Okunoshima Rabbit Island｜A Side Trip Near Hiroshima

Hi everyone. Today I’m sharing my visit to Okunoshima, a getaway near Hiroshima famous as both a rabbit paradise and the poison gas island.

Okunoshima is a small uninhabited island in the Seto Inland Sea, part of Takehara City in Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan. With a total area of about 0.7 km², it’s a really small island, but hundreds of wild rabbits live all over it and greet visitors, which is why it’s famous as ‘Rabbit Island.’

Until the modern era, it was an ordinary rural island used for farming, but after the Russo-Japanese War broke out, it was swept up in the stormy changes of modern times. Being small and far from big cities apparently made it look ideal for keeping secrets. Okunoshima was soon judged the perfect place for a ‘poison gas production site,’ turned into an island where chemical weapons were secretly made, and became a forbidden zone producing deadly gas. Yes, there’s no way the Japanese military, second to none when it came to war crimes, would not have used chemical weapons.

Unit 731 and Unit 516, Japanese war crimes

Anyway, after World War II ended in Japan’s defeat, the Japanese military destroyed all records and facilities related to its war crimes, and the island was left abandoned for a while. Then, after the war, as the Japanese government began developing national parks and quasi-national parks to promote leisure, Okunoshima was designated a National Vacation Village in 1960. That’s how it met the strange fate of going from a poison gas production site to a tourist spot. Of course, simply making a declaration didn’t make everything that had gone on there disappear, and problems big and small caused by poison gas reportedly came up even while the island was being developed. Poison gas worth five or six 2.5-ton truckloads was found in an air-raid shelter, and construction workers inhaled the gas; such discoveries and accidents reportedly continued until 1972.

And so Okunoshima transformed from a poison gas island into an island of rabbits. The rabbits became this plentiful because, when the National Vacation Village was being set up, there was an effort to bring in an animal that could symbolize the island. The accepted story is that they were first brought in in 1971, and today there are estimated to be probably more than 600 rabbits.

To get onto Okunoshima, you first need to reach the port where the ferry to the island leaves. The Okunoshima ferry terminal is in Tadanoumi (忠海), a small town in Takehara City, Hiroshima Prefecture.

Here is the latest ferry timetable. It can change at any time, so please check the official website for updates.

⛴ mark: ferry (capacity 300, carries vehicles)

No mark: passenger boat (capacity 100)

△ mark: no service on weekdays (except Dec 30 – Jan 2)

( ) mark: does not call at Rabbit Island during the winter season, Nov 1 – Jan 31.

The ① and ② numbers next to the Rabbit Island times show which pier on Rabbit Island the boat uses.

The ferry terminal shares a building with a souvenir shop (忠海港 土産物売り場). It sells ferry tickets to Okunoshima along with all kinds of souvenirs. It also sells rabbit food. If you buy a bag like I did, you’ll get shaken down by… I mean, make friends with the rabbits.

Across from it is the pier where the ferry docks. Wait in the souvenir shop or the waiting room opposite, and a crew member will come out and make an announcement; that’s when you board.

The boat isn’t very big. It’s a small ferry, about the size of a slightly large fishing boat, and it felt like it could carry around 70 people. It seems different-sized boats run at different times; the one I took carried passengers only, and at other times a car ferry apparently comes.

The name Rabbit Island is no exaggeration. Rabbits here, rabbits there; you honestly run into a rabbit every ten steps, and they’re everywhere you look.

These rabbits aren’t afraid of people at all. If anything, when they spot a person, they rush over in a crowd to see if you’ve brought food. Maybe years of island life have made them seasoned pros, because they come running even if you just act like you’re holding something. Still, being rabbits, they don’t threaten (?) you for food the way the deer in Nara or Miyajima do, but they’re pretty lively.

Oh, and the rules say ‘Do not feed the rabbits directly by hand,’ but honestly, nobody seems to follow it, and nobody seems to say anything either. I guess you’re supposed to put the food in something like a bowl… I gave up after a while and just fed them by hand. That said, their bite is stronger than you’d think, so be careful not to scare them by snatching your hand away when you feed them. One wrong move and you could bleed.

