List of foreign-born samurai in Japan

This is a list of foreign-born people who became samurai in Japan.

John Henry Schnell with his swords
Eugène Collache depicted in samurai attire.

Definition

In this list, Japan means the Japanese archipelago. There are various theories as to the definition of samurai. The word samurai means 'those who serve in close attendance to the nobility'. This list includes the following people.

  • In the Toyotomi period, foreign-born individuals and peasants were forbidden to wear a daisho (two swords). Only samurai wore a daisho which served as a symbol of their rank. Under Tokugawa rule, people from other social classes such as merchants would be allowed to carry tanto (daggers) and occasionally a wakizashi.[1]
  • Foreign-born people who served Tokugawa shogun and were granted a status higher than Hatamoto.[2]
  • In the Edo period, foreign-born people who served daimyō and granted a status higher than koshō (ja:小姓,[3] page).[2]
  • In the Edo period, foreign-born people who served daimyō and were given salary of koku

The following people are treated as "people who could be foreign-born samurai".

  • During Sengoku period and Azuchi-Momoyama period before the unification of Japan by Toyotomi Hideyoshi, many emerging force like Jizamurai call themselves samurai. Hideyoshi himself was born as a son of peasant-ashigaru. The definition of samurai was obscure in those periods. For this reason, foreign soldiers and generals who served daimyō directly in those period are listed in possible foreign samurai.
  • "Foreign-born samurai" whose existence is uncertain.
  • Foreign-born people who served samurai, whose occupations were unclear.
  • Foreign-born people who were given territory or rice as salary by lords, whose occupations were unclear.

This list excludes the following people.

  • Samurai of foreign ancestry born in Japan.
  • Foreign-born people who served samurai and allowed to wear two swords but was not given territory or salary of koku.[4] All men from samurai class were permitted to wear daishō. However, people from other social classes were sometimes allowed to wear swords. For example, Hijikata Toshizō, the famous swordsman and vice-commander of Shinsengumi was born as a son of a farmer. Even though he wore daishō and engaged in police activity, he couldn't gain the title of the official retainer of bakufu until 1867.
  • Foreign-born people who served samurai in other occupations, for example Confucianist or medical doctor.
  • Foreign-born people who served samurai as oyatoi gaikokujin, not Japanese-style soldiers.

