Summary
After many years of fans being extremely vocal in their desire for the history-hopping series to visit Feudal Japan,Assassin’s Creed Shadowsis finally set to visit this setting later this year. While the announcement ofShadows- then calledCodename Red- was initially well-received with its short stylized teaser depicting a ninja jumping across rooftops, the game has been the subject of plenty of backlash and controversy since itsfirst story trailer, which introduced its dual protagonists, Yasuke and Naoe.
Naoe’s shinobi gameplay has more of a focus onAssassin’s Creed’s classic stealth-based approach, while Yasuke’s samurai gameplay is more in line with the combat-heavy tactics of the more recent RPG-esque titles.
While Naoe appears to be primarily fictional - despite being depicted as the daughter of the real shinobi Fujibayashi Nagato and coming from the real shinobi province of Iga - Yasuke has been marketed as being the series' first playable character based on areal historical figure. A"Who are Naoe and Yasuke?" featurette stated that Yasuke arrived in Japan in 1579 whenAssassin’s Creed Shadows' story begins, and went on to develop a relationship with the powerful Oda Nobunaga, which has been documented historically. However, it also noted that much of Yasuke’s life was still shrouded in mystery.
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There Has Been A Strong Backlash From Japanese Audiences
A Petition To Cancel The Game Nearly Amassed 100K Signatures In A Month
As a response toAssassin’s Creed Shadows' trailer and gameplay footage, apetition was launched to cancel the gamein June 2024.This soon picked up traction and has nearly reached 100,000 signaturesat the time of writing, just over a month later. The petition mentions the depiction of Yasuke as an African samurai and states that Japanese samurai were “a higher class of warrior class,” noting that the first European to receive the title of samurai, William Adams (Miura Anjin), served Tokugawa Ieyasu as a 250 koku hatamoto, and accused Ubisoft of “misunderstanding the nature and role of samurai” and not having done thorough research.
A hatamoto was a high ranking samurai in the direct service of the Tokugawa shogunate of feudal Japan.
This was later brought beforeJapanese government ministriesby a member of the House of Councilors, Satoshi Hamada. Hamada took to X after concerns were brought to him about the game’s portrayal of the country and its people. In these posts,he specifically noted the concerns surrounding the potential “cultural appropriation and cultural invasion” in Yasuke’s portrayal and highlighted several “distortions of Japanese history,“such as the use of Chinese architecture and text instead of Japanese - something he suggested may have been the result of AI usage - or the depiction of a low-ranking retainer sitting at the same level as a prominent daimyo like Oda Nobunaga.
While Hamada suggested that Ubisoft created inaccurate representations of Japanese culture, a report fromSankeistates thatthe Japanese foreign ministry responded to Hamada, saying that it simply wasn’t their concern.The education ministry also responded by saying that a game “shouldn’t violate public order and morals,” but that “careful handling is required” if there are suspicions of content that might.
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Ubisoft Responded To The Controversy
Stating That Its Intention Was To Tell “Compelling, Historical Fiction” Over Factual Representations
On August 21, 2025,Ubisoft issued a statementin response to this controversy, stating that the company “deeply respects” the care Japan has for its rich heritage and acknowledges that some elements in the game’s promotional materials have “caused concern” within the Japanese community before iterating that the studio’s intention has been to tell a “compelling, historical fiction,” rather than factual representations of history throughout theAssassin’s Creedseries. It also pointed out thatall footage shown so far is still in developmentand that it will “keep evolving” until launch based on the constructive criticism the studio has received.
It’s long been known that Ubisoft has twisted history and its depiction of historical figures throughout the series, such as Leonardo da Vinci inAssassin’s Creed 2or Queen Victoria inAssassin’s Creed Syndicate.
In response to the accusations surrounding a lack of research, the studio stated that it has “extensively collaborated” with external consultants, historians, researchers, and internal teams at Ubisoft Japan to inform any of the creative choices seen in the game. It also went on to address thatwhile Yasuke is depicted as a samurai inAssassin’s Creed Shadows, Ubisoft acknowledges that this is “a matter of debate and discussion"due to the real-life figure’s “unique and mysterious life” and this has been woven into the game’s narrative accordingly.
