{"id":30973,"date":"2024-05-16T18:34:43","date_gmt":"2024-05-16T09:34:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/?p=30973"},"modified":"2024-05-16T18:34:45","modified_gmt":"2024-05-16T09:34:45","slug":"assassins-creed-shadows-how-are-japanese-users-reacting-to-yasuke","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/assassins-creed-shadows-how-are-japanese-users-reacting-to-yasuke\/","title":{"rendered":"Assassin\u2019s Creed Shadows: How are Japanese users reacting to Yasuke?\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Following the announcement of Ubisoft\u2019s <strong>Assasins\u2019s Creed Shadows<\/strong>, there has been a lot of discussion surrounding Yasuke, one of the game\u2019s main protagonists. Some overseas players are voicing dissatisfaction about the protagonist not being Japanese even though the game is set in Japan, and the matter has even escalated to racial issues and historical facts being debated, but what do Japanese people think about the matter?\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Assassin&#039;s Creed Shadows: Official World Premiere Trailer\" width=\"1160\" height=\"653\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/vovkzbtYBC8?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Assassin&#8217;s Creed Shadows is set in 16<sup>th<\/sup> century<sup> <\/sup>feudal Japan, in the turbulent Azuchi-Momoyama period that determined the course of Japanese history. The game will offer two playable protagonists \u2013 the female shinobi Naoe and the black samurai Yasuke. Yasuke is based on the real historical figure Yasuke, who is thought to have been of African descent and a vassal of Japanese historical superstar Oda Nobunaga.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Following the reveal of Assassin&#8217;s Creed Shadows\u2019 protagonists and discussion heating up overseas, the terms \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/search?q=%E3%82%A2%E3%82%B5%E3%82%AF%E3%83%AA&amp;src=typed_query&amp;f=top\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Assassin&#8217;s Creed<\/a>\u201d and \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/search?q=%E3%83%9D%E3%83%AA%E3%82%B3%E3%83%AC&amp;src=typed_query\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">political correctness<\/a>\u201d quickly started trending on Japanese X (formerly Twitter) too. However, a quick scan of relevant posts shows that discourse seems to be a lot more focused on the game\u2019s narrative and entertainment value than issues of race and representation.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Users <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/Ganbon_BOT\/status\/1790951979336044654\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">comment<\/a> that choosing Yasuke was a good way to naturally introduce a protagonist belonging to the Order of Assassins to the Japanese setting, as making the assassin Japanese would have felt unnatural story-wise. Another user <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/tamasozaihaifua\/status\/1790935971980247231\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">highlights<\/a> that with few historical records being available about Yasuke, he is good \u201cmaterial,\u201d as adding to his story is unlikely to create contradictions.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1280\" height=\"719\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1280px) 100vw, 1280px\" src=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/20240514-293226-header.jpg\" alt=\"Assassin's Creed Shadows by Ubisoft\" class=\"wp-image-30976\" srcset=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/20240514-293226-header.jpg 1280w, https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/20240514-293226-header-380x213.jpg 380w, https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/20240514-293226-header-768x431.jpg 768w, https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/20240514-293226-header-600x337.jpg 600w\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Japanese users also <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Mugen_Bit\/status\/1790924535132536883\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">highlighted<\/a> Yasuke\u2019s fascinating background: \u201cYasuke was treated as a slave by the missionaries, but Nobunaga took him in as a vassal, gave him a residence, and even took him along on expeditions. The story is impressive enough to shut out the complaints about political correctness, and I hope the developers proceed with Yasuke as the protagonist.\u201d Another user <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/Bananabuton\/status\/1790946211480162516\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">comments<\/a> that with Yasuke\u2019s tale sounding \u201ctoo good to be true,\u201d they understand why the creators would feel tempted to incorporate it into the game.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On the other hand, some players did comment that a non-Japanese protagonist feels less authentic, <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/moimoi_moyashi\/status\/1790896137374945579\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">as one user puts it<\/a>, \u201cI\u2019m more for it than against it, but it does kind of give me the feeling of travelling to a foreign country only to eat a convenience store lunch. If I\u2019m travelling somewhere, I want to eat something local. In the same way, if I\u2019m playing a samurai and ninja game, I want to play as a Japanese person.\u201d Another user <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/tamago_gamer\/status\/1790777555542581309\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">comments<\/a> that while they find Yasuke to be a fascinating choice, they would have preferred a Japanese protagonist since an Assassin\u2019s Creed game set in Japan is a once-in-a-lifetime occurrence (although, they also mention that the all-Japanese experience provided by Rise of the Ronin has warmed them up for a non-Japanese protagonist).\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Although opinions are varied, and perspectives presented here do not speak for all Japanese users, the overall tone of discourse surrounding Assasins\u2019s Creed Shadows\u2019s Yasuke<strong> <\/strong>appears to be more far more lighthearted on the Japanese side of X, as the below viral post demonstrates.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"ja\" dir=\"ltr\">\uff1e\u6b27\u7c73\u3055\u3093\u300c\u30a2\u30b5\u30af\u30ea\u306e\u4e3b\u4eba\u516c\u304c\u9ed2\u4eba\u4f8d\u3060\u306a\u3093\u3066\u65e5\u672c\u4eba\u306f\u6012\u3063\u3066\u308b\u306b\u9055\u3044\u306a\u3044\uff01\uff01\uff01\u300d<br><br>\u65e5\u672c\u4eba\u300c\u3046\u307b\u30fc\u3001\u5f25\u52a9\u3058\u3083\u3093\uff01\u30ab\u30c3\u30b3\u30a8\u30fc\u300d <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/wjylzAffhY\">pic.twitter.com\/wjylzAffhY<\/a><\/p>&mdash; \u795e\u5948\u3044\u3067\u3059 (@kana_ides) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/kana_ides\/status\/1790945061213217033?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 16, 2024<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><strong>Post translation: <\/strong><em>Westerners: \u201cJapanese people must be pissed that the protagonist of Assassin\u2019s Creed is a black samurai!!!\u201d Japanese people: \u201cWoah, it\u2019s Yasuke! Awesome\u201d<\/em>\u00a0<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The black samurai Yasuke being chosen as the main protagonist of Ubisoft&#8217;s Assassin&#8217;s Creed Shadows has caused a lot of discourse, but what do Japanese users think?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":55,"featured_media":30978,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_gspb_post_css":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-30973","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"blocksy_meta":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Assassin\u2019s Creed Shadows: How are Japanese users reacting to Yasuke?\u00a0 - AUTOMATON WEST<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The black samurai Yasuke being chosen as the main protagonist of Ubisoft&#039;s Assassin&#039;s Creed Shadows has caused a lot of discourse, but what do Japanese users think?\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/assassins-creed-shadows-how-are-japanese-users-reacting-to-yasuke\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Assassin\u2019s Creed Shadows: How are Japanese users reacting to Yasuke?\u00a0 - 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