Known as Yasuke, the man was a warrior who reached the rank of samurai under the rule of Oda Nobunaga - a powerful 16th Century Japanese feudal lord who was the first of the three unifiers of Japan.

TOKYO — An outlandish contest daring participants to impersonate Japanese samurai writhing in pain after "seppuku" — ritual ...

AN outlandish contest daring participants to impersonate Japanese samurai writhing in pain after “seppuku” – ritual suicide – has been called off after criticism that it was in poor taste.