If you surf the web about this place, you'll find a variety of comments- strange, adorable...the list goes on. My thoughts? Okunoshima is a bizarre little island with an incredibly interesting and equally bizarre history. Here's the brief recap from what I found online and what I read while actually on the island (the most reliable source, I shall assume). From 1929-1945 there were five different types of poisonous gas secretly being made by the Japanese army on the island; apparently SO secret that the island was not even included on maps "and workers were sworn to secrecy."
The rabbits were apparently used for experimental purposes until all the storage areas and gas on the island were eventually destroyed and the bunnies were then released. We all know what bunnies do....and the rest is history.
Weird and kind of creepy right? That's all I could think of as I watched boatloads of bunnies swarming around the visiting people on the island. The empty, burnt out ammunition storage building looked like a huge carcass. Juxtaposed with the live rabbits hopping about, it seemed a bit perverse. I just couldn't stop thinking about all of that poisonous gas......safe to say we skipped the museum. Instead, we went up to the little hotel on the island, rented bikes and took in the beautiful day. Despite the multiple speed-bumps we encountered, it was the perfect family Saturday.
http://www.odditycentral.com/pics/okunoshima-island-japans-rabbit-paradise.html
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