Here will be my main vision of how is made Wano and which inspiration it has.
1 – Official characters from Wano and possible characters from Wano
I think that each character of Wano will symbolize an element and an animal. I will explain this idea later.
A) Official Characters :
Ryuma “de King”
Symbolic Animal : Dragon (ryu)
“Fox Fire” Kinemon
Symbolic Animal : Fox
Officially from “Kuri” Village in Wano
“Evening Shower” Kanjuro
Symbolic Animal : ?
Raizo “of the Mist”
Symbolic Animal : Elephant ? (“zo”)
Kozuki Momonosuke
Symbolic Animal : Dragon
Kozuki Oden
Symbolic Animal : ?
B) Possible Characters :
“Pirate Hunter” Roronoa Zoro
(Zoro is born in East Blue but maybe has origins from Wano)
Symbolic Animal : Tiger
Jigoro “of the Wind”
Symbolic Animal : ?
Shiryu “of the Rain”
Symbolic Animal : Dragon (“ryu”)
Issho “Fujitora”
Symbolic Animal : Tiger (“tora”)
Admiral “Ryokugyu”
Symbolic Animal : Bull
Actual Shogun of Wano
Symbolic Animal : Dragon (speculation)
(Here, I will not talk about the the Tashigi-Kuina-Koshiro theory and not about the bald Gorosei guy, it’s not the point).
One Piece is full of Japanese Mythology’s and History’s references, yokai, creatures, historic people and events.
Wano will be a large reference to the Japanese culture.
We had examples of creatures and animals during Punk Hazard and Zou : Bakeneko, Dragons, Kitsune (Kinemon), Tanuki (Chopper), Oni (Kaido), Tiger vs Dragon in Zou, and many others.
To get straight to the point: I think there is 5 big villages in Wano. Corresponding to elements and animals.
2 – Various Inspirations and 5 Villages of Wano
I saw theories about Wano that there will be 5 villages inspired by the Book of Five Rings (written by the great swordsman Miyamoto Musashi) in which there is 5 Books teaching the way of saber.
The 5 Books are :
– The Book of Earth
– The Book of Water
– The Book of Fire
– The Book of Wind
– The Book of Void
However, even if Zoro Roronoa possibly is a big reference to Miyamoto Musashi (which is considered as the ebst sworman in Japan’s history) I don’t think that the 5 villages will symbolize all of these 5 elements.
Zoro is currently mastering the element of Wind, while Sanji has the Fire with the Diable Jambe, and while Jinbe has the Water with his Fishmen Karaté.
But Zoro showed interest about fire techniques.
I believe that he will master in some way the 5 elements of Wano but keep his first element, which I think, is the Wind.
I also saw another theory saying that Wano will reference the Four Symbols of China and Japan. Saying that there will be 4 villages in Wano + 1 Big Clan.
– The Azure Dragon of the East : Wood
– The Vermilion Bird of the South : Fire
– The White Tiger of the West : Metal
– The Black Turtle of the North : Water
+
– The Yellow Dragon (Qilin) in the Center : Earth
Wano will possibily parallel this, but for me one of the big winks of Wano will be for something more recent : the manga Naruto, written by Masashi Kishimoto.
Oda and Kishimoto are good friends and already referenced each others :
I already felt some gag-references of Naruto during Zou’s arc when we discovered the Ninja Raizo.
In Naruto, there is 5 big Countries/Villages :
The Land of Fire
The Land of Water
The Land of Lightning
The Land of Earth
The Land of Wind
There will be 5 villages in Wano, representing these 5 elements.
But that’s not all.
What is one of the other big references for Wano’s arc ?
Momotaro’s story.
Momonosuke is the main “hero” of Wano like Vivi was for Alabasta. Momonosuke is the reference for Momotaro. The Peach Boy.
The main vilain is Momotaro’s story is the Oni.
Here it’s Kaido, who is the obvious and final antagonist of Wano.
References for it are already here :
We know that Oda takes references and mixes it a lot.
For Momotaro’s story, there is a official story and variants from various regions of Japan.
In the original story, Momotaro, the Peach Boy, leaves his parents to go fight Oni (it’s not that simple but I summarize). In his way, he meets 3 characters that will be his allies :
A Dog
(Kinemon references the Fox, but I believe the “dog” in the Momotaro’s story is here represented by the Kouzuki Alliance made of Kinemon, Kanjuro, Raizo, Nekomamushi and Inuarashi (dog).
