Mural featuring "One Piece" characters

Mural featuring "One Piece" characters

Kumamoto Gov. Takashi Kimura (2nd from L), poses for photos with Kumamon, the official black bear mascot of the southwestern Japan prefecture, during a ceremony to unveil a mural featuring characters from the best-selling Japanese manga series "One Piece," at Kumamoto airport on Dec. 2, 2024. The mural was produced as part of a project to help Kumamoto, where the pirate manga's author Eiichiro Oda is from, recover from the April 2016 earthquakes.

Mural featuring "One Piece" characters

Mural featuring "One Piece" characters

Kumamon, the official black bear mascot of the southwestern Japan prefecture of Kumamoto, poses during a ceremony to unveil a mural featuring characters from the best-selling Japanese manga series "One Piece" at Kumamoto airport on Dec. 2, 2024. The mural was produced as part of a project to help Kumamoto, where the pirate manga's author Eiichiro Oda is from, recover from the April 2016 earthquakes.

Wall panel featuring "One Piece" characters

Wall panel featuring "One Piece" characters

Kumamoto Gov. Ikuo Kabashima (R), accompanied by the southwestern Japan prefecture's official black bear mascot Kumamon, speaks on Dec. 4, 2021, during a ceremony to unveil a wall panel featuring characters from the best-selling Japanese manga series "One Piece," set up at Kumamoto airport. The panel was produced as part of a project to help Kumamoto, the hometown of the pirate manga's author Eiichiro Oda, recover from the April 2016 earthquakes.

Wall panel featuring "One Piece" characters

Wall panel featuring "One Piece" characters

Kumamoto Gov. Ikuo Kabashima (L) poses with the southwestern Japan prefecture's official black bear mascot Kumamon on Dec. 4, 2021, during a ceremony to unveil a wall panel featuring characters from the best-selling Japanese manga series "One Piece," set up at Kumamoto airport. The panel was produced as part of a project to help Kumamoto, the hometown of the pirate manga's author Eiichiro Oda, recover from the April 2016 earthquakes.

Manga "One Piece" sets Guinness record for no. of published copies

Manga "One Piece" sets Guinness record for no. of published copies

Yoshihisa Heishi (4th from L), editor in chief of the Weekly Shonen Jump comic magazine, poses for photos with characters from the popular Japanese manga series "One Piece" in Tokyo on June 15, 2015, after the series was officially recognized by Guinness World Records the same day as the comic series by a cartoonist with the largest number of copies published to date. Shueisha Inc. had published roughly 320,866,000 copies of Eiichiro Oda's cartoon in 77 volumes by the end of 2014. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

Statue of "One Piece" character in earthquake-hit Kumamoto town

Statue of "One Piece" character in earthquake-hit Kumamoto town

A statue of Sanji, a character from the best-selling Japanese manga series "One Piece," is unveiled on Dec. 7, 2019, in the southwestern Japan town of Mashiki, which was hit hard by an earthquake in Kumamoto Prefecture in 2016. Eiichiro Oda, author of the pirate manga, is from Kumamoto. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

Statue of "One Piece" character in earthquake-hit Kumamoto town

Statue of "One Piece" character in earthquake-hit Kumamoto town

A statue of Sanji, a character from the best-selling Japanese manga series "One Piece," is unveiled on Dec. 7, 2019, in the southwestern Japan town of Mashiki, which was hit hard by an earthquake in Kumamoto Prefecture in 2016. Eiichiro Oda, author of the pirate manga, is from Kumamoto. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo