“One Piece”, a popular comic created by Higokko Eiichiro Oda (born in 1975 in Kumamoto City) , was celebrated recently with a statue of one of its characters in front of Prefectural Hall. Suddenly, various towns from across the prefecture were requesting a statue of one of the seven remaining protagonists.
But news that Kumamoto prefecture had allocated 42 million yen for an additional four statues seemed excessive, particularly given that permanent housing for earthquake victims is behind schedule. The article’s end, though, notes that all funding for these statues is being donated by Oda-san as a type of earthquake relief; the Prefecture is simply allocating it. A magnificent Higokko indeed.
The article does not say which characters will be placed where. I’ll let you know in future. - William