Apart from the fact that there are rabbits, lots of rabbits, and really lots of rabbits… there isn’t much to see on the island itself. It’s literally a small rural island without much in the way of facilities. It’s not quite at the level of ‘take away the rabbits and it’s a deserted island,’ but… Okunoshima is a pretty small island to begin with. With a total area of about 0.7 km², roughly a fifth the size of New York’s Central Park, it’s definitely not a big island. In practice, about 1–2 hours is enough to look around this small island.

First, there’s a campground that makes use of the nice scenery along the beach. You might think ‘Wow! Camping with the rabbits!’, but the campground area is separated, and it seems rabbits are kept out. The rabbits have a bit of an attitude, so maybe it’s better this way.

There’s also a bicycle rental service so you can get around the whole island. It’s perfectly walkable, but if you’d like to get around more comfortably or have a soft spot for cycling, renting one could be worth it.

There’s also one resort on the island. It’s the island’s only accommodation. I didn’t think the island was worth staying overnight, so I didn’t pay much attention to it, but if you want to fully soak up Okunoshima’s atmosphere for a night, stop by.

Finally, as I mentioned above, there are facilities related to the island’s history. These are facilities used for poison gas production during World War II that have been left standing. Not only the facilities used to make poison gas but also several of the facilities built for the military base, such as bunkers and hangars, were left as they were instead of being torn down.

They aren’t maintained, so everything is rusted or off-limits, but I think that actually conveys the futility of war and the passage of time even better. Personally, this contrast was what made Okunoshima memorable. It’s where you can see vividly how the setting of a small rural island far from the center changes when it meets the times. I think travel is about feeling the stories of places and spaces. In that sense, this contrast shows how a small island like Okunoshima has changed more effectively than a thousand words of explanation.

The island also has a museum that shows this history. Unfortunately it closed at 4, so I got there too late to go in. Judging by its size, 15 minutes should be enough to see everything, so it could be worth stopping by to learn about the island’s turbulent history.

There’s no doubt that Okunoshima has a unique identity as both a rabbit island and a former poison gas production site. Personally, though, I think it’s a bit hard to justify as a standalone destination. Unless you’re pairing it with Onomichi, there doesn’t seem to be much reason to make a special trip. There isn’t much to see on the island itself, but the rabbits are definitely cute, and seeing as many rabbits as you could ever want is a clear plus, so think it over. Unless you really love rabbits, you don’t need to go out of your way, but if, like me, you’re heading out of Hiroshima toward places like Onomichi, it seems well worth a stop on the way.

How do I get to Okunoshima?

First, you need to get to the ferry terminal in Tadanoumi and take the ferry. Coming by rental car like I did is quick, but if you’re coming from Hiroshima City, take the JR Kure Line to Tadanoumi Station. From there, buy a ferry ticket and board the boat as described in this post.

Are there really that many rabbits?

Guaranteed. You’ll see as many rabbits as your heart desires. It feels like you’ll find three rabbits every ten steps…

Can I take a car onto Okunoshima?

There’s a car ferry, so it might be possible, but honestly I’m not sure. I didn’t see anyone who had brought a car onto the island… I left mine at the port too. The island isn’t big enough to need a car, so people don’t seem to see the point. There’s a resort on the island, so ask them for details.

Can I hold or pet the rabbits?

First of all, touching the rabbits is prohibited by the rules. But nobody is watching, so there isn’t really anything to stop you if you do. I did touch them lightly while feeding them. Still, no matter how unafraid of people they are, rabbits are rabbits. I’d only suggest a light touch at most, and I strongly advise against picking them up or holding them.

Can I feed the rabbits?

You can’t touch them, but you can feed them. Rabbits eat pellets and vegetables. The souvenir shop sells rabbit pellets and vegetables before you board the ferry. I remember it being around 100 yen, and one bag is plenty for walking around the island unless you scatter it everywhere.

Are the rabbits aggressive?

They’re not afraid of people, but that doesn’t make them aggressive. They’ve learned that people carry food, so they basically run over when they see you, but they won’t do anything if you don’t have food. Once they realize you don’t have any, they basically lose interest.

How much is the ferry?

The standard adult round-trip fare is 720 yen. Fares are shown in the ticket machine photo in this post and on the official website too, so please take a look.