Guide to visiting Rabbit Island "Okunoshima"
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Okunoshima Island or more popularly known as "Usagi Shima" or Rabbit Island is on the Seto Inland Sea. A few hours from Hiroshima it is a good day trip from the city. A recreation island, you can bike around the island or swim in the beach in the summer. There are about 700 wild rabbits on the island. Since they don't have predators on the island, their number continues to multiply.
This island was used in the production of chemical warfare between 1929-1945 for the Japanese Imperial Army. There is a Poison Gas Museum on the island and many ruins around.
You can allot half a day if you leave Hiroshima early. The frequency & timing of trains and ferry can leave you spending an hour or more waiting. To reach Okunoshima,take the street car to Hiroshima Station. Take the Kodama bullet train to Mihara Station. Since this isn't a large city not all bullet trains stop at this station. From Mihara Station, transfer to the local line to Tadanoumi Station. We had missed our train by a few minutes and had to wait for an hour for the next trip. Once you reach Tadanoumi Station, walk to Tadanomi port. As you exit the station, turn right and walk a couple of blocks. Right before the bridge turn right towards the ferry port. Purchase a return ticket (round trip Y620) at the machine at the port. Take ferry to the island. The ferry boat could be a small ferry (fits just passengers) or a large ferry (can fit vehicles) depending on the trip.
Tadanomi Port Station
They sell a pack rabbit pellets for Y100. Make sure to buy or bring some vegetables or rabbit pellets before taking the ferry. We didn't see anywhere to purchase on the island. Tip: Bring lots of pellets if you want them to swarm you. There were some who brought big bags of pellets and carrots & cabbages for the rabbits.
As you get off the ferry boat, you are immediately greeted by them. Make sure not to feed them on and by the side of the road. Although there are limited cars allowed on the island, there is a shuttle bus and many bikers on the road.
These wild rabbits are so used to people that they're not shy in approaching you. Make sure though not to put your hands too close to their mouths as they're teeth are sharp. Also they'll jump for the food in your hands so be mindful your hands with food are not within their reach.
From the ferry boat terminal on the island, walk to the path on the left to reach the rabbit ears and boardwalk. We weren't able to explore the entire island and visit all the ruins on our short trip.There is also some ruins a short distance from the ferry port on the right side. You can walk around the entire island or rent a bike and be able to go around in less than an hour.
The ferry boat back isn't as frequent. Thus it's a good idea to have a trip in mind for your departure so you can spend enough time and not need to rush to catch or wait for a while for a ferry. We unfortunately got distracted feeding the rabbits we missed the ferry we had planned on taking and had to wait for an hour and a half to catch the next ferry and just had less than 10 minutes to walk from the ferry port to the train station to catch the train back to Hiroshima. There are also bus options from Hiroshima to Tadanomi port but doesn't leave that early and takes longer than a well-timed trip. Also the train from Hiroshima station is covered by the Kansai-Hiroshima pass. you can also use your JR Pass for those train trips.
Earliest departure from Tadanomi port to Okunoshima 7:40 AM last departure 6:40 PM; earliest return from rabbit island to Tadanomi port is 8:10 last trip 7:15. there is quite a gap during lunch time so I would suggest eating lunch and catching the 1:48 PM ferry back or leave on he 11:40AM ferry and have lunch in Tadanomi. There are only vending machines for beverages near the ferry port and the resort is about 1 km walk. Take the shuttle bus right beside the port if you'll be going to the resort.
You could technically make it a day trip from Osaka or Kyoto but you'll be spending most of the day commuting. I would suggest staying a night or two at least in Hiroshima.
Tip: if you bought pellets at the Tadanomi port, you can get a free postcard for every empty pack you return. They even accepted my crumbled and torn paper bag.
HOW TO GET THERE: 1. From Hiroshima, Kyoto or Osaka take the Kodama Bullet Train to Mihara 2. Take Kure LIne from Mihara to Tadanomi Station 3. Take the 15 min Tadanomi - Okunoshima Ferry
NEAREST TRAIN STATION: Tadanomi Station
FERRY SCHEDULE: (Tadanomi port to Rabbit Island) : http://sanyo-shosen.jp/omishima/index.html Y320 oneway Y620 roundtrip
HOURS OF OPERATION: Earliest ferry to the island: 7:40 AM Last ferry outL 7:15 PM. You also have the option of staying overnight in the hotel on the island.
WEBSITE: Rabbit Island Website: http://rabbit-island.info/ & Hotel on Rabbit Island: https://www.qkamura.or.jp/en/ohkuno/
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