Kuraigana Island

Set somewhere in Paradise along the Grand Line, Kuraigana Island carries a heavy, melancholy atmosphere, draped in mist and sitting under a permanently clouded sky. Thick forest covers most of its surface, broken up by hills whose summits curl inward, an odd silhouette inspired by Eiichiro Oda's fondness for Tim Burton's films. Nearly every structure built by human hands lies in rubble, with the central castle, raised in part over a small lake, standing as the lone survivor. The place was once the seat of the Shikkearu Kingdom, a realm whose name loosely reads as a remark about dampness.

Generations ago the island supported the Shikkearu Kingdom, but a devastating war erupted roughly nine years before the present storyline and wiped the realm out, reducing all but a single castle to ruins. The forest's Humandrills, apes able to mimic human behavior, observed the fighting and taught themselves to wield weapons, turning into deadly combatants. Mihawk later claimed the surviving castle as his residence. The island reentered the story when Bartholomew Kuma scattered the Straw Hats, flinging Zoro here after the incident with the Celestial Dragons; Perona arrived by the same power. Following the Marineford war, Mihawk returned and chose to mentor Zoro, who stayed two full years to grow stronger before departing for the Sabaody Archipelago.

Dracule Mihawk, the former Warlord, lived in the central castle and trained Zoro there. Perona settled into one of the ruins after Kuma sent her flying to the island. The weapon-wielding Humandrills haunted the forest until Mihawk and Perona began working the war-scarred soil, a sight that gradually calmed the beasts into peaceful, helpful farmhands. Years earlier, Kuma had briefly visited seeking a cure for his daughter Bonney's illness. After the Levely abolished the Warlord system, Marines surrounded the island to seize Mihawk, prompting him to abandon it and relocate to Karai Bari Island alongside Crocodile.