Progression of Time in One Piece
Myth: It has been a year since the story began.
Fact: There is no indication of how long the storyline has taken. Few clues aid the fans at all.
1-Luffy’s first few adventures in the East Blue happened within a few weeks. The only time night was witnessed however were during the captain Kuro story arc and at the end of the Arlong story arc. They therefore spent at least one day at Usopp’s village.
2-Luffy worked for two days in Baratie before the arrival of Don Krieg’s Pirate Armada.
3-They spent several days partying in Nami’s village after it was freed from Arlong.
4-No night scenes were witnessed during Loguetown, it is presumed Loguetown was a quick stop for them due to the conflict with Smoker.
5-Whisky Peak was at least one night, they were there less than a day.
6-They were at Little Garden for only a day (no night scenes were witnessed).
7-From Little Garden to Drum Island it was less than five days (Nami would have died from her illness of Kestia if it had been any longer).
8-There was a night scene at Drum Island, but they were there no more than two or so days.
9-They met Ace within ten days of him visiting Drum Island because he had left Drum Island only a week beforehand and he was still in Alabasta when they arrived. He was only going to wait ten days for Luffy.
10-In all, they spent less than a week or so in Alabasta before moving on.
11-They were in Jaya less than four days, the time taken before their Log Pose would have adjusted, however they left close to its change.
12-A close examination of Skypiea will show that it lasted two days (Entering the white sea to the campfire in Upper Yard was one day, and then the Survival Game to waking up the next morning after the party was another).
13-No night scenes were seen in the Davy Back Fight matches. It is presumed the events took place in less than a day.
14-They stayed in Long Ring Long Land for 4 days after Aokiji’s attack to let Luffy and Robin rest.
15-They traveled for another 3 days before coming across Yokozuna.
16-Including the events of Enies Lobby, the crew had stopped at Water 7 for a week.
17-Thriller Bark was less than a day, a day max.
18-There was a week between leaving Thriller Bark and arriving at the Red Line.
19-They were in Sabaody Archipelago for less than a day.
20-A full two days had visibly passed over the time Luffy was on his way to Amazon Lily.
21-Four and a half days had passed during the journey from Amazon Lily to Impel Down via Marine ship.
22-At least 30 hours passed while Luffy was in Impel Down.
23-Three weeks passed from the end of the “War at the Summit” at Marineford to Luffy ringing the Ox Bell.
24-Two years passed during the timeskip.
25-They travelled straight to Fish-Man Island in what was depicted as less than a few hours after reuniting, and stayed there for less than a day, a day max.
26-They travelled straight from Fish-Man Island to Punk Hazard in what was depicted as less than a few hours.
27-They spent less than a day on Punk Hazard before leaving for Dressrosa.
28-They spent four days on Dressrosa before leaving for Zou.
29-A week passed before they reached Zou.
30-They spent a day on Zou before Luffy’s group went to Whole Cake Island and the others went to Wano Country.
31-Luffy’s group took an undetermined number of days to get to Totto Land.
32-They spent four days in Totto Land. It took one day to get from Cacao Island to Whole Cake Island, they were in Whole Cake Island for two and a half days, and it took half a day to get from Whole Cake Island to the outside of Totto Land. A full moon cycle occurred between when they were on Zou and the fourth day they were in Totto Land.
Some argue that the Rumbar Pirates claimed it would take them a couple of years to travel around the world and Luffy’s crew must have passed at least one year already.
From Rayleigh we learn Roger had entered the Grand Line three years before his death and disbanded his crew a year before his death. This means it took him two years to complete his journey which gives us a little bit of judgment to base the Straw Hats journey on even if a small one.
In One Piece, Oda has depicted the moon several times, it has been discovered the moon’s phases progress with the storyline’s own timeline and therefore it can be used as a judge for the number of days that have passed on their journey. However from the first sighting in the Syrup Village Arc (waxing crescent) to the start of the Amazon Lily arc (waning crescent) would work out to be only 21 days by this guide. Although due to certain conditions on one of the phases seen, it could be as much as 42 days.
During Shanks’ arrival at The Marineford War, Lucky Roo stated that Shanks had not seen Luffy for 10 years. As Luffy set off on his adventure 10 years after Shanks left, and that they have not seen each other since, it can be presumed that it has been less than a year since Luffy’s adventure began.
