Anime location
Luffy Statue (Kumamoto Prefectural Government)
The first of ten life-size Straw Hat statues placed across Kumamoto after the 2016 earthquakes.
Eiichiro Oda is from Kumamoto, and the prefecture and the series set up a reconstruction project that placed ten life-size bronze statues of the Straw Hat crew across the region. Luffy stands on the promenade in front of the prefectural government building in the city. At his feet are the author's handprint and signature.
Why it is worth it
These statues were not put up to sell anything. They were placed to help towns recover, which makes visiting them mean something different.
When to go
The Luffy statue is in the city and easy to reach. Never crowded.
Good to know
The other nine stand in Mashiki, Mifune, Ozu, Nishihara, Minamiaso, Aso, Takamori and Uto — the towns hit hardest by the earthquakes. Seeing all ten needs a car and most of two days; the prefecture publishes a map and a route.
ONE PIECE
One of ten life-size Straw Hat statues placed across Kumamoto for the earthquake reconstruction project.