Backlash From Japanese Players Prompts National Politician To Investigate “Cultural Theft” Of ‘Assassin’s Creed Shadows’
A Japanese politician is investigating after players within his country leveled complaints of “cultural theft” against Ubisoft’s upcoming Assassin’s Creed Shadows.
The politician in question, Satoshi Hamada, is a member of the House of Councillors, the Upper House of the Japanese National Diet.
One of two members of the independent ‘Party to Protect the People from NHK’ – a party whose platform is built on opposing the government broadcaster’s TV all-but-mandatory licensing fees and whose membership has fallen apart following a recent leadership dispute – Hamada has recently joined the ranks of the many Japanese nationals who have found themselves outraged over the numerous historical inaccuracies presented in Ubisoft’s upcoming game.
On July 11th, Hamada retweeted a post from a fellow Japanese X user summarizing the various issues local players have had with Assassin’s Creed Shadows‘ presentation, such as how some of its buildings feature Chinese instead of Japanese architecture or how a lowly servant can be seen sitting on the same level as Oda Nobunaga himself.
Alongside this retweet, the politician made a “request for opinions” to the general public (as machine translated via DeepL), informing them, “We have received a consultation regarding the alteration of Japanese history by a French game company. We share the consultation below with images. We have also quoted a post that we believe points out the problem with the game in question. We would be happy to receive your comments and suggestions, including specific requests.”
Further, Hamada shared a list of related concerns that had already been brought to his attention, which in addition to the above points also made note of the possibility that Yasuke’s prominence in the game’s plot could lead to the misconception that he had a bigger role in Japanese history than he actually did.
Less than 24 hours later, Hamada shared an update, writing, “Thank you for your many comments about the new Assassin’s Creed series of games set in Japan. In relation to the above. We received a consultation from another person about cultural theft and cultural invasion regarding ‘Yasuke,’ a black man who served Nobunaga Oda. I will share the content of the consultation with you.”
From there, Hamada proceeded to share two tweets worth of images showing feedback he had received from Japanese citizens regarding the game.
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Therein, one of the most common complaints was the perceived “cultural theft of ‘Yasuke’, or perhaps it would be better to call it ‘cultural invasion'”.
To this end, some even brought up the ongoing war surrounding Yasuke’s various Wikipedia pages, which continues to see various parties attempt to claim that the African visitor was a full and true samurai rather than the lesser-but-still respected retainer he actually was.
One user even bemoaned, “I have been fighting as an ordinary person, but the situation has grown so large that it may become an international issue.”
Another user raised the topic of Nihon University College of Law in Tokyo Associate Professor Thomas Lockley‘s African Samurai: The True Story of Yasuke, a Legendary Black Warrior in Feudal Japan, itself the main source for Yasuke’s false interpretation as a samurai, and accused its conclusion as being “based on his own imagination”.
Even those who generally approved of diversity and inclusion initiatives found themselves unhappy with Ubisoft, with one individual telling Hamada, “The recent drastic movements are good in nature, but they are excessive in their emphasis on Asian people and unnatural favoritism for black people.”
Further complaints include Japan’s own government (“Bureau of Justice has been hijacked by a woman who is a poly-college activist”), the game depicting a grizzly beheading, and how the lies may become a fact outside of Japan. Some users compared it to the “comfort women,” which the Japanese government has apologized for on multiple occasions.
One still praised how Assassin’s Creed used to be a good game series that was historically accurate.
Following his sharing of these responses, Hamada proceeded to provide even more insight into the public’s opinion on the matter by retweeting several responses made to his X posts.
@aoi_and_holly suggested, “Since they seem to be saying that it is a historical fact, we should make them clearly state that it is a fiction and admit that UBI [Ubisoft] is at fault for the content.”
“In addition, the production company has refused to accept any protests, and the X account of the Japanese branch finally apologized for one clear copyright violation (ignored in the English version and elsewhere),” likewise criticized @Kakkazan1. “The foreign media has also published articles defending the development and ridiculing the protests, and we believe that these moves to denigrate Japan are as problematic as the game itself.”
“PS. In addition to more than a dozen other domestic and international works suspected of commercial copyright infringement, the theft of designs from national cultural properties was also pointed out,” they further declared. “This historical rewriting is spreading in the web space, and its opponents are accused of racism. We would like to add that even without the Yasuke issue, this media art is very damaging to Japanese culture.”
As of writing, Hamada has yet to announce any formal action regarding these complaints, including whether or not he will bring the topic of Assassin’s Creed Shadows before the National Diet.
Notably, this is not the first time the upcoming game has drawn the ire of Japanese locals.
In the game’s initial trailer, Ubisoft used the flag of a historical re-enactment group without their permission. This mistake ultimately resulted in them pulling the design from the game and issuing an official apology.
Further, a Japanese player started a Change.org petition calling for the game’s outright cancellation, which has since gone on to reach over 80,000 signatures as of this article’s writing.
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