Hiroshima Prefecture

Just off the coast of Hiroshima is Okunoshima, more commonly called Rabbit Island. Although the island is small, it’s home to more than 1,000 rabbits. The place was relatively unknown to anyone other than locals until a few years ago, but now it’s one of the most popular places in Japan for animal lovers. Where Did the Rabbits Come From? Okunoshima has a fascinating (albeit dark) history. As far back as the Meiji period, the island was a military fortification. In World War II, it became a test site for the Imperial Japanese Army to create poison gas. It was a secret location and didn’t appear on any maps. At the end of the war, the government opened up the island to the public and established the Poison Gas Museum to be open about its history. However, none of this explains the rabbits. Theories include that they were already inhabiting the island when it was used by the military or were brought in later to check that no poison gas remained. A more popular theory is that school children released a few rabbits to bring some joy to the island — and they bred like rabbits. Whatever the case, the…