Yasuke: 10 Mind-Blowing Historical Facts From The Netflix Anime

Though there were many extremely anachronistic elements in the Yasuke series, the presence of foreigners operating in Japan was not one of these. The Beninese shaman Achoja can be explained by Portuguese slave trade with royals of the then Dahomey Kingdom forming a ship route between the lands when Portugal engaged in active trade with the Japanese. As for the bear woman Nikita, whuke there are no direct references to a Russian presence in Japan until the 1800s, outside trade was common enough with Europeans that it isn't impossible, especially given Russia's proximity to Japan in comparison to other European nations.

Open trade had flourished under Oda Nobunaga, whose policies were comparatively welcoming to outsiders. Nobunaga was even known for his interest in Western art and clothing, and his patronage of Jesuits in Japan. Though Yasuke was apparently the first African man Nobunaga had ever met, he was hardly the first present in Japan, as many would work on trade ships and in ports that saw high foreign traffic.

Japan would eventually adopt an isolationist stance under the Tokugawa Shogunate, barring almost all foreigners from entering Japan, a practice that would not be ended for a little over 200 years.