List of foreign-born samurai in Japan
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This is a list of foreign-born people who became samurai in Japan. During the Edo period (1603–1868), some foreigners in Japan were granted privileges associated with samurai, including fiefs or stipends and the right to carry two swords. Even earlier, during the Azuchi–Momoyama period (1568–1600), certain foreigners received similar benefits. Whether these individuals were members of the warrior class (bushi) is a subject of debate among some historians.[1] While debate among some historians exist, the general historical consensus is that those individuals were most likely members of the warrior class (bushi) and thus, were samurai.[citation needed]
List
| Birthplace | Original name | Original occupation | Year of arrival |
Japanese name | Lord | Stipend, title, and misc. notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
.svg){kind=small} Portuguese Mozambique?[2](now  Mozambique) |
unknown | Servant of Jesuit missionary Alessandro Valignano[3] | 1579[3] | Yasuke 弥助 |
Oda Nobunaga | Served as Weapon-bearer and bodyguard. He fought during the Honnō-ji incident.[4] He accompanied Nobunaga during the inspection tour of the recently conquered Koshu.[5] |
 Hanseong, Joseon[6](now  South Korea) |
Kim Yeo-cheol (金如鐵)[7] |
Son of Kim Si-seong (金時省), civil officer of Joseon[7] | 1592[6] | Wakita Naokata 脇田直賢[6] |
Maeda Toshinaga→ Maeda Toshitsune[6]→ Maeda Mitsutaka→ Maeda Tsunanori |
He received a stipend of 240 koku later increased to 1,000 koku. Received the Head of Pages title. Commissioner of Kanazawa city. He served in the Summer Campaign of the Siege of Osaka.[6] |
| Joseon[8] |
unknown[8] | Son of Jeung Cheong-gwan (曾淸官), commanding officer of Joseon[8] | 1598[8] | Soga Seikan 曾我清官[8] |
Nakagawa Hidenari[8] | He received a stipend of 150 koku. Page of Hidenari.[8] |
| Joseon[9] |
Yi Seong-hyeon (李聖賢)[9] |
Son of Yi Bok-nam, commander of Joseon[9] | 1598[9] | Rinoie Motohiro 李家元宥[9] |
Mōri Terumoto→ Mōri Hidenari[9] |
100 koku. Adviser of the Mori clan. He was the swordsman who received the menkyo of the Yagyū Shinkage-ryū.[9] |
 Delft, Dutch Republic |
Jan Joosten van Lodensteijn | Mate of the De Liefde, a Dutch ship[10] | 1600[10] | Yayōsu 耶楊子 |
Tokugawa Ieyasu→ Tokugawa Hidetada |
He was given a stipend of 100 koku. He was given the rank of Hatamoto and 50 servants.[10][11] Under the Tokugawa Shogunate, he chartered several Red Seal Ships. |
 Gillingham, Kent, Kingdom of England |
William Adams | Pilot of the De Liefde, a Dutch ship[12] | 1600[12] | Miura Anjin (the pilot of Miura) 三浦按針 |
Tokugawa Ieyasu→ Tokugawa Hidetada |
250 koku.[10][13] He was granted the rank of Hatamoto, a fief and 80-90 servants. Interpreter and shipwright of the Tokugawa Shogunate. Adams was the model for the character John Blackthorne in James Clavell's novel Shōgun (1975). |
| Joseon[14][15] |
unknown | unknown | unknown | Yagyū Shume 柳生主馬[14] |
Yagyū Munenori[14]→ Yagyū "Jūbei" Mitsuyoshi→ Yagyū Munefuyu |
Retainer of the Yagyū clan. 200 koku?[15] He married the sister of Yagyū "Hyōgonosuke" Toshitoshi.[9] |
| Henan, Ming dynasty (now  China)[16][17] |
Lan Huirong (藍會榮)[17] |
The member of the inner circle of the Ming dynasty[17] | After 1624[17] | Kawaminami Genbei (First) 河南源兵衛[17] |
Shimazu Iehisa[17] | 300 koku. He was a political refugee from the Ming, and the Tōtsūji (Chinese translator) of the Satsuma domain. He was given the right to bear swords.[17] |
Gallery
Gyokusen-en, Japanese garden made by the Korean samurai Wakita Naokata and his descendants
