Books by Thomas Lockley
A Gentleman from Japan The Untold Story of an Incredible Journey from Asia to Queen Elizabeth’s Court
Harper Collins, 2024
An incredible sea story that turns the Age of Exploration on its head, following the first Japane... more An incredible sea story that turns the Age of Exploration on its head, following the first Japanese man to set foot on North America and England.
On November 12, 1588, five young Asian men—led by a twenty-one-year-old called Christopher—traveled up the River Thames to meet Queen Elizabeth I. Christopher’s epic sea voyage had spanned from Japan, via the Philippines, New Spain (Mexico), Java and Southern Africa. On the way, he had already become the first recorded Japanese person in North America. Now Christopher was the first ever Japanese visitor to England, and no other would leave such a legacy for centuries to come.
The story of Christopher is almost utterly forgotten and has never been fully told before.
A Gentleman from Japan is a fast-paced, historical narrative of adventure, cross-cultural endeavor, intellectual exchange, perseverance, espionage and conflict in the Age of Exploration.
African Samurai: The True Story of Yasuke, a Legendary Black Warrior in Feudal Japan
With Geoffrey Girard
The remarkable life of history's first foreign-born samurai and his astonis... more With Geoffrey Girard
The remarkable life of history's first foreign-born samurai and his astonishing journey from Northern Africa to the heights of Japanese societyWhen Yasuke arrived in Japan in the late 1500s, he had already traveled much of the known world. Kidnapped as a child, and trained into a boy soldier in India, he had ended up an indentured servant and bodyguard to the head of the Jesuits in Asia, with whom he visited India, China and the budding Catholic missions in Japan. From the volatile port city of Nagasaki to travel on pirate-infested waters, he lived it all and learned more every day. His arrival in Kyoto, however, literally caused a riot. Most Japanese people had never seen an African man before, and many of them viewed him as the embodiment of the black-skinned (in local traditions) Buddha or a local war god or demon. Among those who were drawn to his presence were Lord Nobunaga, head of the most powerful clan in Japan, who made Yasuke a samurai in his court. Soon, he was learning the traditions of Japan's martial arts, fighting in battles and ascending to the upper echelons of Japanese society.In the four hundred years since, Yasuke has been known in Japan largely as a legendary, perhaps mythical, figure. Now, combining all the primary sources for the first time, African Samurai presents the never-before-told biography of this unique figure of the sixteenth century, one whose travels between countries, cultures and classes offers a new perspective on race in world history and a vivid portrait of life, faith and war in medieval Japan.
信長と弥助 本能寺を生き延びた黒人侍.
This is the Japanese version of my book about the first and last African samurai in Japanese hist... more This is the Japanese version of my book about the first and last African samurai in Japanese history, a man called Yasuke. An English language version will be published in early 2019 in the US and UK.
1582年、本能寺。織田信長の側近のなかに、特異な容貌でひときわ眼を惹く男がいた。その男こそ、日本史上初とされる黒人侍、弥助だった。信長の切腹後、弥助は危険をかえりみず、嫡男の信忠のもとへと走る。彼を駆り立てたのは、自分を信頼し、侍へと取り立てた信長への忠義心だった……。
国内のみならず海外でも注目を集める異色の黒人侍、弥助。その知られざる生い立ちから来日にいたる経緯、信長との出会いと寵愛、本能寺後の足取りまで、詳細に踏み込んだ歴史ノンフィクション。
Documentaries by Thomas Lockley
How Japan Became a Great Power in Only 40 Years (1865 - 1905)
The compelling narrative, and fast paced journey of Japan's rise from feudal isolation to Interna... more The compelling narrative, and fast paced journey of Japan's rise from feudal isolation to International Great Power in only 40 years!
How did it happen? Find out here.
Written by Thomas Lockley, Produced by Voices of the Past.
Documentary - Japan and the West: The First 500 Years // Japanese History Documentary (1298 - 1854)
Voices of the Past, 2020
This is a short documentary I made with the YouTube channel Voices of the Past.
Is is a fast movi... more This is a short documentary I made with the YouTube channel Voices of the Past.
Is is a fast moving summary of Japan's relations with Europe and North America until 1854.
It would be an ideal introduction for undergraduates, high school students and people who are new to the field as it assumes no prior knowledge of the topic.
One kind reviewer wrote:
This is one of the most, no, THE most well written and edited, beautiful and informative documentary I have ever seen on YouTube. I can't wait for the second part.
History Papers by Thomas Lockley
Japan Forum, 2018
On 12 November 1588 two young Japanese men, known to posterity only by their English names Christ... more On 12 November 1588 two young Japanese men, known to posterity only by their English names Christopher and Cosmus, arrived in London with Thomas Cavendish, who had just completed the third known circumnavigation of the globe. Sources described them as intelligent and literate in Japanese, but also able to speak English, and hence they were consulted and celebrated by English scholars and courtiers; possibly also by Queen Elizabeth I. Three years later they attempted to sail with Thomas Cavendish for Japan via South America, but the English fleet failed to make it through the Strait of Magellan. Christopher and Cosmus almost definitely died on the voyage, along with most of their colleagues, although exactly where and when is not clear. This article attempts a research-based reconstruction of their lives and posits answers to outstanding questions, where did they come from in Japan, why were they on the Spanish galleon sailing to North America, and what was their legacy? It also looks at the aftermath, and later Anglo-Japanese relations.
Litro, 2021
On April 15th, 1945, a heavily pregnant Nakahara Toshiko arrived home to Kurayoshi, Tottori Prefe... more On April 15th, 1945, a heavily pregnant Nakahara Toshiko arrived home to Kurayoshi, Tottori Prefecture, western Japan with a small child on her back. It had been a long and arduous journey. By rail from northern China, through Manchuria, and down the Korean peninsula by ship from Busan to Hakata in Kyushu and then again by train to Kurayoshi. Some 2,500 kilometers. Surprisingly, her husband Toshio, a staff officer in the Imperial Japanese Army based in Shijiazhuang, Hebei Province, had been given special permission to accompany her.
