The manga One Piece from a Christian perspective

Kaoru Hirose

During the J+Passion Tokyo 2016 conference,* people broke up into six discussion groups, one of which was titled “One Piece from a Christian perspective” and was led by the chairperson of the board of Tokyo Christian Institute, Kaoru Hirose. Hirose talked about the vision (goal), passion (motivation), and mission (implementation) that can be seen in the popular, long-selling manga One Piece. The manga was written by Eiichirō Oda and is listed in the Guinness World Records as the most printed comic series by a single author.

Hirose says, “The world of One Piece is rather biblical.” It features nine people with unique personalities on a ship. It might not be considered unusual that “different people from various backgrounds can overcome their differences and become one mind and work together to reach the same goal. But One Piece is different.”

“Each of the nine characters has a different goal—that is the story’s main point. Luffy’s dream is to find the world’s ultimate treasure and become king of the pirates. Zoro wants to become the world’s best swordsman. Sanji is a cook and wants to travel to legendary seas. Chopper wants to become a doctor who can cure any illness. Franky wants to build a ship from a tree called Adam and travel to the end of the ocean. And Usoppu wants to become a courageous warrior. They are all on the same ship, but they have different goals.”

“This is very interesting when thinking about the kingdom of God,” Hirose says. “At TCI, I see how individuals have different ambitions as they work and study on campus. . . But where can one get the passion to fulfill one’s dreams?” asks Hirose. “All the main characters in One Piece have lost their families. What keeps them going? They find the will to live by building relationships with each other. In a church, this kind of relationship is called the family of God.”

“So as a team of nine, what do they do? We see them constantly helping others. If they see someone in trouble, they don’t just pass them by. They rescue those in need even if it means risking their own lives. Despite having their own goals for their lives, they keep making detours. This is very much like the Good Samaritan in the Bible.”

“When we live our lives with God’s purpose in mind, we are able to be our true selves. There may be times when it seems as if we are taking a detour or going around a roundabout, but the important thing is to live faithfully according to God’s will. This is the mission I have learned from One Piece. We need a Christian perspective and a clear vision, passion, and mission. This will lead to the joy of building up God’s kingdom.”

Hirose likes the following words of the main character Luffy and quoted them during a graduation ceremony at Tokyo Christian University. “Luffy says, ‘I can confidently say that I couldn’t survive without the help of other people.’ As a leader at this school, I can say the same. Would you also agree that without help you cannot survive? If we help each other as a team, we can overcome obstacles together and be victorious.”

Hirose also touched on the similarities between One Piece and Anpanman. He concluded that “our life’s vision, passion, and mission should be to help others, just like Anpanman would break a piece off himself and give it to others.”

From Christian Shimbun, May 29, 2016
Translated by Grace Koshino

* J+Passion Tokyo is a non-denominational youth conference that took place on the 16th of April 2016. This is the 16th time this conference has been held.
One Piece cover art: Fair use, https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/4088701755/

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