Jaya

Jaya is a forest-covered spring island in Paradise that was once shaped like a skull and much larger than it is now. It was the homeland of the Shandia 400 years ago.

Canonically, it is the fifth place visited by the Straw Hat Pirates on the Grand Line and the main setting of the Jaya Arc.

Layout and Locations
Jaya consists mostly of tropical rainforests inhabited by gigantic insects and the elusive South Birds. The island itself has the shape of a jagged "U".

The truth about Jaya is that it is geographically only half of the entire island that it once was 400 years ago. Originally, Jaya was in the shape of a skull, with current Jaya featuring just the skull's "jaws". Due to over half of it being launched into the White-White Sea by the Knock Up Stream (which was possible due to seismic activity shattering the island's crust), only the part that made up the skull's mouth remains. The Shandia civilization once lived on Jaya, but them and their legendary city were shot up in the sky alongside Upper Yard.

The Knock Up Stream is a periodic event known to happen near Jaya, consisting a huge eruption of water that reaches high into the sky. Lining this eruption with the Imperial Cumulus, the cloud where Skypiea is located, allows one to reach the Sky Island from the ocean. This method of travel is considered the hardest and most dangerous form to reach Skypiea. Moreover, the Saruyama Alliance had established a few territories around Jaya, where they once conducted underwater explorations in search of ruins, artifacts or anything else that could prove Shandora's existence.

The Log Pose will change after four days, however the Straw Hat crew left in less than two days, so the magnetic field of Skypiea was still locked into their log pose.

Mock Town


Mock Town is the only urban area in the whole of Jaya. Despite its resort-like appearance, it is considered a lawless town where all sorts pirates gather, away from the Marines or the World Government's reach.

Mouth Bay
Mouth Bay is the part of the ocean that connects the two extremities of Jaya Island.

It is considered the territory of the Shoujou Pirates, led by Shoujou of the Saruyama Alliance. The Straw Hat Pirates sailed through this bay in order to find Mont Blanc Cricket.

South Grave
South Grave is the rainforest located to the southeast of Jaya. It is inhabited by gigantic insects and South Birds, who are able to control the former in order to protect the forest from invaders.

The Straw Hats were sent here by Cricket in order to capture a South Bird so they could use it as an ordinary compass within the Grand Line, allowing them to locate the Knock Up Stream the next day.

Cricket's House
Mont Blanc Cricket once lived in a small brick residence in Jaya's eastern coast. This house, however, was only half of an entire one, due to the other half being shot up in the sky alongside the rest of Upper Yard. As such, Cricket covered the missing half with plywood resembling a huge castle, thus creating an illusion that could deceive onlookers coming from the ocean.

The house served as the headquarters of the Saruyama Alliance while they operated on Jaya.

Upper Yard
Upper Yard is the missing half of Jaya that got shot up into Skypiea around 400 years ago, thus it is no longer part of Jaya.

History
After the Void Century, the island became largely forgotten by the World Government. The few sailors that would land on the island would either be chased away or get killed by the native Jayans, the Shandia.

The island was ruled by the Shandia 400 years ago, who guarded the Poneglyph located in their city of gold, until they were launched into the sky.

In the present day, however, the island is mostly uninhabited other than Mock Town. Due to the lack of Marine presence, the island is a major base for pirates.

Trivia

 * The name of the island may be a reference to the real-life Indonesian island of Java, or probably the Island of Papua (Papua was named Irian Jaya before it changed back into Papua in 2003). The Island of Papua has the shape of a bird's head. It should also be noted that the name could be derived from the Sanskrit word "Jayakarta" meaning "victorious deed", which interestingly enough is also the origin of the name of Indonesia's capital city Jakarta.
 * Jaya means "Victory" and "Glory" in Sanskrit and Malay.
 * Islands shaped like skulls are fairly common in fiction involving pirates.

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