SHUTTLE: from hotel @9:00 to Tadanoumi Port @9:05
FERRY: from Ōkunoshima Port @ 9:15 to Tadanoumi Port @ 9:30
TRAIN: from Tadanouri Station @ 9:40 on Kure Line to Mihara Station @ 10:00
TRAIN: from Mihara Station @ 11:38 on Kodama 847 on Shinkansen High Speed Train to Hiroshima Station @ 12:07
WALK: from Hiroshima Station to hotel @ 12:20
Hiroshima Castle vicinity.
Store room key in locker. Attach locker key to wrist. Clothing and towel go in the basket. Sit on stool to clean and shower. Shampoo, conditioner, and soap provided. Soak in Onsen. Men and women separated. Nude.
Every girl’s dream…
Like cats, rabbits purr when content and relaxed. Their babies are called kittens. What would Juju think?
Who gets credit for me buying a Tokyo Sea World and Tokyo Disneyland ticket on my rest day in Ōkunoshima? Justin who carries a Disney points credit card. I weathered 2 challenging hours using a device physically in Japan but with USA information to make the purchase.
On this trip, I wanted to include the Japanese’s Japan. Places where there isn’t English subtext and not the post card version of Japan. As Ōkunoshima Island is only 2.5 miles in circumference, it provides lots of time with the Japanese as we interact with 900 rabbits. With rabbits, who needs English subtext?
The Imperial Japanese Army secretly manufactured poison gas on Ōkunoshima Island from 1929 until the end of WWII. So secret, the island was not marked on maps. Under the instructions of the Allied Force at the end of the war, Japanese operators disposed of the poison gas factory and products. (Rabbits are not part of the story.)
The perimeter of the island is 2 milers. It supports one port, one hotel, a million rabbit holes, and a zillion semi-feral rabbits.
OVERVIEW
TRAIN: 20m train from Takehara Station to Tadanoumi Station
WALK: 10m walk from Tadanoumi Port Tadanoumi Station to Tadanoumi Port
FERRY: 10m from Tadanoumi Port to Ōkunoshima Port
HOTEL BUS: 10m from Tadanoumi Port to Kyukamura Ōkunoshima
When Benji told me she had visited Rabbit Island, it became a top priority. For all those I told rabbits had been abandoned from the island poison factory, I was WRONG. The rabbit breed is a domestic breed originating from Europe. Rabbits are not native to Japan and were introduced in the 1970’s.
Decided to check out Mihara the next largest city. It is large enough to have Shinkansen the high speed rail service. Glad to return on local slow train to quant Takehara.
