Visiting the Rabbits of Okunoshima

Rabbit island – home to countless semi-wild bunnies

Anne Lauenroth Dec 09, 2015 - 1 min read

<p>Some prefer a little bit of shade</p>

<p>Most of the rabbits on Okunoshima are brown, but this little guy (or girl) had silver fur</p>

<p>Once they know you have food, there's no holding back</p>

<p>Completely without fear around humans</p>

<p>Where the cute meets the morbid - bunny in front of the ruins of the poison gas factory</p>

<p>Even when asleep, my ears are always keeping track of what's going on around me</p>

<p>This guy was a bit more timid than most of the others, but curiosity won</p>

Okunoshima is a little island in the Seto Inland Sea. During WWII, the island was home to a poison gas factory.

Today, countless semi-wild rabbits have turned the formerly morbid place into a tourist attraction for children and animal lovers. The rabbits, which are said to be the descendants of freed test bunnies (although that might just be an urban legend), roam the island freely and are mostly very docile. The cute, fluffy bunnies make for an interesting contrast with the ruins of the poison gas factory.

Okunoshima is accessible by ferry from Tadanoumi Port on Honshu, just a 5-minute walk from Tadanoumi JR station, or the more remote Sakari Port on Omishima Island. These pictures were taken in summer 2015.

Anne Lauenroth @anne.lauenroth

German writer, translator and editor with a passion for travel, photography and all things Japanese. More about me and my work on www.allwordz.com and www.floating-worlds.com.