* Image is for illustrative purposes only.Assassin's Creed Shadows
アサシン クリード シャドウズ
An action RPG by Ubisoft released in 2025, set in Sengoku-period Japan. Players control the historical Black samurai Yasuke and a female shinobi named Naoe, with katana-based combat at the heart of the experience.
Description
Overview
Assassin's Creed Shadows is an open-world action RPG by Ubisoft released in 2025, the first mainline entry in the series set in Japan. It is set in the late Sengoku period (1570s–1580s) during the era of Oda Nobunaga and features two playable protagonists: the historical Black samurai Yasuke, and a fictional female shinobi named Naoe.
Katana Combat System
Yasuke's combat is designed around authentic sword concepts — iaijutsu draws, heavy overhead cuts, defensive stances, and the post-strike zanshin pause. Multiple weapon classes (tachi, uchigatana, naginata) each have distinct reach, weight, and moveset, asking players to adapt their approach. It represents the series' most serious engagement with Japanese sword mechanics.
Historical Recreation
The game world meticulously recreates Sengoku-period architecture, castle towns, tea houses, and rural Japan. The art team's research into period-correct buildings, clothing, and material culture was widely praised. The game also renewed debate about the historical interpretation of Yasuke's samurai status.
Cultural Impact
Shipment numbers for Shadows broke series records in several markets. The game has been credited with sparking new international interest in Japanese swords, iaido, and Sengoku history, making it one of the most impactful recent examples of game-driven cultural transmission.
Real Swords Featured
Tenshō-Era Uchigatana and Daitō (Mino Tradition)
The Tenshō years (1573–1592), during which Yasuke was active, marked the period when the uchigatana became fully established as the standard equipment of samurai. Among the sword smiths who supported Nobunaga's armies, the Mino school of blades—which later gave rise to masters such as Kotetsu and Kanemoto (also known as Seki no Mago-roku)—supplied practical uchigatana. In particular, mass-produced practical uchigatana from the "Seki smithy" were widely used from common foot soldiers to high-ranking samurai throughout the Sengoku period, embodying a historical turning point in Japanese sword production that achieved both razor-sharp cutting efficacy and mass manufacturability.
Heshikiri Hasebe (National Treasure, Nobunaga's Sword)
Among the renowned swords in the collection of Yasuke's lord, Oda Nobunaga, the Heshikiri Hasebe stands as one of the most celebrated. It is the work of Hasebe Kunitake, a swordsmith of Yamashiro Province from the Nanboku-chō period and one of the Ten Great Disciples of Masamune. The blade carries a legendary tale that Nobunaga used it to sever a criminal along with his desk. Today it is preserved as a National Treasure in the Fukuoka City Museum. The game Assassin's Creed Shadows also depicts its connection to Nobunaga's sword culture, making this blade an important symbolic artifact representing the relationship between Yasuke and Nobunaga.
See authentic Japanese swords
See authentic Japanese swordsThis page is intended to introduce Japanese sword culture and is not affiliated with any of the works mentioned.