It's hard to imagine that an island once used for the creation and deployment of Japanese chemical weapons during World War II has turned into a haven for small, cuddly rabbits, but it is the strange truth. On the island of Okunoshima, also known as Usaga Jima or simply Rabbit Island, herds upon herds of wild rabbits run free, interact with tourists, or laze around.
Made famous by a viral video showing a tourist being chased by dozens of rabbits, it is unknown precisely why there are so many rabbits on the island. Some believe that the rabbits originally were brought to test out the chemical weapons produced on the island. They then proceeded to mate in the obvious metaphorical way.
That might not have been the case, as it is claimed that the original rabbits died when the poison gas building was destroyed. It may have been that schoolchildren brought the animals over in the 1970s. Either way, Japanese law protects the rabbits on the island: no one can kill a rabbit, and they cannot be hunted. No pets, such as dogs or cats, are allowed on the island for fear of them hunting the docile animals.
The rabbit population has spurred an influx of tourists to the island, which also has the rather depressing Poison Gas Museum. Maintaining the rabbit population, aided by the fact that tourists can buy food to feed the rabbits, adds a comfortable contentedness to an island that would otherwise be viewed as a place where death was once manufactured.
Okunoshima has, helped by the nascent rabbit population, become a prime tourist spot for travelers in Japan. The island also maintains a golf course and pristine beaches, leaving the Poison Gas Museum as a symbol of how the ways of war have been left behind in favor of a future unhindered by the thought of extermination.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
