Assassin's Creed Shadows, Here's Why Japanese Conservatives Don't Love It

The news is the protagonist Shades of Assassin's Creed Yasuke, a historical figure of African descent who is remembered as the first and only black samurai, would have already been in circulation since late last year. There was no significant reaction from the general public at the time. Despite wide historical freedoms It was leaked from the beginning that Ubisoft would pick up the title. was The first trailer Published on May 15th to provoke a more nuanced debate about race, representation and political correctness, With petitions bearing tens of thousands of signatures Request cancellation of title. The discussion unexpectedly moved to real life: The Japanese far-right wants to bring the issue to parliament and ask for explanations and possible changes..

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To understand the reasons behind such a strong reaction, it is important to remember that the protagonist chosen for the new chapter of Assassin's Creed, despite the reality. He is very little known to us: born mid-16th century, probably in Mozambique, Yasuke He arrived in Japan in 1579 in the service of the Italian Jesuits Alessandro Valignano. In 1581 Valignano received an audience Oda NobunagaA military leader and important figure in Japanese history, Yasuke was impressed by the color of his skin and his fighting skills, and decided to recruit him, offering him a salary and Samurai fareThe first foreigner to take on the role.

After that, beyond a few references in the next year's news, Yasuke and Nobunaga disappear from the history books Following the assassination of the latter in June 1582. The only certainty is that Yasuke did not die with his commander: the absence of further documentation of his actions and his fate He was very accommodating, four centuries later, for Ubisoft's developers to create an unprecedented story about an African samurai, albeit based on true events. That has sparked a heated dispute on both sides of the Pacific Ocean. reached the doors of Japan's legislative body, the National Diet.

A controversial choice

The trailer shown in May was, to be honest, pretty innocuous. The katana swings, the big battles, Yasuke dressed up like a samurai: nothing different from the little details about the character and the historical period in which he lived. is the implication of A Assassin's Creed Set in Asia for the first time and without an Asian protagonist Most understandably sparked protests aimed at the game: The most popular choice in AmericaThe lack of protagonists of Asian descent in pop culture has been widely discussed in recent years and highlighted by cinematic events. Everywhere and everything at once, Likewise in JapanIts historical past, this time freely interpreted, is again at the center of a high-quality Western video game production after the success Ghost of Tsushima.

Satoshi Hamada took advantage of the debate in Japan in a very sensational wayBorn in 1977, Member of the Chamber of Councilors (our Senate) and for more than ten years a member of the NHK Party, a far-right organization known in the country for the often grotesque tones adopted by its representatives, Mostly drawn from the lively atmosphere of the Japanese internet. Over the years, however, Hamada has proven to be one of the shrewdest representatives of a party that has managed, against all odds, to enter the halls of power in Tokyo: last year, NHK protested after being kicked out of the party house. Hamada retained the position of councilors and senators with the foundation of his own movement.