KUMAMOTO -- The Kumamoto prefectural government announced Wednesday it will bestow a prefectural honor on manga artist Eiichiro Oda, 43, praising the feat of his famous "One Piece" series selling more than 430 million copies across the world, as well as his support of reconstruction work after the 2016 Kumamoto Earthquake.
Oda, who is from the city of Kumamoto, has launched a reconstruction project with the cooperation of local governments hit by the April 2016 earthquake, and other organizations, according to the prefectural government.
Under the project, a train decorated with "One Piece" characters runs on the Miamiaso Railway, which was damaged in the earthquake. Some of its tracks were lost in a landslide, among other damage.
Oda also offered his original drawings as rewards for furusato nozei hometown donations to the town of Mashiki in Kumamoto Prefecture.
"He encouraged citizens to step toward tomorrow on the way to recovery from the earthquake," Kumamoto Gov. Ikuo Kabashima said at a press conference Wednesday. "We appreciate his passion for recovery."
The award ceremony will take place on April 15.
Kumamoto Prefecture has awarded nine people this honor in the past, including Yasuhiro Yamashita, 60, who won the men's judo gold medal in the open-weight category at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics and former Yomiuri Giants manager Tetsuharu Kawakami, who led the baseball team to nine straight Japan Series titles. Kawakami died in 2013.
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