![]() The island is also home to Japan’s tallest electricity pylon. Either way, the predator-free environment allowed the original bunnies to flourish and their generations of offspring remain today. But others claim that a group of kids released eight rabbits on a school trip to the island in 1971. According to some, rabbits were brought to Ōkunoshima to test the effects of the gases produced there and later released by the factory workers when the war ended. Japan was a signatory of the Geneva Protocol but exploited its one major loophole: the development, production, storage and transfer of chemical weapons. The poison was pumped into the tanks directly from the factory.ĭuring WWII, the island was the site of a secret poison gas factory. Mustard gas was stored here in 10-tonne, lead-lined tanks. Remains of the Sangenya poison gas storehouse. The poison was pumped into the tanks directly from the factory. A large searchlight was positioned here to detect enemy ships at night. Remains of the southern searchlight control station. At only 0.7 km 2 (o.2 mi 2), you can easily see the whole of Ōkunoshima in a day. After a long wait for a table at one of the few restaurants on offer, we parted ways with the others (the temptation to capitalize that was real) and set out to conquer the walking trails. It was one of summer’s hotter days and we had tired of trying to coax the rabbits out from their refuge in the shade. “I cannot believe they haven’t used this as a filming location,” I repeated over and over to Mark. As it turns out, the bunnies are the least interesting thing about the place… On the third day of my trip to Hiroshima, I joined up with Mark, his brother, his brother’s partner, and her daughter to do just that. ![]() But the island has a much darker past, and the smoke monster becomes more and move evident as you begin to explore. ![]() The latter has earned Ōkunoshima the nickname Usagi Jima (Rabbit Island), with tens of thousands of visitors flocking there each summer to enjoy its beaches, soak in its onsen and feed and pet the adorable, fluffy animals. You can even enjoy polar bears in miniature – the island is overrun with an abundant population of bunnies. If any island served as inspiration for ABC’s LOST (a.k.a the best television series of all time) it was surely Ōkunoshima. Featuring a golf course, pylons, old test laboratories and its very own hatch, it is exactly where every fan wants their plane to crash. Exploring Wartime Remains on Japan’s Rabbit Island
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