| Native Name Lang: | en |
| Birth Place: | United Kingdom |
| Employer: | Nihon University, School of Law |
| Notable Works: | African Samurai: The True Story of Yasuke, a Legendary Black Warrior in Feudal Japan (2019) |
Thomas Lockley (born 1978) is a British academic who is an associate professor of the College of Law of Nihon University,[1] and a visiting researcher for the SOAS University of London. His research in the humanities and social sciences centers on education and history, with a particular emphasis on Japanese history. He is the author of African Samurai: The True Story of Yasuke, a Legendary Black Warrior in Feudal Japan.
Lockley was born in the United Kingdom in 1978.[2] He first came to Japan in 2000 as a participant in the JET Programme, spending two years in Tottori as an assistant language teacher at an elementary school.[3] He later took on a full-time lecturing position at the Nihon University College of Law, and was promoted to associate professor in 2019[4] In the same year, he also became a visiting researcher for SOAS.
Lockley teaches history and English. His research focuses on education and history, with a particular emphasis on Japanese history from an International perspective.
In 2016, he released a paper titled The Story of Yasuke: Nobunaga's African Retainer on the Nihon University's journal,[5] and in 2017 he published his first work titled . In 2019, he published African Samurai: The True Story of Yasuke, a Legendary Black Warrior in Feudal Japan in the United States together with Geoffrey Girard.