Now if there is anything more cute than puppies and kittens ....
... its got to be baby bunnies
What has this got to do with anything? Well its a factor in the popularity of a poisoned island to Japanese tourists.
Ōkunoshima is a small island off the coast of mainland Japan, located in the Inland Sea of Japan.that has a dark history ... it played a key role in the Japanese war effort during World War II, as the location of a poison gas factory, which was used illegally by Japanese forces in China. This despite the fact that Japan was a signatory of the 1925 Geneva Protocol, which banned the use of chemical warfare (although not research).
For reasons that are not clear, the US occupation forces disposed of the gas either by dumping, burning, or burying it somewhere locally. Local people were told to be silent about the plants uses, and for several decades victims from the plant were given no government aid for medical treatment to conditions relating to exposure to the gas.
Finally, in 1988 the Ōkunoshima Poison Gas Museum was opened .... but in reality few people would have gone to see it but for one fact. The island is overrun by a large population of rabbits. Many are descended from rabbits intentionally let loose after World War II .... they had been used in the poison gas experiments.
Hunting the rabbits on the island is expressly forbidden, and dogs and cats are not allowed on the island (although foxes and hawks take a few) ..... the rabbits have the food available on the island, which is supplemented by tourists coming to feed the rabbits.
This makes it a very popular tourist spot, as the rabbits have become very friendly, and many people come just to experience the feeding frenzy on Wabbit Island. At least one good thing, out of a terrible crime.
But strangely Japan has another animal island ..... Aoshima (Neko no shima) aka 'Cat Island'. Located in Ehime Prefecture, it has a human population of just nine, mostly pensioners, and around 200 cats. The cats are the descendants of those introduced to catch rats brought to the island by visiting ships.
The majority of the population left the island to find work elsewhere, but the feral cats were left, and just bred, however they remained human socialised because of the pensioners.
And like the rabbit island, there is now a tourist trade on this little fishing island, and these along with the remaining local population feed the cats. But no one knows for sure what will happen to the cats when these kind pensioners die out .....
 |
| Who Could Resist This? |
... its got to be baby bunnies
What has this got to do with anything? Well its a factor in the popularity of a poisoned island to Japanese tourists.
Ōkunoshima is a small island off the coast of mainland Japan, located in the Inland Sea of Japan.that has a dark history ... it played a key role in the Japanese war effort during World War II, as the location of a poison gas factory, which was used illegally by Japanese forces in China. This despite the fact that Japan was a signatory of the 1925 Geneva Protocol, which banned the use of chemical warfare (although not research).
For reasons that are not clear, the US occupation forces disposed of the gas either by dumping, burning, or burying it somewhere locally. Local people were told to be silent about the plants uses, and for several decades victims from the plant were given no government aid for medical treatment to conditions relating to exposure to the gas.
 |
| Some Are A Bit Tense Feeding Them .... |
Finally, in 1988 the Ōkunoshima Poison Gas Museum was opened .... but in reality few people would have gone to see it but for one fact. The island is overrun by a large population of rabbits. Many are descended from rabbits intentionally let loose after World War II .... they had been used in the poison gas experiments.
 |
| Others Just Go With The Flow .... |
Hunting the rabbits on the island is expressly forbidden, and dogs and cats are not allowed on the island (although foxes and hawks take a few) ..... the rabbits have the food available on the island, which is supplemented by tourists coming to feed the rabbits.
This makes it a very popular tourist spot, as the rabbits have become very friendly, and many people come just to experience the feeding frenzy on Wabbit Island. At least one good thing, out of a terrible crime.
But strangely Japan has another animal island ..... Aoshima (Neko no shima) aka 'Cat Island'. Located in Ehime Prefecture, it has a human population of just nine, mostly pensioners, and around 200 cats. The cats are the descendants of those introduced to catch rats brought to the island by visiting ships.
The majority of the population left the island to find work elsewhere, but the feral cats were left, and just bred, however they remained human socialised because of the pensioners.
 |
| Tourists Find Cat Island A Purrfect Visit |
And like the rabbit island, there is now a tourist trade on this little fishing island, and these along with the remaining local population feed the cats. But no one knows for sure what will happen to the cats when these kind pensioners die out .....
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