- One Piece was rejected twice before the first chapter was published.
- Oda doesn't feel like he's carrying the burden of being the headliner of Jump. He's just happy that so many people are reading his magazine. However he does strive to write more interesting stories.
- He says he feels a strong sense of responsibility. If OP ended and his editors asked him to continue, he wouldn't want to. Ending it is his freedom.
- Shanks is described as the leader of the Red Haired Pirates and a Yonkou who gave the hat to Luffy
- One Piece manga is described as 'Chasing after the One Piece treasure left by the Pirate King, Luffy went out to sea! His many adventures are popular both inside and out of Japan!'
- He says it is 'very lonely' now that Kishimoto, who published alongside him for 15 years is no longer doing so.
- He says he and Kishimoto are the same age and their mangas became a hit around the same time, they have a lot in common.
- However he says that even between mangaka who have known each other a long time, there are some things you can't say to each other if the popularity of your manga differs
- However he says that he and Kishimoto often see eye to eye, they worry about the same things and both put a lot of effort into their work
- Even if there appears a mangaka whose work catches up to One Piece's in popularity and scope, the only one he feels he will always share the same views with is Kishimoto.
- He says that even though Kishimoto isn't publishing anymore, they still chat and Kishimoto listens to his complaints
- He says that people are now enjoying different kinds of magazines, and it's less common for everyone to be reading the same manga
- Oda thinks this is a shame, he used to bond with people over reading Dragon Ball. He says manga can build bonds between people, especially magazines such as Jump that people read in their childhoods he wonders if different magazines and mangas can come together like the Avengers.
- when he reads Jump nowadays he feels like he doesn't understand some of the mangas, thinking like a grandfather would.
- He's aware of this and wants to take countermeasures against it. He says the competition is not about being right, but rather whether your manga is embraced by the audience. As a result he says that if One Piece loses out to them, he will do a bit more research but that hasn't happened yet, he's been winning so far.

- According to an interview with Yomiuri magazine today, Eiichiro Oda mentioned that The One Piece manga finished about 80%..

- In his interview with Yomiuri, Oda mentions that his favorite characters are Bun Clay and Ivankov from "The Impel Down Arc", Oda mentions that there are still some characters who will join the straw hat crew

- Oda talked about why he did not include Jinbei in the color pages (missed 8 times) despite joining the crew and apparently it was because he doesn't want to spoil one of the surprises about Jinbei's situation since his last appearance.

Oda mentions that there are still some characters who will join the straw hat crew

As you know, full name of ONE PIECE author is Eiichiro Oda. First name is usually given by parents in Japan.
Then, what does "Eiichiro" (栄一郎) mean in Japanese? Ei (栄) means glory (flourish) and Ichiro (一郎) is a common name for a first-born son.
FYI, Akira Toriyma's first name Akira (明) means bright/wise.

Oda's parents must be happy about their son being "glorious" mangaka just like his own name.
3 days ago, Luffy's statue started being displayed near Kumamoto prefecture office, Oda's hometown.
Oda's parents made comments about this statue.

Oda's father: It'd be great if everybody is glad about Luffy's statue. Hopefully this statue will become famous all over the world.
(The latter part translation is ambiguous. Maybe Oda's father is hoping that Kumamoto people will succeed globally like ONE PIECE.)

Oda's mother: My son is saying that he will keep supporting Kumamoto. I'd appreciate it if people love Luffy's statue for a long time.

*Oda's father is good at Western painting style.