Yasuke (2021) The Black Samurai with Ashton Zala

Japanese History Hidden in our Screens

*Content Warning* This podcast contains conversations about ritual suicide and historical figures who had relationships with children*

Yasuke is the famous black samurai, and the basis for LeSean Thomas’ and Studio Mappa’s 2021 ONA (original net animation) Yasuke for Netflix. But who is the historic figure that this character is based on? Even without flying robots and magic, it is a fascinating story!

Public historian Jon Combey is joined by special guest Ashton Zala the founder of Black Anime Podcasts Network and co-host of the Giant Shooty Robots podcast.

Alongside them will be Dr E. Taylor Atkins of Northern Illinois University who specialises in Modern Japanese and Korean cultural history, and transnational popular culture. The second edition of his A History of Popular Culture in Japan comes out this autumn.

and

Thomas Lockley an Associate Professor at Nihon University College of Law in Tokyo. He has researched and published on a number of historical figures but is primarily known for his work on Yasuke, which has been featured in Japan on NHK, BS-TBS, TV Tokyo, and Fuji Television. The English language version of his book, co-authored with Geoffrey Girard, African Samurai, was released by Hanover Square Press (Harper Collins) in the USA in April 2019. You can follow him on his Facebook page www.facebook.com/AfricanSamuraiYasuke

Ashton Zala Socials:

Twitter: @Ashbeardguy @Blackanimepods @giantshootyrobo Instagram: @Ashbeardguy @blackanimepods Tiktok: @Ashbeardguy @blackanimepods

Website: www.blackanimepodcasts.com

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