A Monkey
Luffy represents the Monkey, so his crew and allies represents the Monkey’s part.
A Pheasant
(The real Pheasant in One Piece is Kuzan/Aokiji. But we know that Nekomamushi is searching for Marco the Phoenix. And we know Marco will be a great allie in Wano. One of the 3 big poles).
Then, let’s see a Variant of Momotaro’s story.
Coming from the Monkey-Crab Battle !
In this Variant, Momonosuke took others allies in in way againt the Oni and beat him thank to these allies :
– a Bee (蜂 hachi)
– a Crab (蟹 kani)
– a Millstone (臼 usu)
– a Chestnut (栗 kuri)
– a Cow Dung (牛の糞 ushi no fun)
What is important here ? The Japanese names.
Look at the Chestnut : Kuri.
Kinemon is from Kuri village in Wano.
I believe that the 5 villages of Wano will have the name of each of these allies in this Momottaro’s version, and each represent an element. (And possibly an animal).
3 – (Conclusion) Names of the Villages and Characters from these villages :
(the names and elements may not correspond and will be speculative)
Kuri (Chestnut)
Fire
Characters :
– Kinemon “Fox Fire”
– Oden (I think he was the main mentor of Kinemon and is from the same village).
– Momonosuke (as Oden is the real father of Momonosuke, and Kinemon is his symbolic father, I think Momo is born in Kuri).
Kani (Crab)
Water
Characters :
– Kanjuro “Evening Shower” (this nickname also called “yuudachi” the summer rain showers in Japan).
– Shiryu “of the Rain”
Hachi (Bee) (Remember Killer Bee/Hachibi from Kumo village in Naruto ?)
Lightning
Characters :
– Raizo “of the Mist” (He’s from the “Mist”, “Rai” is for “thunder”. And when Nami used thunders, Kinemon said she was a ninja).
Usu (Millstone) (Mill represents the wind, Zoro has 3 swords and uses it often like a mill’s rotation)
Wind
Characters :
– Roronoa Zoro (He has Wind techniques and I believe he has origins in Wano).
– Jigoro “of the Wind” (the shadow of Zoro was in his body, I think it’ a clue that Zoro comes also from this village).
– Ryuma (I think Ryuma is the ancestor of Zoro, and is was from this village too. But maybe Ryuma could from the Water village, since Shusui means “Clear Automn Water”, and since Ryuma was using the same techniques as Brook with “Soul Solid” which references to Ice, and so on to Water, but let’s see about that …)
Ushi No Fun (Cow Dung) (I have to recognize that a cow’s dung isn’t really badass, but I’m sure that the last village, the one fo the earth will be taken by this name).
Earth
Characters :
– Admiral “Ryokugyu” (I think that Fujitora and Ryokugyu, the Admirals taken during the time-skip are from Wano, and I think that both of them will appear in Wano. Ryokugyu has the “Bull” theme, and many think he will have a nature related power. So, he could be from the Earth village).
Unkwown origins Characters :
– Oden, I already put him in the “Fire village” but I’m not sure where he’s from in Wano.
– Fujitora. He has the Gravity Power, close to what we could call the “Void” element. I don’t know which village he could be from.
– Actual Shogun of Wano. IMO, he is the main allie of Kaido, and has the same strength as the 3 Calamities. I think he will be the enemy of Zoro and represent the Dragon since Zoro represents the Tiger. I don’t know which villahe he could be from.
And to end this topic, I would like to talk about the Kozuki Clan.
“Kozuki” means moonlight. And since the Minks also serve this family, I definitely belive there is something linked with the moon(s) with this clan.
The thing is : Oden and Momo are officially of the family, but Kinemon/Kanjuro/Raizo, the servants are (in my vision) from different villages in Wano.
So, for me the Clans of Wano don’t depend of the villages.
A Clan/Family can be made and served by differents villages clans.
As this family has also Minks as servants, and that the wish of Oden was to open the borders of Wano, I think that the other goal of Oden was to stop making separations between villages.
And maybe, both Momonosuke and Zoro will represent this mix and freedom of villages when they will learn different elemental techniques.
Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed the ideas I enumerated here !!
Good day to you all!!
Theory by Zero Zero no Mi