Ubisofthad previously issued an apology regarding the unauthorized use of a real-world Sekigahara infantryman reenactment group inAssassin’s Creed Shadowsconcept art that was displayed on its website. This image has since been deleted
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Historians Have Weighed In On Yasuke’s Role As A Samurai
Explaining That The Role Was “Ambiguous” During This Time
Yasuke’s role as a potential samurai has been the topic of discussion for many historians over the years, especially in the wake of other media such as Netflix’sYasukeanime. Outside of his time with Oda Nobunaga, very little is known about Yasuke, from the time and place of his birth to what he did after Nobunaga’s death. However, the primary source documents pertaining to Yasuke’s life are Portuguese-language Jesuit reports from the late 16th century (which were initially published in 1598) and works of the Japanese chroniclers Ōta Gyūichi and Matsudaira Ietada.
Yasuke arrived on the shores of Japan in 1579, along with the Italian Jesuit Alessandro Valignano, and in 1581, he met and impressed Nobunaga. Nobunaga was reportedly fascinated by foreign culture and often liaised with travelers who could teach him more about their homelands. The 1605 artworkSumō Yūrakuzu Byōbu, by an unnamed artist, depicts a dark-skinned man participating in a wrestling match while noble samurai look on. Art historians have theorized that Nobunaga is one of the onlookers, and if so, it’s possible that Yasuke was the wrestler in question and that this display of strength may have been what impressed Nobunaga and led to him being recruited by the powerful warlord.
There has been some debate surrounding the role Yasuke played for Nobunaga. Still, in a post on X, Japanese historianYu Hirayamasays that Yasuke was a samurai because thehistorical documents state that Nobunaga gave him a stipend, a house, and a sword. While being given a stipend and serving Nobunaga apparently “closely fulfills the important requirements of a contract between master and servant,” carrying a sword would suggest thatYasuke didn’t fulfill the role of a servant, as they historically weren’t allowed to carry weapons. Therefore, Yasuke was most likely a warrior of some kind.
A similar statement was made in a report - which has been verified and fact-checked by the editors of EncyclopediaBritannica- in which researcher Thomas Lockley explained that in Yasuke’s time, the idea of a “samurai” was ambiguous, but also noted thatNobunaga bestowing these things upon Yasuke could be seen as granting him a warrior or samurai rank. Lockley’s book,African Samurai: The True Story of Yasuke, a Legendary Black Warrior in Feudal Japan, which he co-wrote alongside Geoffrey Girard stated that during this period, samurai didn’t need to possess any particular killing skills and that “Anybody who took up weapons on behalf of a lord could technically call themselves a samurai, or could be called a samurai.”
African Samurai: The True Story of Yasuke, a Legendary Black Warrior in Feudal Japanhas been cited by theSmithsonian, among other publications, when referring to Yasuke’s history.
According to a historian at the University of Oxford,Natalia Doan, due to Nobunaga’s powerful status, few were willing to challenge him. Therefore, while Kyoto’s Japanese residents would have been surprised by Yasuke’s “foreignness,”Nobunaga’s decision to employ Yasuke and ultimately bring him into his inner circle wasn’t controversial. In fact, the samurai was reportedly quite popular among locals, who flocked to catch a glimpse of him.
The Japanese quotes referenced in this article were translated into English via. Google.
Sources:Change.org,Satoshi Hamada/X,Sankei,Assassin’s Creed/X,Ubisoft/X,Sumō Yūrakuzu Byōbu/Wikimedia Commons,Yu Hirayama/X,Britannica,African Samurai: The True Story of Yasuke, a Legendary Black Warrior in Feudal Japan/Google Books,Smithsonian,Samurai and Southern Belles: Interracial Romance, Southern Morality, and the 1860 Japanese Embassy/Oxford Academic
Assassin’s Creed Shadows
Set during Japan’s Sengoku period, two distinct protagonists—Naoe, a shinobi, and Yasuke, a historical African samurai—must navigate political intrigue and violent clashes between the Assassins and Templars. Players can switch between stealthy, shadow-based gameplay with Naoe and Yasuke’s direct combat approach, exploring the duality of their missions in a beautifully rendered open world.
