Did Ubisoft really block a Historian from University of Tokyo for stating facts about Samurai?

Samurai are traditionally Japanese, but Hollywood media and now gaming have started to take liberties. Yasuke is a historical figure that many people refer to as a samurai since he was a bodyguard to a Japanese lord. There are counterarguments that being a guard doesn’t necessarily make you a Samurai, however, entertainment companies have run away with it, spawning a Netflix anime series, as well as three live-action movies in the works at Lionsgate, MGM, and Warner Bros.

What will probably be the most popular depiction of Yasuke is his appearance as a main character in Assassins Creed Shadow, the newest franchise entry that takes place in Japan during the 16th century. There, he will be one of the playable characters. Many people jumped to say that his inclusion is weird and is done to fill diversity quotas, as he isn’t a real samurai and whatnot, as well as why aren’t there more natively Japanese main characters in the game. However, Assassins Creed is an adaptation of history and not an exact retelling, otherwise, we’d be off to hunt for Pieces of Eden ourselves.

A supposed Japanese Historian from the University of Tokyo, Kenji Yamamoto, has raised his voice on X/Twitter, tagging Ubisoft and the official Assassins Creed accounts about how Yasuke is not a “Samurai”. It seems that this has gotten the attention of Ubisoft, as the guy has now been blocked from viewing both accounts on X.

Photo: @Samurai_KenjiYa

However, despite stating it in his username, there is nothing written anywhere that says that Kenji Yamamoto was definitively a Samurai as well.

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Genki

11 days ago

I think I lost brain cells reading this article.

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Superguy

3 days ago

This is an extreme petty “article.” I agree – I lost brain cells too.

Someone with academic creds and is Japanese questions the Ubi narrative so they try to cancel him.

I guess Ubi only respects diverse backgrounds, cultures, and opinions when they fall in line with theirs.

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