Foreign-born samurai
Gyokusen-en, Japanese garden made by Korean samurai Wakita Naokata and his descendants.
Birthplace Original name Occupation before arrival in Japan Year of arrival in Japan Name in Japan Lord Occupation and achievements in Japan
Hanseong, Joseon[5]
(now  South Korea)		 Kim Yeo-cheol
(Kanji: 金如鐵)[6]		 Son of 金時省, civil officer of Joseon[6] 1592[5] Wakita Naokata
脇田直賢[5]		 Maeda Toshinaga→
Maeda Toshitsune[5]→
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 Siege of Osaka.[5]
Busan, Joseon[7]
(now  South Korea)		 Kim Hae
(Kanji:金海)[7][8][9]		 Potter[7] 1595[7] Hoshiyama Chūji
星山仲次[7][9]		 Shimazu Yoshihiro[7] 30 koku. Founder of Satsuma ware. He was given two swords.[7][8][9]
Joseon[10] unknown[10] Son of 曽清官, commanding officer of Joseon[10] 1598[10] Soga Seikan
曾我清官[10]		 Nakagawa Hidenari[10] 150 koku. Page of Hidenari.[10]
Joseon[11] (Kanji:李聖賢)[11] Son of Yi Bok-nam, commander of Joseon[11] 1598[11] Rinoie Motohiro
李家元宥[11]		 Mōri Terumoto→
Mōri Hidenari[11]		 100 koku. Adviser of Mori clan. He was the swordsman who received menkyo of Yagyū Shinkage-ryū.[11]
Delft, Habsburg Netherlands Jan Joosten van Lodensteijn Mate of De Liefde, Dutch ship[12] 1600[13] Yayōsu
耶楊子		 Tokugawa Ieyasu→
Tokugawa Hidetada		 100 koku. He was given the rank of Hatamoto and 50 servants.[12][14] Under the Tokugawa Shogunate, he chartered several Red Seal Ships.
Gillingham, Kent, Kingdom of England William Adams Pilot of De Liefde, Dutch ship[12] 1600[13] Miura Anjin (the pilot of Miura)
三浦按針		 Tokugawa Ieyasu→
Tokugawa Hidetada		 250 koku.[12][15] 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).)
Joseon[16][17] unknown unknown unknown Yagyū Shume
柳生主馬[16]		 Yagyū Munenori[16]→
Yagyū "Jūbei" Mitsuyoshi→
Yagyū Munefuyu		 Retainer of Yagyū clan. 200 koku?[17] He married the sister of Yagyū "Hyōgonosuke" Toshitoshi.[11]
Henan, Ming Dynasty
(now  China)[18][19]		 (Kanji:藍會榮)[19] The member of the inner circle of Ming dynasty [19] After 1624[19] Kawaminami Genbei (First)
河南源兵衛[19]		 Shimazu Iehisa[19] 300 koku. He was political refugee from Ming. Tōtsūji (Chinese translator) of Satsuma domain. He was given right to wear swords.[19]
Chiusa Sclafani, Sicily (now  Italy) Giuseppe Chiara[20] Jesuit missionary 27 June, 1643 Okamoto San'emon
岡本三右衛門		 Tokugawa Iemitsu→
Tokugawa Ietsuna		 He was given 10 servants and lived in Japan advising he Shogunate on European affairs until his death in 1685. Was one of the inspirations for Martin Scorsese's Silence (2016 film)
Kingdom of Prussia Henry Schnell[21] 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.

