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Kumamoto, the hometown of Eiichiro Oda, has unveiled a new traffic safety slogan inspired by One Piece series.
Taking inspiration from Luffy’s iconic phrase “I’m going to be the king of the pirates,” the new traffic slogan adopted by the city is “I’m going to be the King of Safe Driving!!!“.
The new slogan is part of Kumamoto’s ongoing efforts to promote road safety while paying homage to its local hero, Oda, whose work on One Piece has earned international acclaim.
Oda’s ties to his hometown go beyond his artistic achievements.
Following the devastating earthquakes that struck Kumamoto on April 14, 2016, Oda made a donation of ¥800,000,000 to aid in the city’s reconstruction efforts.
In recognition of his significant contributions, Kumamoto Governor Ikuo Kabashima announced that the city would erect statues of the One Piece characters as a way of honoring Oda’s support.
The first statue, unveiled on November 30, 2018, featured Luffy and was placed in front of the Kumamoto Prefectural Government office. Since then, statues of the other Straw Hat Pirates have been unveiled in various locations across the prefecture.
- Monkey D. Luffy – Kumamoto Prefectural Government office (Nov 30, 2018)
- Sanji – Town of Mashiki (Dec 7, 2019)
- Usopp – Aso Station (Dec 8, 2019)
- Tony Tony Chopper – Kumamoto City Zoological and Botanical Gardens (Nov 7, 2020)
- Brook – Fureai Hiroba Square, Mifune Town (Nov 8, 2020)
- Franky – Takamori Station (Nov 21, 2020)
- Nami – Nishihara Village (July 31, 2021)
- Robin – Former Tokai University Campus, Aso (Oct 9, 2021)
- Roronoa Zoro – Ozu (Jan 22, 2022)
- Jinbe – Sumiyoshi Nature Park, Uto (July 23, 2022)
Source: X
