Ōkunoshima
Rabbit Island ・ Seto Inland Sea, Hiroshima
A small island of 0.7 km² in the Seto Inland Sea, with more rabbits than residents. It stays quiet only because everyone who lands here keeps a few simple rules — please read them before you come.
The island at a glance
- Location
- Takehara, Hiroshima — Seto Inland Sea national park
- Access
- Ferry from Tadanoumi (Takehara) or Ōmishima
- Size
- 0.7 km² ・ 4.3 km of coastline ・ highest point 108 m
- Rabbits
- Around 500 wild rabbits, descendants of a few released by a local school in the early 1970s; the island has no predators
- History
- A secret Army poison-gas plant from 1929 to 1945, once left off maps; the Poison Gas Museum opened in 1988
- On island
- Kyuqamura resort, Poison Gas Museum and visitor centre; no private vehicles on the island
Island rules
- 1 Please do not chase or pick up the rabbits. They are wild, they are easily stressed, and they are the reason you came.
- 2 Please feed the rabbits nothing at all. The grass on the island is enough for them, and food from your bag makes them sick.
- 3 No dogs, no cats, and never harm a rabbit — hunting the rabbits is forbidden on the island.
- 4 Stay out of the cordoned-off ruins. The old factory and fort buildings are condemned and dangerous.
- 5 Take everything you brought back with you. There is no rubbish collection here, and even the water comes to the island by ship.
More information
🇬🇧 rabbit-island.info/en/
Island guide, ferry times and places to stay (English).
🇯🇵 rabbit-island.info
The Japanese site — local news and notices.
🇬🇧 Wikipedia
Ōkunoshima — the island's history in English.
🇯🇵 Wikipedia
Ōkunoshima — 大久野島, in Japanese.