One-piece statues help a Japanese city recover from earthquake damage

A series of One Piece statues are helping the Kumamoto Prefecture recover after the 2016 earthquake.

Earlier this week, a giant “Iron Man” Frankie statue was unveiled outside Takamori Station in Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan. Frankie is an extremely powerful shipbuilder from the famous One Piece franchise, but this statue is more than just a lovely piece of anime themed public art. It is part of a project helping Kumamoto Prefecture recover.

On April 16, 2016, an earthquake measuring 7.0 on the Richter scale jolted Kumamoto Prefecture. Both this earthquake and its prediction caused massive damage to the region. It is estimated that the earthquake caused more than $ 5 billion in damage, destroying homes, businesses and many important historical sites.

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In the weeks following the event, two major donations were made to help the area recover. One was a donation of 300 million yen by the creator of One Piece Ichiro Oda, and the other was a donation of 500 million Japanese yen by Monkey D. Luffy, the famous protagonist of One Piece. Oda grew up in Kumamoto, the prefectural capital, and has maintained strong ties with the area. Oda has also worked on many other recovery projects including making train casings, giving new art to people who donated to rebuild charities and several co-operative product lines that have given all of their profits to earthquake recovery projects.

To thank you for the donation, the government erected a bronze statue of Luffy in November 2018. This statue is outside the Kumamoto Prefectural Government Office and was unveiled to celebrate Oda’s awarding the county honor for its service of recovery efforts. It was then announced that Luffy would join eight other statues, each in an area particularly affected by the earthquake. By the end of the consultation phase, 31 municipalities had requested one of the statues.

In 2019, the first two of these statues were unveiled. A statue of Sanji was placed in the town of Mashiki. A statue of Assop was erected in front of Aso station. 2020 saw the addition of three more statues, with Tony Tony Chopper appearing in the Zoological Garden and Botanical Gardens in Kumamoto, Brooke at Furiye Heruba Square in Mifuni and now Frankie at Takamori Station. Three other statues depicting Roronoa Zorro, Nami and Robin will join the rest of the crew sometime soon.

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While statues may seem like an odd way to spend relief money, the idea is that these statues will attract tourists to the area, and those tourists will pay for using local amenities and buying local goods. Researchers from Shokei University surveyed people who visited the Luffy statue in 2019 and 2020 and estimated that the statue attracted 55,211 visitors annually, putting 2.67 billion yen into the local economy.

Oda also wrote a backstory to tie the statues together. According to the story, when the Luffy’s crew lands in Kumamoto, they see the damage and decide to help. Luffy spread his crew around the county, sending everyone to a place where his skill set would be useful to locals. Each statue has an information panel, to inform visitors of the local area and the damage it has suffered.

I am heartened by Ichiro Oda’s dedication to both his home province and charitable work. These statues are also a great example of how imagination can help us bond together and in crisis. Hopefully, other crew members will allow more areas to rebuild and revitalize themselves in the coming years as more tourists come to tour all the statues.

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Profile of the author Jonathan Grenall (51 articles published)

Jonathon Greenall is an actress writer, artist, and designer who has been a fan of animation throughout his life. I have done everything from being a tour guide, event coordinator, barista, and shop clerk. She has also written for several different sites and has published poetry. Aside from writing, I am a fan of table RPG, LARPing and any other hobby where I act like a dwarf.

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