Toshio had inherited a large tract of land, which he hoped would provide amply for his family after he returned shortly to his posting in Hebei.
But it was not to be. Disaster had struck. Unbeknown to him, an elderly aunt, who had been taking care of the land in his absence, had sold it. The cash value was wiped out amid hyper-inflation. The Nakaharas were suddenly transformed into homeless, poverty-stricken refugees.
African Rulers and Generals in India (Afro-South Asia in the Global African Diaspora), 2020
Between the second half of the first millennium and the twentieth century, up to eleven million A... more Between the second half of the first millennium and the twentieth century, up to eleven million Africans were trafficked to India as slaves. Many free Africans also made the same journey. For some, the Indian subcontinent was not the only or final destination; their odysseys continued further to China and Japan. This paper investigates these African Odysseys and was published in the edited volume 'African Rulers and Generals in India (Afro-South Asia in the Global African Diaspora.)'
Revista de Cultura, 2019
The first phase of Anglo-Japanese relations, 1587-1673 was, unlike the second 19th phase, charact... more The first phase of Anglo-Japanese relations, 1587-1673 was, unlike the second 19th phase, characterized by English desires to reach Japan and East Asia. The English developed the technology and invested the time, money, and lives needed to traverse the globe and supplicate themselves before Japanese rulers. Japan was seen as a potential key ally against Spain and Japanese trade as a source to strengthen the English economy, also with an eye on defending the realm against Spanish aggression.
This phase of relations was characterized not only by encounters in Japan, as is normally discussed in the literature, but also by worldwide encounters, including in England itself. It is these encounters that this paper will, in the main, discuss, with the aim of shedding a more global light upon this earliest phase of Anglo-Japanese intercourse.
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Books by Thomas Lockley
On November 12, 1588, five young Asian men—led by a twenty-one-year-old called Christopher—traveled up the River Thames to meet Queen Elizabeth I. Christopher’s epic sea voyage had spanned from Japan, via the Philippines, New Spain (Mexico), Java and Southern Africa. On the way, he had already become the first recorded Japanese person in North America. Now Christopher was the first ever Japanese visitor to England, and no other would leave such a legacy for centuries to come.
The story of Christopher is almost utterly forgotten and has never been fully told before.
A Gentleman from Japan is a fast-paced, historical narrative of adventure, cross-cultural endeavor, intellectual exchange, perseverance, espionage and conflict in the Age of Exploration.
The remarkable life of history's first foreign-born samurai and his astonishing journey from Northern Africa to the heights of Japanese societyWhen Yasuke arrived in Japan in the late 1500s, he had already traveled much of the known world. Kidnapped as a child, and trained into a boy soldier in India, he had ended up an indentured servant and bodyguard to the head of the Jesuits in Asia, with whom he visited India, China and the budding Catholic missions in Japan. From the volatile port city of Nagasaki to travel on pirate-infested waters, he lived it all and learned more every day. His arrival in Kyoto, however, literally caused a riot. Most Japanese people had never seen an African man before, and many of them viewed him as the embodiment of the black-skinned (in local traditions) Buddha or a local war god or demon. Among those who were drawn to his presence were Lord Nobunaga, head of the most powerful clan in Japan, who made Yasuke a samurai in his court. Soon, he was learning the traditions of Japan's martial arts, fighting in battles and ascending to the upper echelons of Japanese society.In the four hundred years since, Yasuke has been known in Japan largely as a legendary, perhaps mythical, figure. Now, combining all the primary sources for the first time, African Samurai presents the never-before-told biography of this unique figure of the sixteenth century, one whose travels between countries, cultures and classes offers a new perspective on race in world history and a vivid portrait of life, faith and war in medieval Japan.
1582年、本能寺。織田信長の側近のなかに、特異な容貌でひときわ眼を惹く男がいた。その男こそ、日本史上初とされる黒人侍、弥助だった。信長の切腹後、弥助は危険をかえりみず、嫡男の信忠のもとへと走る。彼を駆り立てたのは、自分を信頼し、侍へと取り立てた信長への忠義心だった……。
国内のみならず海外でも注目を集める異色の黒人侍、弥助。その知られざる生い立ちから来日にいたる経緯、信長との出会いと寵愛、本能寺後の足取りまで、詳細に踏み込んだ歴史ノンフィクション。
Documentaries by Thomas Lockley
How did it happen? Find out here.
Written by Thomas Lockley, Produced by Voices of the Past.
Is is a fast moving summary of Japan's relations with Europe and North America until 1854.
It would be an ideal introduction for undergraduates, high school students and people who are new to the field as it assumes no prior knowledge of the topic.
One kind reviewer wrote:
This is one of the most, no, THE most well written and edited, beautiful and informative documentary I have ever seen on YouTube. I can't wait for the second part.
History Papers by Thomas Lockley
Toshio had inherited a large tract of land, which he hoped would provide amply for his family after he returned shortly to his posting in Hebei.
But it was not to be. Disaster had struck. Unbeknown to him, an elderly aunt, who had been taking care of the land in his absence, had sold it. The cash value was wiped out amid hyper-inflation. The Nakaharas were suddenly transformed into homeless, poverty-stricken refugees.
This phase of relations was characterized not only by encounters in Japan, as is normally discussed in the literature, but also by worldwide encounters, including in England itself. It is these encounters that this paper will, in the main, discuss, with the aim of shedding a more global light upon this earliest phase of Anglo-Japanese intercourse.