In 1579, a 23 years old young black boy from East Africa journeyed to Japan and quickly became a national sensation. He was someone very strange to Japanese. He came in the company of Jesuits and most believe that he came as their slave.

His early life is mostly a mystery. His birth likely occurred sometime between 1555 and 1556 but even that cannot be verified. Most of what is known about this black man only few until he started making waves with the Japanese people that he started to make his mark in history.

Some believe that he came from Mozambique. However, there are reasons to believe that he could have come from ETHIOPIA of OROMO PEOPLE. One good reason is that the Christian Ethiopian saw potential benefit in alliance with Portuguese in 14^th and 15^th centuries. Mozambique was not experience significant Portuguese presence until 1585 which is long after the young man would have left.

2 years later, when feudal Japan's most powerful warlord Nobunaga Oda met the black slave-turned-retainer, in 1581, he believed the man was a god. His real name was Yasufe, but Oda called him Yasuke. What happened next cemented Yasufe’s place in the history books.

Nobunaga Oda had never seen an African before. And like the locals in Japan's then-capital of Kyoto, he was awed by Yasuke's height, build and skin tone, according to Thomas Lockley, the author of "African Samurai: The True Story of Yasuke, a Legendary Black Warrior in Feudal Japan."

"When Yasufe got to Kyoto (with Jesuit missionaries), there was a massive riot. People wanted to see him and be in his presence," says Lockley, who spent nine years researching and writing the book, which was published in April 2019.

Nobunaga Oda believed Yasufe to be either a guardian demon or "Daikokuten," a god of prosperity usually represented by black statues in Japanese temples. He tried to rub the pigment from Yasufe's skin, believing it was black ink. Once convinced Yasufe was real, he immediately threw a feast in his honor, says Lockley.

In an era racked by political espionage, merciless assassinations and ninja attacks, Yasufe was seen as an asset. He remained a national sensation and anywhere he went he was met with fascination. Yasufe became a man of such importance to Nobunaga Oda. He soon made him a samurai -- even providing him with his own house, servant, and stipend, according to Jesuit records.

Today, there are a lot of different claim about Yasufe's origin. But His legacy as the world's first African samurai is well known in Japan, spawning everything from prize-winning children's books to a manga series titled "Afro Samurai." The legend of Yasufe is one of history's best kept secrets, the only person of non-Asian origin to become a samurai.

And his legacy continues to spread worldwide and Even books and Movies.