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This is a list of foreign-born people who became samurai in Japan.
In this list, Japan means the Japanese Archipelago. The word samurai has had a variety of meanings historically; here it is taken to mean "those who serve in close attendance to the nobility". This list includes the following people.
The following people are treated as "people who could be foreign-born samurai".
This list excludes the following people.
Several people born in foreign countries were granted the title of samurai.
After Bunroku and Keichō no eki, many people born in the Joseon dynasty were brought to Japan as prisoners or cooperators. Some of them served daimyōs as retainers. One of the most prominent figures among them was Kim Yeocheol, who was granted the Japanese name Wakita Naokata and promoted to Commissioner of Kanazawa city.
The English sailor and adventurer William Adams (1564–1620) was among the first Westerners to receive the dignity of samurai. The shōgun Tokugawa Ieyasu presented him with two swords representing the authority of a samurai, and decreed that William Adams the sailor was dead and that Anjin Miura (三浦按針), a samurai, was born. Adams also received the title of hatamoto (bannerman), a high-prestige position as a direct retainer in the shōgun's court. He was provided with generous revenues: "For the services that I have done and do daily, being employed in the Emperor's service, the Emperor has given me a living". (Letters)[who?] He was granted a fief in Hemi (逸見) within the boundaries of present-day Yokosuka City, "with eighty or ninety husbandmen, that be my servants". (Letters)[who?] His estate was valued at 250 koku. He finally wrote "God hath provided for me after my great misery", (Letters)[who?] by which he meant the disaster-ridden voyage that initially brought him to Japan.
Jan Joosten van Lodensteijn, a Dutch colleague of Adams on their ill-fated voyage to Japan in the ship De Liefde, was also given similar privileges by Tokugawa Ieyasu. Joosten likewise became a hatamoto samurai[4] and was given a residence within Ieyasu's castle at Edo. Today, this area at the east exit of Tokyo Station is known as Yaesu (八重洲). Yaesu is a corruption of the Dutchman's Japanese name, Yayousu (耶楊子). Joosten was given a Red Seal Ship (朱印船) allowing him to trade between Japan and Indo-China. On a return journey from Batavia, Joosten drowned after his ship ran aground.
Yasuke (弥助) was a retainer of Oda Nobunaga, and samurai,[5] originally from Portuguese Mozambique, Africa.[6] He was weapon bearer of Nobunaga.[7] He served in the Honnō-ji incident.[8]
Birthplace | Original name | Occupation before arrival in Japan | Year of arrival in Japan | Name in Japan | Lord | Occupation and achievements in Japan |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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unknown | Servant of Jesuit missionary Alessandro Valignano[10] | 1579[10] | Yasuke 弥助 |
Oda Nobunaga | He was given a salary by Nobunaga. He participated in the Conquest of Koshu .[6] He served in the Honnō-ji incident.[8] |
![]() (now ![]() |
Kim Yeo-cheol (Kanji: 金如鐵)[12] |
Son of 金時省, civil officer of Joseon[12] | 1592[11] | Wakita Naokata 脇田直賢[11] |
Maeda Toshinaga→ Maeda Toshitsune[11]→ Maeda Mitsutaka→ Maeda Tsunanori |
240 koku later increased to 1,000 koku. On-Koshōgashira (Head of pages). Kanazawa machi-bugyō (Commissioner of Kanazawa city). He served in the Summer Campaign of the Siege of Osaka.[11] |
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unknown[13] | Son of 曽清官, commanding officer of Joseon[13] | 1598[13] | Soga Seikan 曾我清官[13] |
Nakagawa Hidenari[13] | 150 koku. Page of Hidenari.[13] |
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(Kanji:李聖賢)[14] | Son of Yi Bok-nam, commander of Joseon[14] | 1598[14] | Rinoie Motohiro 李家元宥[14] |
Mōri Terumoto→ Mōri Hidenari[14] |
100 koku. Adviser of Mori clan. He was the swordsman who received menkyo of Yagyū Shinkage-ryū.[14] |
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Jan Joosten van Lodensteijn | Mate of De Liefde, Dutch ship[15] | 1600[15] | Yayōsu 耶楊子 |
Tokugawa Ieyasu→ Tokugawa Hidetada |
100 koku. He was given the rank of Hatamoto and 50 servants.[15][16] Under the Tokugawa Shogunate, he chartered several Red Seal Ships. |
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William Adams | Pilot of De Liefde, Dutch ship[17] | 1600[17] | Miura Anjin (the pilot of Miura) 三浦按針 |
Tokugawa Ieyasu→ Tokugawa Hidetada |
250 koku.[15][18] He was granted the rank of Hatamoto, a fief and 80-90 servants. Interpreter and shipwright of Tokugawa Shogunate. (Adams was the model for the character John Blackthorne in James Clavell's novel Shōgun (1975).) |
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unknown | unknown | unknown | Yagyū Shume 柳生主馬[19] |
Yagyū Munenori[19]→ Yagyū "Jūbei" Mitsuyoshi→ Yagyū Munefuyu |
Retainer of Yagyū clan. 200 koku?[20] He married the sister of Yagyū "Hyōgonosuke" Toshitoshi.[14] |
![]() (now ![]() |
(Kanji:藍會榮)[22] | The member of the inner circle of Ming dynasty[22] | After 1624[22] | Kawaminami Genbei (First) 河南源兵衛[22] |
Shimazu Iehisa[22] | 300 koku. He was political refugee from Ming. Tōtsūji (Chinese translator) of Satsuma domain. He was given right to wear swords.[22] |
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Henry Schnell[23] | Soldier and arms dealer | 1860s | Hiramatsu Buhei 平松武兵衛 |
Matsudaira Katamori | Served the Aizu domain as a military instructor and procurer of weapons. Given the right to wear swords, a mansion in the castle town of Wakamatsu and retainers. |
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