Near the end of Japan's "Warring States" period a remarkable visitor arrived in the country with a group of European Jesuit missionaries. He was a soldier originally from East Africa acting as a bodyguard for the ranking Jesuit in Japan. The Japanese would come to know this man as Yasuke and through a surprising series of events he would go on to be ... Show More
Sep 30
Bonus Episode - Marble Thieves, Museums, and Dictators
In this bonus episode Sebastian answers questions from listeners about the recent series on the Parthenon Marbles. The host tangles with the ethics of repatriation requests from notorious dictators, the role of the Parthenon Marbles in inspiring the Greek Independence movement, a ... Show More
31m 39s
Feb 2021
G. Girard and T. Lockley, "African Samurai: The True Story of Yasuke, a Legendary Black Warrior in Feudal Japan" (Hanover Square Press, 2021)
The remarkable life of history's first foreign-born samurai and his astonishing journey from Northern Africa to the heights of Japanese society. When Yasuke arrived in Japan in the late 1500s, he had already traveled much of the known world. Kidnapped as a child, and trained into ... Show More
50m 43s
May 2024
Yasuke: The First African Samurai
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 becomin ... Show More
29m 30s
Jun 2019
Yasuke, the African Samurai
Japanese Daimyo Oda Nobunaga was fascinated by the mysterious, towering slave of a visiting Jesuit missionary, and soon this man, Yasuke, joined Nobunaga's court, eventually becoming a full-on samurai. Join the guys as they explore the strange life of the African-born samurai, Ya ... Show More
28m 25s
Jan 2024
Les Samouraïs se plantaient ils vraiment un sabre dans le ventre ? - Entretien avec Olivier Ansart
Mes chers camarades, bien le bonjour ! Dans l’imaginaire collectif, une mort assez répandue chez les Samouraïs était le seppuku, le fait de se planter soi-même un sabre dans le ventre. Mais dans la réalité historique, le seppuku se passait-il réellement comme ça ? Eh bien… pas vr ... Show More
4m 1s
Dec 2023
Le Japon et la période des royaumes combattants - Entretien avec Julien Peltier
Mes chers camarades, bien le bonjour, et bienvenue dans ce nouvel entretien historique ! J’ai eu le plaisir d’y recevoir Julien Peltier, un spécialiste de l’histoire japonaise médiévale, et plus particulièrement de la figure du guerrier japonais, ainsi que de la période Sengoku. ... Show More
1h 49m