Adventure of the Marubenny

Marubeni's One Piece logo.

Adventure of the Marubenny (マルベニー号の冒険, Marubenī-gō no bōken^?) is a collaboration project and advertising campaign held by sogo shosa (general trading company) Marubeni. Based on the theme of “If Marubeni were in the world of One Piece,” this campaign explores how different goods and services sold by the company would impact different locations and characters in One Piece.

Overview

— Adventure of the Marubenny campaign slogan.

The Marubenny.

The project follows the Marubenny, a ship based on the trading company. The ship visits various locations, with each used to feature and promote a different service offered by Marubeni.

The campaign was revealed on June 15, 2022, with the first key visual released in The Nikkei. An update to the campaign was provided on One Piece Day 2022. An additional piece of artwork featuring Shanks was revealed on August 5, 2022, to commemorate One Piece Film: Red.

Trail of Adventures

The Trail of Adventures (冒険の軌跡, Bōken no kiseki^?) depicts the Marubenny's travels through the One Piece world, after initially meeting the Straw Hat Pirates.

1. Sailing the Grand Line: The Marubenny and Straw Hat Pirates install floating offshore wind turbines.
2. Arabasta Kingdom: The Marubenny leaves seawater desalination technology with Arabasta, allowing them to rely on more than rainfall and groundwater. The project suggests that life could someday return to even Erumalu.
3. Skypiea: The Marubenny implements precision agriculture to grow a bountiful variety of crops on Skypiea to makue up for its lack of Vearth.
4. A certain island inhabited by the Red Haired Pirates: The Marubenny gives a closed-cycle, land-based aquaculture salmon farm to the Red Haired Pirates, allowing them to enjoy a salmon feast on their base far inland.
5. Sakura Kingdom: The Marubenny brings eVTOL (electric vertical take-off and landing) aircrafts to the kingdom, allowing the kingdom's doctors to travel fast and safely to those in need of medical care.
6. Water 7: The Marubenny converts the Sea Train to run on fuel ammonia which emits no carbon dioxide when burned, making it more environmentally friendly.
7. Whole Cake Island: The Marubenny provides sustainable coffee from regions where Marubeni helps improve the coffee farm workers livelihoods.
8. Thousand Sunny: The Marubenny provides Sanji with herbs and spices it has developed for use in his cooking.

The Straw Hat Pirates first encountering the Marubenny.

#1: Marubeni's offshore wind turbines.

#2: Marubeni's desalination technology.

#3: Marubeni's precision agriculture technology.

#4: Marubeni's aquaculture salmon farming.

#5: Marubeni's eVTOL aircrafts.

#6: Marubeni's fuel ammonia.

#7: Marubeni's sustainable coffee.

#8: Marubeni's herbs and spices.

The Marubenny parts ways with the Straw Hat Pirates.

Recruitment of Future Locations

Subsequent locations in the One Piece world are decided by a Twitter campaign and community responses, using the hashtag #ワンピース世界の旅先募集中 (translates to ‘One Piece World Travel Destinations Wanted!'). To enter, users must:

1. Follow the official Adventure of the Marubenny Twitter account.
2. Quote the recruitment tweet and write the requested location as a hashtag.

All users who submit receive the official artwork as one of four smartphone wallpapers, distributed randomly. The first recruitment period was held from July 22 to August 19, 2022. The chosen locations were featured in the "Trail of Adventures" illustrations #5 to #7. The first of these was revealed on January 10, 2023, and the remaining two on March 17, 2023. In addition, illustration #8 focusing on the Straw Hat Pirates was also created based on fan requests, and revealed on March 17, 2023.

Marubenny Voyage Log

Marubenny Voyage.

The Marubenny Voyage Log (マルベニー号 航海日誌, Marubenī-gō kōkai nisshi^?), also known as the MARUBENNY VOYAGE, is a content series and digital journal, used to showcase the kinds of projects Marubeni could incorporate with the One Piece world.

