Dedicated to Yasuke 弥助 — the African retainer who served Oda Nobunaga and earned the rank of samurai.
The flagship of the series, and the one edition dedicated to a person rather than to a house. Yasuke arrived in Japan in 1579 in the service of a Jesuit mission and came to the attention of Oda Nobunaga, who took him into his own retinue. He was granted a stipend, a residence and a sword — the marks of samurai rank — and he served Nobunaga until the daimō’s death at Honnō-ji in 1582.
The rifle carries the Oda mon — the Oda mokkō, the melon-flower crest of the house he served — and his name, 弥助, worked into the handguard. It is the only edition built on the Caracal CAR816 short-stroke piston platform rather than the house direct-impingement architecture: the tribute to the outsider who earned his place is the one that stands apart mechanically as well.
Yasuke is the only edition offered in both metals — nickel and 18K gold — and the only one built in two configurations, rifle and A5 pistol. A working tribute, worthy of his name.
Read the history of Yasuke ›Yasuke is the only edition offered in both metals. Where the Maruni runs nickel only and the Tokugawa gold only, the flagship runs either — and the choice is finish, not function. The port cover, the grip crest, the bolt catch and the controls change metal; the CAR816 upper, the barrel, the muzzle device and the recoil system beneath them do not. It is also the only edition built in two configurations, rifle and A5 pistol. The Radian Weapons selector is a build option across every Yasuke, in black or red anodized — the buyer chooses at order.
