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The story
At an August 28 city council session, Kiyosu Mayor Sumio Nagata said that using the name “Kiyosu Dragon Ball Park” — a proposal tied to the city’s bid to host a Chunichi Dragons minor-league stadium — faces “extremely tough” obstacles due to copyright issues. The plan envisioned tying in with “Dragon Ball,” the work of Kiyosu native Akira Toriyama, and the city had contacted a Tokyo-based rights management company in June to ask whether use of the name would be permitted. As of August 19, the company had only replied that it “cannot answer at this time.” On 5ch, reactions ranged widely, from alternative suggestions like “Just call it Dragons Ball Park” to questions about spending tax money on the stadium project itself.
August 28, 2026, 16:04 (last updated 8/28 18:34)
Sumio Nagata, mayor of Aichi Prefecture’s Kiyosu City — which is bidding to host a minor-league stadium for the pro baseball team the Chunichi Dragons — said on the 28th that the “Kiyosu Dragon Ball Park” stadium concept, which would tie in with the work of Kiyosu-born Akira Toriyama, creator of the globally popular manga and anime “Dragon Ball,” faces “major obstacles, including copyright, that are extremely difficult to overcome.”
He was responding to a question in city council from councilman Tetsuo Takahashi, who originally proposed the concept. The city emailed a Tokyo-based copyright management company in June to ask whether use of the name would be permitted, and on the 19th of this month received a reply stating, “We cannot answer at this time.”
Source: mainichi.jp / Original article here
What people said
What about Base⭐Ball too?
No need for a collab at all.
It's pretty rich to just one-sidedly ask them to lend the name for free, lol
Kiyosu isn't Nagoya, though.
The other one's really pushing it.
At least read Re: #1.
They're assuming an unauthorized Dragon Ball collab too.
Something in this world has gone crazy~
Let me do it, a singles match against Vader!
There's already an absurdly oversized, bizarre theme park planned overseas — they should drop this.
The hometown would be better off with exhibits tied to his actual work, like a recreated manga studio room.
The city's ulterior motive of trying to use it on the cheap just because it's "Toriyama's hometown" is blatantly obvious, which is probably why they were told, "Don't disclose the content or our answer."
Correction:
not Toho, it's Toei.
Some Saudi entity is apparently a Shueisha shareholder.
Please reprint the Chrono Trigger art book.
Background and Key Points
Akira Toriyama died in March 2024 at the age of 68, and since then, facilities and events named after his hometown or places connected to him have been proposed one after another around the country. The copyright to Dragon Ball is held by Shueisha, which published the original manga, and Toei Animation, which produces the anime, among others — commercial use of character names and logos typically requires formal licensing and payment. Kiyosu City has used the fact that it is “Akira Toriyama’s hometown” as a bargaining chip, but there is little precedent for free or low-cost licensing being granted, and it isn’t unusual for rights holders to take a cautious stance. On the thread, alternative suggestions that avoid confusion, such as “Dragons Ball Park,” and questions about the tax burden of stadium construction stood out, but concrete information — such as actual construction and operating cost estimates, or the timing of a formal reply from the copyright management company — has not yet been made public, leaving it unclear whether the plan will ever come to fruition.
*This article is composed of excerpts and a summary from the 5channel (Geinou/Sports News+) thread “[Chunichi] Dragon Ball Park Concept: Use of the Name “Extremely Difficult” — Aichi’s Kiyosu City Bids for Minor-League Stadium.”
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