Kazuhiko Torishima, the first editor of Dragon Ball, has posted a statement to X (formerly Twitter) following media reports of his comments criticizing the current plan to build a Dragon Ball anime theme park in Saudi Arabia. His statement in response reads:
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“To everyone,
Regarding the article ”A Dragon Ball Theme Park Shouldn’t Be Built’: Why the Legendary Jump Editor-in-Chief Strongly Opposes the Saudi Arabian Plan,’ which was published on Diamond Online (Diamond Life Editorial Department) on Friday, August 8, 2025 at 6:00 AM, and on Yahoo! News (Diamond Life Editorial Department) on Thursday, August 14, 2025 at 7:01 AM, I deeply regret that the article has been spread in a way that portrays me as actively speaking in a strong tone and ‘barking,’ which is different from the actual circumstances and facts of the interview, and that it contains content that is far removed from my intention.
The current article portrays me as making a strong and forceful statement, and has been inaccurately spread across multiple media outlets, YouTube channels, and personal social media accounts, with manipulated and exaggerated interpretations.
There is no doubt that I wanted to strongly convey my sense of discomfort about not constructing first here in Japan, but instead overseas (here it’s not my intention to name a specific country; it just so happens that the proposed construction site here is Saudi Arabia)—despite more consideration ought to have been given to Japanese children and readers.
But as I feel that what I wanted to convey accurately has, in the current situation, ended up lacking accuracy, I have decided to release a statement about the contents of the article on the radio program ‘TOKYO M.A.A.D SPIN,’ which will be broadcast from 1:00 am on Saturday, August 23rd, and on the August 27 (Wednesday) scheduled distribution on the ‘Yubou & Mashirito’s Koso Koso Broadcasting Station’ YouTube channel, outlining my exact thoughts and feelings regarding the content of this article.
Thank you for your understanding.
Kazuhiko Torishima”
You can check out Torishima’s post below (link):
The Diamond article in question reports Torishima criticizing the plan, saying that if he were still at Shueisha, he wouldn’t have greenlit that project. His reasoning in the report was that Japanese children wouldn’t be able to go, and that it’s the readers who nurture the manga, so being purely motivated by short-term profits is missing the point. You can read about the Dragon Ball theme park project here.
Source: Kazuhiko Torishima Official X (formerly Twitter)
©BIRD STUDIO/SHUEISHA, TOEI ANIMATION © Kazuhiko Torishima/Shueisha
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