Quake-hit areas picked for kumamoto “One Piece” statues

April 17, 2019

Kumamoto--Kumamoto Prefecture has picked eight municipalities hit hard by a series of powerful earthquakes in April 2016 to place statues of main characters from popular manga series "One Piece," Ikuo Kabashima, governor of the southwestern Japan prefecture, said Wednesday.

The eight municipalities include the town of Mashiki and the village of Minamiaso. The prefectural government plans to install the statues by fiscal 2020. "We hope that the effects of the statues will spread to all areas of our prefecture," Kabashima said.

The installation of the statues is part of measures to support reconstruction following the quakes. In November, a statue of the lead character, "Luffy," was set up at the prefectural government office.

After soliciting candidate sites for the eight other statues, the prefectural government received applications from 31 municipalities.

The prefecture and Shueisha Inc., the publisher of the manga series, considered where to install the statues from the viewpoints of effects on reconstruction and convenience for tourists.

The author of One Piece, Eiichiro Oda, who was born in the city of Kumamoto, has donated his artworks and 800 million yen to support reconstruction from the quakes.Jiji PressJiji Press