Ōkunoshima (大久野島) is a small island located in the Inland Sea of Japan in the city of Takehara, Hiroshima Prefecture. It is accessible by ferry from Tadanoumi and Ōmishima. There are campsites, walking trails and places of historical interest on the island. It is often called Usagi Shima, or Rabbit Island, because of the numerous wild rabbits that roam the island - these creatures are rather tame and will come close to you. Despite its size, the island played a key role during World War II as a poison gas factory for much of the chemical warfare that was carried out in China.[1]
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The island was a cultivated area until the First Sino-Japanese War when ten forts were built to protect it. Japan was a signatory on the 1925 Geneva Protocol which banned the use of poison gas. Although the development and holding such gas were not banned, the country went to great lengths to assure the secrecy of the building of the poison gas plant begun in 1929, even going so far as to remove records of the island from some maps. The plant, constructed at the beginning of the Showa Era (1926–1989), was home to a poison-gas facility that produced over six kilotons of mustard gas.[2]
The island was chosen for its isolation, conduciveness to security, and because it was far enough from Tokyo and other areas in case of disaster. Under the jurisdiction of the Japanese military, the local fish preservation processor was converted into a poison-gas reactor. Residents and potential employees were not told what the plant was manufacturing and everything was kept secret; working conditions were harsh and many suffered from gas exposure related illnesses.
With the end of the war, documents concerning the plant were burned and Allied Occupation Forces disposed of the gas either by dumping, burning, or burying it. The laboratory animals were set loose - hence the many rabbits that remain on the island - and people were told to be silent about the project. Several decades later, victims from the plant were given government aid for treatment, and in 1988 the Ōkunoshima Poison Gas Museum was opened.
The Island now has a congress-hotel, a six-hole golf course and a small camping ground. Visitors are able to swim in the clean water surrounding the island, regardless of the tide level. The whole island looks a little like a petting zoo. Many rabbits live in the island. When the island was developed for park after the World War 2, these rabbits were intentionally loosed. Many rabbits were used in the poison gas plant to test effectiveness of the chemical weapon during the World war 2. But all these rabbits were killed when the factory was demolished, therefore the current rabbits have nothing to do with the rabbits for chemical weapon test.[3] Hunting these creatures is forbidden and dogs and cats may not be taken onto the island. The ruins of the old forts and the gas factory can be found all over the island; entry is prohibited as it is too dangerous. Since it is part of the Inland Sea National Park system of Japan, there is a resource center and across the way is the museum.
Opened in 1988, the museum "was established in order to alert as many people as possible to the dreadful truths about poison gas."[4]
Only two rooms large, the small building provides a basic overview of the construction of the plant, working conditions and the effects of poison gas on humans. Families of workers who suffered the aftereffects of the harsh working conditions donated numerous artifacts to help tell the story of the workers' plight when handling the gas with poor safety equipment that often leaked.
The second room shows how poison gas affects the human body through the lungs, eyes, skin, and heart. Images of victims from Iraq and Iran add to the message of the museum: that the effects of poison gas are devastating to people and should not be used in any war.
Because of the secrecy involved, people around the world and in Japan do not realize the active role the island played creating gas for the war effort. This is why the museum was created: to inform the world, especially the Japanese, about the aggressive stance that the country adopted. As expressed by the curator Murakami Hatsuichi to The New York Times, “My hope is that people will see the museum in Hiroshima City and also this one, so they will learn that we [Japanese] were both victims and aggressors in the war. I hope people will realize both facets and recognize the importance of peace."[5]
In the museum one can pick up a guide to the numerous remains of the forts from the Sino-Japanese War and the poison gas factory. Most of the buildings are run-down and condemned, but recognizable.
The museum is aimed mainly at the Japanese people, but English translations are provided on the overall summary for each section. The rest is entirely in Japanese.
Over the island runs a powerline on the tallest electricity pylons in Japan, see Chusi Powerline Crossing
The best way of accessing the island from the mainland is to take the Sanyō Shinkansen train to Mihara Station (the Nozomi does not stop there so a slower train will have to be taken); at Mihara, catch the Kure Line local train to Tadanoumi, from there walk to the terminal and catch a ferry.