People who could be foreign-born samurai
Foreign-born people who were given a territory.
  • Kawaminami Rishin (汾陽理心): Retainer of the Shimazu clan, who was given 597 koku. He was born as 郭国安 (Japanese pronunciation: Kaku Kokuan) in the Ming dynasty. He made a journey to Japan in 1559. Later he was scouted by Shimazu Yoshihisa, daimyō of Satsuma as retainer. During the Imjin war, he went to Joseon as the officer in charge of letters. He was said to hold secret communications with Ming at that time. Later, he served the Satsuma domain using his medical knowledge.[22] In 1598, Rishin appeared in Chinese document as Japanese general.[23]
  • Kyo Gigo (許儀後): Physician to Shimazu Yoshihisa, who was given 410 koku.[24] He was the bureaucrat of Jiangxi of the Ming dynasty. In 1571, he was captured by wokou, and brought to Satsuma Province. He was scouted by Yoshihisa there. He went to Joseon with him during the Imijin war.[25]
Other possible foreign-born samurai
  • Yamashina Katsunari (山科勝成): He was born in Italy and served Gamō Ujisato as retainer. It is said that the Gamō clan sent an embassy to Rome with the help of Katsunari. But his existence is highly questioned.[26]
  • Yasuke (弥助): Retainer of Oda Nobunaga possibly born in Portuguese Mozambique.[27] Weapon bearer of Nobunaga.[28] He served in the Honnō-ji incident.[29] It has been noted however that in Thomas Lockley's African Samurai that in the 'Oda vassal clan, the Maeda [archives]' there was mention of him receiving 'a stipend, a private residence ... and was given a short sword with a decorative sheath.'
  • Kawasaki Seizō: Born as 李達越 in Joseon. His courtesy name was 宗歓. During the Imjin war, he was active from behind as a Japanese spy.[30]As reward, he was allowed to wear swords and given salary by Naoshige.[31]Later he became a merchant, and built a town in Saga now called Toujinchō.[32]
  • Akizuki Tanenobu: Born as Park Won-hyuk (朴元赫) in Joseon. Page (koshō) of Chōsokabe. After Chōsokabe clan had been removed from Tosa province, he became a renowned Korean style tofu merchant.[33]
  • Ryō Murin (梁夢麟): He was born in Joseon. He seemed to be a Chabōzu (choreman) of Wakisaka Yasuharu.[34] In 1617, he returned to Joseon.[35]
  • Inpuku (允福): Son of 慎忠義 (Japanese pronunciation: Shin Chūgi), military officer of Joseon. He was a eunuch. Captured during the Imjin war, he won the favor of Tokugawa Ieyasu. He seemed to be the page of Ieyasu.[36]
  • Okada Hanzaemon (岡田半左エ門): During the Imjin war, he was brought up by Mōri Motomasa, and became a close adviser of his. But later he was expelled because of a fight and injury.[37]
  • unknown: Mori Shimanokami, navy officer of Hachisuka clan had a retainer born in Joseon.[38]
  • Watanabe Kotonori (渡辺士式): Born as 孟二寛 (Japanese pronunciation: Mō Jikan) in the Ming Dynasty, he served the Asano clan using his medical knowledge.[39] His grandson, Takebayasi Takashige was a member of the Forty-seven Ronin.
  • Jules Brunet (1838–1911) – was a French officer who fought for the shōgun in the Boshin War. Originally a foreign advisor, a oyatoi gaikokujin, part of the French military mission to Japan, he later resigned his post from the French Army and with a number of other former French officers, officially joined the shogunate. He was the main inspiration behind the character of Captain Nathan Algren in the 2003 movie The Last Samurai.[40][41]
  • André Cazeneuve (December 10, 1817 - August 20, 1874) was a French soldier, a horse trainer in the Guard of Emperor Napoleon III with the rank of corporal. Following the outbreak of the Boshin War, he resigned from the French army and entered the service of the shōgun, along with Jules Brunet. He was commissioned as a captain.
  • François Bouffier (1844–1881) was a French non-commissioned officer, who in the advent of the Boshin War, and the declaration of neutrality of foreign powers, chose to resign from the French Army and continue the fight on the side of the Bakufu.
  • Jean Marlin (1833–1872) was a French sergeant of the 8th Infantry Battalion. He worked as an instructor for infantry in the army of the shōgun, later resigning form the French Army, officially joining the Bakufu.
  • Eugène Collache (29 January 1847 in Perpignan – 25 October 1883 in Paris) was French Navy officer who fought in Japan for the shōgun during the Boshin War. Noted for wearing a kimono, while japanese samurai transitioned to more western style uniforms.
  • Arthur Fortant (June 14, 1829 - April 10, 1901) was a sergeant of the French Regiment of the Guard of the field artillery. He resigned from the French Army and joined the Bakufu.
  • Henri Nicole (birth and death unknown) is a French Navy officer who came to Japan at the end of the Tokugawa shogunate. Nicole was tasked organizing the Navy.

