The dubious historical accuracy and alleged disrespect for Japanese culture in Assassin’s Creed Shadows has led to a scandal that continues to flare up.
The Japanese YouTube channel Nippon Journal recently investigated the book «African Samurai: The True Story of Yasuke, the Legendary Black Warrior in Feudal Japan» — and the result was unpleasantly surprising.
British Thomas Lockley, the author of the work, is a professor at Japan’s Nihon University. The book was considered the main source on Yasuke’s life in Japan. The Nippon Journal invited historians and found out that the author had been editing facts about Yasuke on «Wikipedia» since 2015. Lockley did this incognito to promote his own book, which was published in 2019. This casts doubt on everything in African Samurai.
The investigation caused a huge uproar in Japan. The university fired Lockley and began to investigate the veracity of his book. The scientist did not comment on what was happening, instead closing his social media profiles. The game Assassin’s Creed Shadows and Ubisoft do not directly refer to the book. However, Lockley was a participant in a discussion of the game initiated by the company.
Nihon University has launched an investigation into “historian” and Nihon professor, Thomas Lockley, who has deleted his entire social media presence.
Thomas Lockley appeared on Ubisoft’s podcast for Assassin’s Creed Shadows, and was widely cited in the edit revisions on… pic.twitter.com/SJJGq8C4iZ
— Grummz (@Grummz) July 19, 2024
The scandal has even gained political significance. Satoshi Hamada, a member of the upper house of the Japanese parliament, is considering an appeal to the government to officially investigate the game’s distortions.
Source: Gamedev.Dou
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