If you’ve been reading about the One Piece statues in Kumamoto, you’ve probably seen the same advice everywhere: rent a car, set aside two days, and hunt down all ten Straw Hat crew members scattered across the prefecture.
That’s great if you have two full days. But a lot of us don’t. When I went, I didn’t try to collect the whole crew. I saw three — Luffy, Usopp, and Franky — in about half a day, starting in Kumamoto City and driving up into the Aso area. And honestly? For a first visit, three felt like the right number.
This is not a “visit all ten” guide. Plenty of those exist. This is the honest version: what it’s actually like to see a few of them, whether you need a car, and which ones make sense if your time is limited.
Why there are One Piece statues in Kumamoto at all
Before the statues, there was an earthquake.
In April 2016, two powerful earthquakes hit Kumamoto Prefecture within days of each other. Homes, roads, and the famous Kumamoto Castle were badly damaged, and the area around Mount Aso was hit especially hard.
Eiichiro Oda, the creator of One Piece, was born and raised in Kumamoto City. In response to the disaster, he donated 800 million yen (roughly 7.5 million USD at the time) toward the recovery, and out of that came the “ONE PIECE Kumamoto Recovery Project.” Life-size bronze statues of all ten Straw Hat Pirates were placed in towns across the prefecture — many of them in the places that were hit hardest.
That backstory matters when you’re standing in front of one. These aren’t just photo spots dropped into a city center. Each statue is in a specific town for a reason, and several of them are quietly tied to the recovery. Knowing that changes how the visit feels.
These are also among the only life-size One Piece statues in Japan set up as a permanent, official installation — which is a big part of why fans travel all the way to Kyushu for them.
The first statue, Luffy, was unveiled in 2018. The set was completed in 2022 when Jinbe was added, bringing the full crew to ten.
Where the One Piece statues in Kumamoto are located
Before I get to the three I saw, here’s the full picture. If you’re planning your own route or looking for a map of the Kumamoto One Piece statues, all ten are spread across the prefecture like this:
- Luffy — Kumamoto Prefectural Government Office (Kumamoto City)
- Chopper — Kumamoto City Zoo (Kumamoto City)
- Sanji — Mashiki
- Nami — Nishihara Village
- Zoro — Ozu
- Brook — Mifune
- Usopp — Aso Station (Aso)
- Robin — Kumamoto Earthquake Memorial (former Tokai University Aso Campus, Minami-Aso)
- Franky — Takamori Station (Minami-Aso)
- Jinbe — Nagabeta Seabed Road, Uto (coast)
Only two (Luffy and Chopper) are in Kumamoto City itself. The rest are scattered across mountain towns and the coast, which is exactly why most guides tell you to rent a car and set aside two days for the full set. I didn’t do the full set — here’s what I actually did.
The three I actually visited
I started in the city and worked my way toward Aso. Here’s the route in the order I did it.
Luffy — Kumamoto Prefectural Government Office (Kumamoto City)
Luffy — full name Monkey D. Luffy — stands in front of the Kumamoto Prefectural Government building, right in the city. This is the easiest one to reach by far: it’s in central Kumamoto, about 10 minutes by tram or car from Kumamoto Station, so if you’re staying in the city or just arriving, this is the natural place to start.
Being the first statue of the project (and, well, the main character), Luffy feels like the anchor of the whole set. If you only have time for one, this is the most accessible.
One thing worth knowing: Oda’s handprints are on display inside the government building, though access depends on the day (typically weekdays), so check ahead if that’s something you want to see.
Usopp — Aso Station
From the city, I drove up toward Aso. Usopp is at Aso Station, and this is where the character of the trip changes. You leave the city behind and start climbing into the Aso caldera — one of the most dramatic landscapes in Kyushu. The drive itself becomes part of the experience.
Usopp at a station fits, in a small way — a lookout, a sniper, stationed at a gateway into the mountains.
Franky — Takamori Station (Minami-Aso)
Franky is the furthest of the three, at Takamori Station in Minami-Aso. He’s the shipwright of the crew, and he’s here cheering on the recovery of the Minami-Aso Railway, which was damaged in the 2016 quakes. Inside the station there’s a letter from Oda and messages of support — a small detail that ties the statue back to why any of this exists.
This is the one that takes real commitment to reach, since it’s deepest into the Aso area. But if you’ve already come this far up the mountain for Usopp, continuing to Franky makes sense.
Visiting the One Piece statues in Kumamoto: the honest version
Three statues took me about half a day. I started in Kumamoto City with Luffy, then drove up into Aso for Usopp and Franky. That pace felt comfortable — not rushed, with time to actually look at each one and take photos, rather than treating it like a checklist.
You really do want a car. Luffy in the city is manageable without one, but the moment you head toward Aso, a car stops being a convenience and becomes close to a necessity. The statues up there are spread across mountain towns, and public transport in the Aso area is limited. If you can drive, the freedom is worth it. If you can’t, look into the official Kyushu Sanko statue tour bus, which loops the locations so you don’t have to drive yourself.
Three is a genuinely good number for a first visit. Trying to collect all ten in a day means spending most of it in the car. Picking a cluster — like the city-plus-Aso route I did — means you actually get to enjoy the places, not just tick off statues. Aso is spectacular on its own; the statues are a reason to go, not the only reason.
If you want to go further: the Aso area is worth a full day
Here’s something I’d tell anyone doing the Aso side of this trip: don’t make the statues the only thing you do up there.
The Aso caldera — Mount Aso’s smoking crater, the wide Kusasenri grasslands, and the hot spring towns nearby — is one of the most beautiful parts of Kyushu. If you’re already driving up to see Usopp and Franky, it’s genuinely worth building a full day around the area rather than rushing back down.
If you’d rather not drive the whole thing yourself, there are guided day tours that combine Mount Aso with Kurokawa Onsen, one of the most atmospheric hot spring towns in the region. It’s a good way to see the highlights of the caldera without planning every turn — a one-day Mount Aso and Kurokawa Onsen tour like this one covers the scenery and the onsen in a single trip.
Practical basics
A few things that are true regardless of which statues you pick:
- All ten statues are outdoors and free to visit. There’s no admission, no ticket — you just walk up.
- There are ten in total, one for each Straw Hat: Luffy, Zoro, Nami, Usopp, Sanji, Chopper, Robin, Franky, Brook, and Jinbe. They’re spread across the prefecture, from Kumamoto City out to the Aso mountains and down to the coast at Uto.
- A car is the realistic way to see the ones outside the city. If you don’t drive, look into the official guided bus tours that loop the statue locations.
- Be respectful at each spot. Several statues stand in front of working train stations, parks, and public buildings. Keep entrances clear, park only in marked spaces, and take your trash with you.
Should you go?
If you’re a One Piece fan traveling in Kyushu, yes — even a few statues are worth it. What surprised me most wasn’t the statues themselves (though the bronze work is genuinely impressive up close). It was realizing that each one sits in a real town that was affected by the earthquake, placed there deliberately as part of the recovery. That gives the whole thing a weight you don’t expect from an anime tie-in.
You don’t need to catch all ten to feel it. Start with Luffy in the city, drive up into Aso for a couple more, and let the landscape carry the rest of the day. Three statues and half a day was, for me, a perfect introduction.