Eiichiro Oda

Eiichiro Oda (尾田栄一郎 Oda Ei'ichirō, January 1, 1975 – ) is the creator of the manga and anime One Piece. He was born in Kumamoto Prefecture.

As a child, Oda was inspired by pirates and aspired to become a manga artist. At the age of 17, he submitted his work "Wanted" and it won quite a numer of awards. At the age of 19, he worked as an assistant to Nobuhiro Watsuki in the manga Rurouni Kenshin. During this time, he drew Romance Dawn, the first chapter of One Piece. In 1997, One Piece appeared for the first time in the magazine Shonen Jump and became promptly one the most popular manga in Japan. It is modelled after Akira Toriyama's Dragon Ball and Dr. Slump.

Eiichiro Oda is married to Chiaki Inaba, a person who plays Nami during Jump Festa One Piece stage performances.