See also

Notes and references

Notes

    References
    1. https://www.ancient.eu/Samurai_Sword/
    2. "コトバンク「侍」". Retrieved 2019-05-25.
    3. "コトバンク「小姓（こしょう）」". Retrieved 2016-01-05.
    4. "コトバンク「扶持米（ぶちまい）」". Retrieved 2019-05-25.
    5. "笠井純一、「家伝 金（脇田）如鉄自伝[翻刻解説]」、金沢大学教養部論集. 人文科学篇、1990年、一頁" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2015-08-04.
    6. "笠井純一、「家伝 金（脇田）如鉄自伝[翻刻解説]」、金沢大学教養部論集. 人文科学篇、1990年、7頁" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2015-08-04.
    7. "コトバンク「星山仲次（ほしやま ちゅうじ）」". Retrieved 2018-09-21.
    8. "コトバンク「薩摩焼（さつまやき）」". Retrieved 2018-09-21.
    9. "西藩烈士干城録（三）、2012年、鹿児島県立図書館、84頁" (PDF). Retrieved 2018-09-22.
    10. 内藤 雋輔 (1976), 文禄・慶長役における被虜人の研究, 東京大学出版会, 723-724頁
    11. 毛利 吉元; 山口県文書館 (1987). 萩藩閥閲録第四巻. 山口県文書館. pp. 143–142.
    12. "森良和、「メルヒオール・ファン・サントフォールト」、2014年、82頁" (PDF). Retrieved 2015-08-04.
    13. "森良和、「メルヒオール・ファン・サントフォールト」、2014年、81頁" (PDF). Retrieved 2015-08-04.
    14. Corr, Adams the Pilot: The Life and Times of Captain William Adams. Pp.158
    15. 『家康の家臣団: 天下を取った戦国最強軍団』、山下昌也、学研プラス、2011年
    16. 今村 嘉雄 (1967), 史料柳生新陰流 上巻, 人物往来社,65頁
    17. 根岸 鎮衛, 耳嚢 巻一
    18. "阿久根市観光サイト アクネ うまいね 自然だネ 阿久根市の魅力". Retrieved 2018-08-16.
    19. 高向 嘉昭. "近世薩摩における豪商の活躍とその没落について" (PDF). Retrieved 2018-08-16.
    20. https://sspx.org/en/news-events/news/real-life-silences-character
    21. https://www.asahi.com/culture/news_culture/TKY201102070075_01.html
    22. 本藩人物誌：鹿児島県史料集（13）, 鹿児島県史料刊行委員会,87-88頁
    23. 鄭 潔西. "万暦時期に日本の朝鮮侵略軍に編入された明朝人". Retrieved 2018-08-18.
    24. 稲葉行雄 (1991), 「さつま」歴史人名集, 高城書房出版, ISBN 978-4-924752-28-3,107頁
    25. 佐々木綱洋 (2009), 都城唐人町　海に開く南九州, 鉱脈社, ISBN 978-4-86061-305-1
    26. "辻善之助、「海外交通史話」、1930年、内外書籍、450-464頁". Retrieved 2015-08-04.
    27. "松平家忠、「家忠日記」、文科大学史誌叢書第2巻、吉川半七、1897年、54頁". Retrieved 2015-08-04.
    28. 『織田信長という歴史　『信長記』の彼方へ』、勉誠出版、2009年、311-312頁。
    29. 村上直次郎; 柳谷武夫（訳） (2002), イエズス会日本年報 上, 新異国叢書, 雄松堂出版, ISBN 978-4841910001
    30. 内藤 雋輔 (1976). 文禄・慶長役における被虜人の研究. 東京大学出版会.,734-735頁
    31. 『唐人町の由来』碑
    32. "40宋歓と唐人町" (PDF). Retrieved 2015-12-03.
    33. 内藤 雋輔 (1976), 文禄・慶長役における被虜人の研究, 東京大学出版会,746-748頁
    34. 内藤 雋輔 (1976), 文禄・慶長役における被虜人の研究, 東京大学出版会,101頁
    35. 内藤 雋輔 (1976), 文禄・慶長役における被虜人の研究, 東京大学出版会,121頁
    36. 内藤 雋輔 (1976), 文禄・慶長役における被虜人の研究, 東京大学出版会,67頁
    37. 内藤 雋輔 (1976), 文禄・慶長役における被虜人の研究, 東京大学出版会,759頁
    38. 内藤 雋輔 (1976), 文禄・慶長役における被虜人の研究, 東京大学出版会, 754頁
    39. "可児弘明、「孟二寛とその後裔」、『史学』 2006、2006年、三田史学会、101頁". Retrieved 2015-08-04.
    40. "Jules Brunet: this officer, member of the French military mission, sent to Japan as an artillery instructor, joined, after the defeat of the Shogun, the rebellion against Imperial troops, serving as an inspiration for the hero of the Last Samurai." Monthly Letter of the French Chamber of Commerce in Japan, p.9 "Diner des sempais en compagnie de M. Christian Polak. "Monthly Letter of the French Chamber of Commerce in Japan, p.9 "Diner des sempais en compagnie de M.Christian Polak" (PDF). Archived from the original on October 29, 2007. Retrieved 2013-09-27.CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
    41. Le dernier samouraï était un capitaine français ("The Last Samurai was a French captain"), Samedi, 6 mars 2004, p. G8, Le Soleil. Quoting Christian Polak about The Last Samurai movie.
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