuke’s page on June 14, 2013 to claim that he was made a bushido warrior and kept close by Nobunaga. This change, the YouTuber alleges, convinced many that Yasuke was a Samurai.
A screenshot from Assassin’s Creed Shadows (2024), Ubisoft
The video then goes on to note that Thomas Lockley, an Associate Professor at Nihon University College of Law in Tokyo, published a book titled Nobunaga and Yasuke in 2017. He then published a book titled Yasuke: The True Story of the Legendary African Samurai in 2019, which is actually a novel and thus is fiction.
Given there is only about two or three pages of historical documentation of Yasuke, the Japanese YouTuber notes that Lockley had to have exaggerated in order to fill the pages of the 400-page book. He also notes this book helped convince non-Japanese readers that Yasuke was a Samurai.
A screenshot from Assassin’s Creed Shadows (2024), Ubisoft
Shohei Kondo then pointed to another interview Ubisoft executives gave to Famitsu. At one point in the interview Assassin’s Creed Shadows Creative Director Jonathon Dumont said, “‘We were first looking for ‘our samurai,’ someone who could be our non-Japanese eyes though, this is because through from the beginning the story of the Portuguese arrival would be a very good way to tell the crisis in Japan.
Kondo reacted, “He thinks Japanese Samurai is not Samurai. It’s not. You’re Samurai. As I mentioned in previous video, when we protest about it and then their response is basically, ‘Shut up, you are racist.’ This is really the great example of how the marketing DEI is actually destroying minority culture, destroying. This should be stopped. Really, this should be stopped.”
From there he encouraged other Japanese YouTubers to make videos calling out Ubisoft and noted, “Otherwise our history [is] going to be destroyed by this fake agenda.”
A screenshot from Assassin’s Creed Shadows (2024), Ubisoft
What do you make of his explanation?
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