Okunoshima Island is located in the Inland Sea of Japan and it is full of adorable bunnies.

The place was used for a secret poison gas factory during World War II, and it produced six kilotons (6000 tons) of mustard gas and tear gas. Japan kept the island top secret, and even erased the island from some maps of Japan!

By the end of the war, the Allied Forces came to the island and all documentation of the factory’s existence was destroyed. The gas was dumped, burned or buried by the Allied Occupation Forces, who also demanded that the people who had worked in the factory remained silent about the project.

The vast number of rabbits on the island were purposefully released there to test the effectiveness of the poison, and when the Allied Forces came to dump all the gas, either the rabbits escaped on their own, or the Allied Forces released them.

In 2007, about 300 rabbits were on the island. Today, between 700 and 1000 rabbits hop around on the island.

Check this video out to see how many rabbits there are! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nj5qfO0UqQA

On the island, other than a place where you can feed and pet the rabbits, there is a Tourist resort, small golf course, camping grounds, beautiful beaches, a Poison Gas Museum, and tours are also given of the now derelict poison gas facilities.

Okunoshima is a great place to visit, if you like rabbits. These adorable creatures can make you forget about its dark history!