1579 – Yasuke Arrives in Japan: An African man (origin debated, though Mozambique is the prevailing scholarly theory) arrives in Japan in the retinue of Italian Jesuit missionary Alessandro Valignano. He subsequently enters the service of warlord Oda Nobunaga and is widely regarded by Japanese historians as the first recorded person of foreign birth to hold samurai rank — though this designation remains contested by some scholars. His life later becomes the blueprint for countless manga characters.

1968 – Kurosuke Published: Author Yoshio Kurusu and illustrator Genjirō Mita publish the first notable children’s book featuring Yasuke, titled Kurosuke (くろ助). The book won the Japanese Association of Writers for Children Prize the following year in 1969, introducing the concept of the Black Samurai to post-war Japanese youth.

1950s – The Tezuka Foundation: Osamu Tezuka’s Astro Boy and Jungle Emperor Leo feature early Black characters. While intended to be humanistic, the designs rely on exaggerated Western “minstrel” tropes common in 1930s-era animation.

1964 – Pyunma (Cyborg 008): Shotaro Ishinomori creates Cyborg 009. Pyunma, an African freedom fighter, is introduced as a member of the main hero team. He represents one of the first serious, non-comedic Black protagonists in sci-fi manga.

1972 – Vernon Grant: Early Manga Evangelist Grant served three army tours in Japan in the 1960s and stayed on to write about manga as well as creating his own work, and is considered a pioneer in introducing Japanese concepts to U.S. audiences. In 1972, he wrote a three-part article analyzing Lone Wolf and Cub for the Mainichi Shimbun — considered by some to be the first academic analysis of manga to appear in English. He also published Point-Man Palmer and A Monster is Loose in Tokyo (Tuttle, 1972), a humorous look at the life of a foreigner in Japan, with manga’s influence clearly visible throughout.

1977 – The Love Rangers Grant created The Love Rangers, a science-fiction comic book series about a racially mixed space crew traveling the universe, publishing seven issues between 1977 and 1988. He is often credited as the person who first introduced the visual approach and concepts of Japanese manga into English-language cartooning.

1979 – Cyborg 009 Redesign: The 1979 reboot gives Pyunma a more dignified appearance, signaling a shift away from “Tezuka-era” caricatures.

1984 – Staff Officer Black: Akira Toriyama introduces Staff Officer Black in Dragon Ball. As a high-ranking strategist, he represents a move toward characters defined by intelligence and utility rather than just background flavor.

1985 – The Indie Pioneer: Reggie Byers & Shuriken: Reggie Byers launches Shuriken. As one of the first Black creators to find massive success in the American independent market with a distinct “Amerimanga” style, Byers proves that Black creators can successfully helm action-oriented, manga-inspired narratives.

1998 – Afro Samurai: Takashi Okazaki debuts Afro Samurai in the collaborative self-published dōjinshi magazine Nou Nou Hau (issue zero, November 1998), blending hip-hop culture with samurai aesthetics. It marks a turning point where a Black protagonist is the undisputed “coolest” lead in the genre.

2009 – Felipe Smith Breaks Ground: Felipe Smith — an American creator of Jamaican and Argentine descent — becomes the first American mangaka serialized by a major Japanese publisher when Peepo Choo begins serialization in Kodansha’s Morning 2 magazine in 2009.

2008 – Michiko & Hatchin: This series is celebrated for its representation of Afro-Latino culture, with notable attention to hair, skin, and music.

2013 – The Global Shift: Saturday AM Debut: Frederick L. Jones launches Saturday AM, the world’s leading diverse manga anthology magazine. This marks a historic milestone, establishing a permanent commercial home for Black creators to produce “manga-style” content on a global scale.

2016 – D’Art Shtajio Founded: Twin brothers Arthell and Darnell Isom, along with animator Henry Thurlow, found D’Art Shtajio — the first Black-owned anime studio in Tokyo — working on major titles including Attack on Titan, One Piece, and Tokyo Ghoul.

2021 – Yasuke (Netflix): Creator and director LeSean Thomas brings the legend of the first Black samurai back to the global stage with a fantasy reimagining animated by studio MAPPA, completing the circle that began in 1579 with a modern, authentic perspective.

Outliers

2005 – The Boondocks (TV Series): Aaron McGruder’s series becomes the definitive “Amerimanga” success. By blending sharp political satire with high-level martial arts choreography, it proves that a Black American perspective can thrive using a Japanese visual vocabulary.

2011 – Black Dynamite (TV Series): Developed by Carl Jones, this series fuses 1970s “Blaxploitation” aesthetics with 1980s anime tropes, showcasing the power of Black historical archetypes within the hyper-kinetic lens of animation.