1. Afforestation project in Indonesia: In Indonesia, Marubeni is improving the growth rate of trees through breeding, propagation, and genetic analysis technology. The goal is to increase the value of forests as carbon sinks and contribute to decarbonization.
2. Textile Recycling Business: Marubeni recycles cotton and polyester textile products into raw materials using hydrolysis methods that minimize chemical use. This is an effort to solve the problem of disposing of textile produces by incarnation or dumping them into a landfill.
3. Ethylene Trade: Marubeni's enthylene handling volume accounts for roughly 30% of the global offshore trade marking. This is an effort to lower carbon output and advance decarbonization across the industry, including the world's first use of biofuels in ethylene vessels.
4. Sales of EV chargers: Marubenny sells EV and quick chargers for EVs in the United States, Europe, and domestic markets. In the future, their efforts will contribute to the spread of EVs and the expansion of the electrified society by providing comprehensive solutions, including charging infrastructure and vehicle managements systems, in addition to EV and charger sales.
5. Publishing Industry Supply Chain Efficiency Improvement Project: Marubeni works with major publishing companies to promote the efficiency of the entire publishing supply chain through the use of AI, RFID, and other technologies. This effort aims to solve structural problems in the publishing industry and connect the pleasure of choosing books at bookstores to the next generation.
6. Meat and Grain Business: Marubeni works to create a stable supply of food through the operation of high-quality beef supply bases in the United States and Australia, grain collection and sales in North and South America, and import/export of grain. This effort aims to meet increasing food demand due to population growth and other factors.
7. Onshore Aquaculture Business: Marubeni has developed businesses related to closed-cycle onshore aquaculture in Denmark and Japan. This contributes to the supply of environmentally and socially sustainable food.
8. Agricultural Material Sales Business: Marubeni sells agricultural materials in the United States, Brazil, Europe, and Asia. Through agricultural materials, the company contributes to the improvement of productivity of farmers, and challenges to improve the utilization efficiency of farmland and to reduce the environmental burden.
9. Mining and Smelting Business: Marubeni participates in the operation of copper mines in Chile, iron mines in Australia, and aluminum smelters in Canada. This efforts contributes to the stable supply of copper, iron, and aluminum, which are indispensable for economic development and decarbonization.
10. Real Estate Development Business: Marubeni is developing real estate development business in Japan, China, India, Malaysia, and other countries. This efforts is a response to the growing demand for housing, especially in ASEAN and Southwest Asia.
11. Water Supply and Sewage Business: Marubeni operates waterworks projects around the world, including a seawater desalination project in Saudi Arabia and water supply and sewage projects in the Philippines, Chile, Portugal, and other countries. This efforts contributes to the stable supply of water.
12. Owned and Operated Vessel Business: Marubeni owns and operates general merchant vessels and LNG carriers. This efforts responds to expanding needs for marine transportation due to the borderless global economy.
13. Healthcare and Medical Business: Marubeni has developed its hospital business and digital maternal and child health notebook business in Indonesia. This efforts responds to the growing need for high-quality medical care and increasing health awareness, aimed at correcting medical disparities.
14. Renewable Energy Business: Marubeni developed Japan's first large-scale commercial offshore wind farm, which is fully operational in Akita Prefecture. The company has expanded its renewable energy power generation business around the world toward decarbonization.
15. Coffee Chain Development Business: Marubeni has helped expand globally popular coffee shops to Southeast Asia. The company engages in business for consumers in Southeast Asia with high growth potential.
16. New Energy Development Business: Marubeni promotes its new energy business including clean fuel supply chain such as hydrogen and fuel ammonia, biofuels, etc. in Australia and other countries. The company works with partners in Japan and overseas to work towards decarbonized.

Promotion and Reception

"A Childhood Dream."

A TVCM titled “A Childhood Dream” (子供の頃の夢篇, Kodomo no koro no yume-hen^?) was published on August 14, 2022 to promote the project.

On October 28, 2022, Adventure of the Marubeni won the Grand Prize at the 71st Nikkei Advertising Awards, out of 60 companies' advertising campaigns.

Marubeni x ONE PICE billboard.

On May 29, 2023, a massive billboard promoting the Adventure of Marubenny was put up in the underground plaza of Shibuya Station, displaying the Trail of Adventures artwork.

Merchandise

Marubeni original clear files.

Starting November 25, 2022, original clear files of the Adventure of Marubenny artwork were announced and were distributed at One Piece Mugiwara Stores. Of the five designs, one is given out as a random gift with each transaction.

Starting May 29, 2023, clear files of the Sakura Kingdom, Water Seven, Whole Case Island, and Straw Hat artwork were distributed at One Piece Mugiwara Stores., with one given out as a random gift with each transaction.

External Links

• Adventure of the Marubenny Official Website (in Japanese)
• Adventure of the Marubenny Official Website (in English)
• Adventure of the Marubenny Official Twitter Account
• Adventure of the Marubenny TVCM