Yasuke, the African retainer of Oda Nobunaga, was said to have been made the daimyō's "weapon bearer". What sorts of duties did this position entail?

by Burke_Of_Yorkshire

I am not necessarily looking for information on Yasuke specifically, but more of what sort of position he actually held in court. Is there cultural context that goes deeper than the literal translation of his title?

ParallelPain

Here are all the textual accounts of Yasuke we have.

The task of a weapon bearer would most likely have been assigned to a koshō, who were a lord's squire/secretary/bodyguards. Like in Europe, a weapon-bearer held onto the lord's weapon, and handed it to him when asked for/needed. Yasuke had his own retainers so was unlikely to be a koshō. He was too old anyway. However he was at Honnōji, meaning he was likely a bodyguard warrior, so it's not impossible he was given the task.