TRIP REPORT: Ōkunoshima

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Ōkunoshima, a tiny island located in the Seto Inland Sea, is part of Setonaikai National Park and is declared both an eco-island, a national vacation village and a public health resort. Disregarding whatever those terms actually entail, it’s a pleasant island with an eye on sustainability, has lots of nature and it is small enough to walk around it in about 90 minutes. The best part about it though, is that it boosts a huge population of wild rabbits and it is actually better known as Rabbit Island, or Usagishima. However, its furry inhabitants isn't the only thing the island is known for; it holds a dark past of years of secretly producing poison gasses for the Japanese army.

When you have some time to spare, or if you really love bunnies, Ōkunoshima is an awesome day trip away from Hiroshima. It takes quite some time to get there and trains/buses/ferries are a little far apart so if you wanna do this trip you better plan ahead.

2 hours east of Hiroshima.. it's actually smaller than the red dot

I planned it all out.. I was on time for my train at Hiroshima station (miracle!), didn't even miss my connecting train at Hiro station and arrived at Tadanoumi in time to catch the ferry. So far, so good. What I didn't plan so well was my money... I ended up not having enough money for the ferry -mind you, it was only about 10$- so I had to miss that one, find an ATM that would take my card and wait for the next ferry an hour later -___-.   After walking around for some time I came to the conclusion that if you don't have a specific purpose, I wouldn't recommend a visit to Tadanoumi. Already on the train there, I seemed to be the only one under 60 years old and the place just didn't look very appealing. I guess it didn't help that it was a pretty grey day.

Grannies with facemasks on the train

Grandpa waiting for the connecting train at Hiro station

When I did finally board the ferry I found out I had the whole ship to myself! Not a busy day for Ōkunoshima. At arrival, a man was waiting at the end of the pier and asked if I wanted to take a shuttle bus. I was too stupid to understand where the bus was headed but I did understand the part where he said 'lots of bunnies' so I eagerly got on. I shrieked at every sight of a bunny on the way there. 
I love all animals but bunnies have a special place in my heart. With an allergic sister, an outdoor bunny was the only pet I could have growing up and so I've had a bunny for the last 14 years of my life. My last one, gangster, died last year :( Anyway, the man did not lie. He brought me to a (the only one of the island) hotel with a big front yard, where indeed there were heaps of bunnies roaming around. Inside of the hotel was a reception desk, a gift shop and zero guests to be seen. 

The ferry and captain, waiting for their only passenger

Excited and, as always, eating chocolate

"Get in the van"- 'where are you going?' - "lotsa bunnies" - 'okay!'

Cocky looking bunbun in front of the hotel

Empty lobby with the gift shop in the back..

..where they, of course, sell bunny cookies!

I bought a cup of bunnyfood at the reception desk and this is what happened:

Iehh! I came to the following epiphany: Happiness is a bunch of bunnies around you. (replace bunnies with any other animal of choice) Everywhere you walk on the island, bunnies will come up to you and sniff you, hopping away again as soon as they notice you don't have any food. Little assholes. Most of the bunnies seemed in good health, but I did see some with eye problems. I wonder if there is ever a vet visiting the island; but then again, as it’s a wild population it is arguable how much medical human interference is really needed/wanted.

Happiness..yes.

Palm trees, beaches, bunnies.. what more do you want?

Poor babies

As I mentioned before, Ōkunoshima isn't all about the cute and the furry. Despite signing the Geneva protocol in 1925 (which banned the use of chemical warfare),  a secret poison gas facility was established on the island in 1929 by the Japanese army. 
Big amounts of mustard and tear gases were produced, harming and killing not only the war-victims it was used against but also the factory workers. The factory workers wore rubber uniforms, gas masks, gloves and boots, but the gas still managed to penetrate through their protective gear, injuring skin, eyes and throat. The facility played a big part in World War II until it was destroyed in 1945 by U.S. Forces.  

The secrecy that surrounded this island and its history is shocking. While still in use, everybody involved was forced to keep quiet and the island itself was even removed from maps. After its destruction, the secrecy continued and it was attempted to get rid of all evidence; destroying involved documents and disposing excess gas and again forcing all involved to keep quiet.
Even more shocking to me was that they were actually successful in hiding it from the general public until somewhere in the 80’s; not just this specific gas plant but that fact Japan ever even carried out chemical welfare. Some reminders of this ugly past are still to be seen on the island.

The following two buildings were used as a laboratory and chemicals warehouse during the period of poison gas manufacturing. The first building was an inspection room, designed for managing poison gas products, storing confidential documents and inspecting the poison gas. I went in but got quickly spooked and ran out again. In the second building, some people were actually renovating the building.

Inspection builing

Messy bunny!

Not too welcoming..

Former laboratory

And if you take a small hike up this trail you will find remains of a searchlight control station. It was used to detect enemy ships at night.

Just a small walk up this path

searchlight control station... would be cool to get in.

Another reminder on the island is the Poison Gas Museum. It states that it was established in order to alert as many people as possible about the dreadful truths about poison gas. They "declare that war is meaningless and the production of poison gas is tragic. We make an appeal for everlasting peace". And how can anyone not agree with that statement? At the entrance of the museum is an unsupervised ticket machine. I love unsupervised places, it restores my faith in humanity (even at a horrible place like this museum). The museum only consists of two rooms and there are some photos and attributes from the plant exhibited. I was surprised by the amount of -correct!- English information signs it boosted.

Scary suit that apparently didn't really do its job right

Photos of victims and origami paper cranes for good luck

Another surprise was the very well equipped visitors center that can be seen as soon as you get off the ferry. Next to the visitors center you can see a shrine and a lighthouse. The island actually also boosts a golf course, tennis court, playgrounds, beaches and campgrounds. Even though this day the place looked close to deserted, I guess, and could see why, this little island attracts a lot more visitors on a sunny summer day. There are some nice paths to walk and I could totally see myself laying in a bikini on the beach or grass surrounded by bunnies chewing on my hair or something. Unfortunately it started to rain when I was there so after an hour or so I took the ferry back and was quickly on my way back to a just as rainy Hiroshima.

More paper cranes in front of a shrine

bye bye

Access and costs:
From Hiroshima station you have three options. Below they are listed from highest price and shortest travel time, to lowest price and longest travel time.

• Take a shinkansen to Mihara, then a local train to Tadanoumi station. Will take about 1hr25 and costs ¥3440.
• Take a direct bus to Tadanoumi station. Takes 1hr40 and costs ¥1400.
• Take a train to Hiro station, then change trains to Tadanoumi station. It takes 1hr55 and costs ¥1240.

From Tadanoumi hourly ferries will bring you in about 12 mins to the island. A return ticket costs ¥600.
On the island everything is accessible by foot. The museum was 100¥ and a cup of bunny food is also ¥100.