The Rabbit Island Okunoshima (website) in Hiroshima Japan was the main attraction that we planned our Seto Inland Sea trip around. The Rabbit Island is literally an island full of rabbits. You pronounce Okuno similarly to how Americans pronounce Pocono (Mountains). Shima (She – ma) is the Japanese word for island. Okunoshima is a little island in the Seto Inland Sea. The rabbits are everywhere and they are so cute!
The Rabbit Island Okunoshima had the local nickname “vanished island” during World War II because the island was removed from maps and was used as the center of chemical weapons research and production during the war. There were poison gas laboratories and storage facilities on the island.
After the war, few rabbits were introduced to the island (some say they were for testing the existence of remaining poison gas and some say they were released by elementary school students). Over time, these rabbits reproduced and now there are hundreds of cute rabbits roaming freely on the island, therefore, now nicknamed the Rabbit Island.
Our plan was to get to the Rabbit Island Okunoshima on the first day of our trip. With a JR pass, we planned to take the Shinkansen (Japanese high-speed rail) Hikari train from Tokyo to Okayama, changed to the Kodama train to Mihara, and then changed to the Sanyo Kure Line to Tadanoumi where we can catch a ferry to the Rabbit Island. The estimated travel time was about 7 – 8 hours.
Tokyo
Okayama
Mihara
Tadanoumi
We left early in the morning and planned to arrive early in the afternoon. However, our plan was just a plan. We didn’t realize that we were heading into a historic rainfall while we boarded the Shinkansen in Tokyo that morning.
It started to rain… harder and harder. The train started to stop and go. When we arrived at Okayama, it was much later in the afternoon than we originally planned. We also learned that Sanyo Main Line and Sanyo Kure Line were suspended due to the heavy rain and landslides.
We arrived Mihara and one piece of our transportation puzzles (Sanyo Kure Line) was missing. From a sign by the train station, we were happy to learn that there is a ferry from Mihara to Okunoshima, but we also sadly learned that it only operates on weekends and holidays, which was not our case. Without more information, we ended up taking a taxi from Mihara to Tadanoumi Port (about 5000 yen; about 45 US dollars).
We were so happy when we finally arrived the Tadanoumi Port! Luckily, we arrived before the ferries stopped! Although it was raining very hard, we were determined to reach the Rabbit Island! Here we come, rabbits! Wait for us!
It was pouring hard when we arrived the Okunoshima pier. The hotel shuttle was already there waiting. We hopped in without a doubt and were wondering where the rabbits would hide in this heavy rain.
Upon our arrival to the hotel, Kyukamura Ohkunoshima, there were a couple greeting bunnies on duty. The little kids on the same ferry quickly took out the giant carrots that they prepared for the bunnies. The rabbits attempted to follow us into the hotel. However, they must know the rules well and all stopped outside of the hotel door.
Lizzy and King Hop’s tips
Rabbits have a very fragile digestion system (just ask King Hop). Cabbages, Carrots, and other vegetables that humans eat are actually not good food for them. They can’t really digest these vegetables well (for example, cabbages). Some contain too much sugar than rabbits need (for example, carrots). These vegetables will mess up their digestion.
Their best diet is grass and hay. The next best food for them is Timothy pellets. You should buy the rabbit food from a pet store. You can also buy pellets from the port. There is no rabbit food on the island.
We were soaking wet. Even our clothes in the suitcases and backpacks were wet. The ground around the hotel started to flood. We laid everything out to dry and it felt really nice to take a hot bath in the hot spring. After dinner, it was raining even harder, we still went out to feed some bunnies hanging around the hotel.
Lizzy and King Hop’s tips
I learned that the ecosystem on the Rabbit Island isn’t sustainable because their birth blooms and there are not enough natural resources to support all the rabbits. This is like a rabbit petting zoo. The further you get away from the hotel, the more wild the rabbits are, but they will still take food from you. Do you know that rabbits are the worst beggars? King Hop: Not me, I don’t beg (King Hop looking away)… Lizzy: You are the worst one!
It was still raining the next morning. The grounds around the hotel were heavily flooded. It was even difficult to tell the flooded ground and the shoreline apart. I was worried about the bunnies and had to go out to look for them.
We walked around the hotel. The water in some areas was deep (up to my knees) and it was hard to move around. I found some bunnies hiding by the hotel and hiding near the building by the beach. Some bunnies were on the other side of the high water, but they seemed to be OK and still active.
The rain finally slowed down after breakfast and I saw the flood water start to drain away.
It was time to go out to find all the rabbits! The rabbits living by the hotel quickly came to see us.
We walked along the road by the hotel. The view of Seto Inland Sea was so dreamy after rain.
Along the way, some bunnies saw us and ran very fast torward us! Some even came down from a cliff or crossed relatively deep water (for bunnies, it was deep) to come to greet us!
Lizzy and King Hop’s tips
I know it is really exciting to see all the cute rabbits. However, when feeding them on the Rabbit Island, please try to remember a couple things for the safety of these cute bunnies:
- Please do not feed them in the middle of the road, so that they won’t get run over
- Please do not leave food outside of their nests, so that their predators won’t find the baby bunnies. If you do this, the food becomes bait to provide hawks and crows with a bunny snack (very sad!).
The road turns into a smaller mountain hiking trail. There was soil and overflowed water everywhere on the trail. An abandoned building by the road was totally flooded. We didn’t walk up to the observatory on the top of the mountain because the path was very wet and didn’t look safe to hike up. Despite the condition of the trail due to the heavy rain, it was a beautiful, pleasant, and walkable.
On the hiking trail, we spotted several groups of rabbit families. The family members snuggled together in the rain or hiding under the vegetations. They seem to live in their own territories in groups of 2 – 6 rabbits. They were so cute and sweet!
We only brought 20 lbs of rabbit food with us and we ran out of food before we even reached the bottom of the mountain. Cute mountain bunnies, cute power plant bunnies, cute pier bunnies, cute cliff bunnies and cute campground bunnies still ran toward us and I felt so sorry that we ran out of food. I had to tell each of them: I’m sorry that I’m out of food.
Lizzy and King Hop’s tips
The bunnies by the mountain hiking trails are more cautious. They don’t approach people the way like these bunnies by the hotel. The bunnies by the hotels have to compete for food, but at the same time, they get a lot more feedings than the bunnies by the mountain hiking trails. We didn’t know there were many other rabbits waiting for us away from the hotel.
If you ever visit the Rabbit Island, I would suggest you start your bunny feeding route away from the hotel first and then move toward the hotel, so that all bunnies and you will fully enjoy the interaction.
We took hundreds of pictures of the cute rabbits. If you are a big rabbit lover like me, here is the link to my Rabbit Island Gallery. Caution! There are tons of bunnies in this link!
By the time when we were leaving around noon, the grounds on the island were still flooded but much less than earlier in the morning.
We felt bad to leave all these cute rabbits. Next time, we will bring suitcases full of food and stay with the rabbits for a longer period of time, no matter rain or shine!
The Sanyo Kure train was still suspended when we were back to Tadanoumi Port. How we got to our next destination Onomichi is another story to tell…
Tadanoumi Port
Okunoshima (Rabbit Island)
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