List of foreign-born samurai in Japan



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

Definition
In this list, Japan means the Japanese Archipelago. The word samurai has had a variety of meanings historically; here it is taken to mean "those who serve in close attendance to the nobility". This list includes the following people.


 * Foreign soldiers and generals who served daimyō directly during the Sengoku period (1467–1615) and Azuchi-Momoyama period (1568–1600) before the unification of Japan by Toyotomi Hideyoshi. In this period, many emerging forces like Jizamurai call themselves samurai. Hideyoshi himself was born as a son of a peasant-ashigaru. The definition of samurai was obscure in those periods.
 * The Tokugawa shogunate did not confiscate swords from farmers and townspeople, who could continue to wear daisho until 1683. Many would keep wearing wakizashi on a daily basis after then. After the middle of the 18th century, they were still worn during special events such as travel, weddings, and funerals. This lasted until the Meiji Restoration.
 * Foreign-born people who served the Tokugawa shogun and were granted a status higher than Hatamoto.
 * In the Edo period (1603–1867), foreign-born people who served daimyō and granted a status higher than koshō (ja:小姓, page).
 * 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".


 * "Foreign-born samurai" whose existence is uncertain.
 * 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. 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 Confucian or medical doctor.
 * Foreign-born people who served samurai as oyatoi gaikokujin, not Japanese-style soldiers.