One of Dragon Ball Creator Akira Toriyama's Final Designs Used for Home City's 20th Anniversary Logo
In January 2024, celebrated manga artist Akira Toriyama chose to create a brand-new logo for Kiyosu City in Japan's Aichi Prefecture. Now Kiyosu's leaders are honoring the late creator by using his logo to represent the region for its upcoming 20th anniversary celebration, which will be held in 2025.
Toriyama was originally approached to create Kiyosu's logo because of his personal ties to the area. As detailed on Kiyosu City's official website, Kiyosu City mayor Sumio Nagata presented Toriyama's completed design during a recent press conference regarding the city's future plans. As shown below, Toriyama's logo features a cute samurai character, likely inspired by the region's principal attraction, Kiyosu Castle. Created during Japan's Warring States Era, this structure is an ancient stronghold that is believed to have been used by the famous feudal lord Oda Nobunaga.
The Original Dragon Ball Is One of the Top-Selling Manga of All Time
Akira Toriyama is best known as the creator of the hit shonen franchise Dragon Ball, which began in November 1984 and has since touched the lives of millions of readers across the globe. The original Dragon Ball series is currently the fourth highest-selling manga title of all time, with over 260 million copies in circulation worldwide. Toriyama's bibliography also includes popular works like Dr. Slump, Sand Land, Go! Go! Ackman and many others. Prior to his death, he was working on both the Dragon Ball Super manga series alongside illustrator Toyotarou and on Toei Animation's upcoming anime series Dragon Ball Daima.