Ōkunoshima
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Ōkunoshima (大久野島) is a small island located in the Seto Inland Sea of Japan in the city of Takehara, Hiroshima Prefecture. Getting there is a little difficult, but with campsites, walking trails, and various historical ruins to discover, it is a perfect place for a day trip. It is often called Usagi Shima, or Rabbit Island, because of the numerous wild rabbits that roam the island - these creatures are rather tame and will come close to you. Despite its size, the island played a key role during World War II as a poison gas factory for much of the chemical warfare that was carried out on the Chinese Mainland.[1]
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[edit] History
The island was a cultivated area until the First Sino-Japanese War when ten forts were built to protect it. However, at the beginning of the Showa Era (1928-1945) it became home to a poison-gas facility that produced over six kilotons of mustard gas and yprium.[2]
The island was chosen for its isolation, conduciveness to security, and because it was far enough from Tokyo and other areas in case of disaster. Under the jurisdiction of the Japanese military, the local fish preservation processor was converted into a poison-gas reactor. Residents and potential employees were not told what the plant was manufacturing and everything was kept secret; working conditions were harsh and many suffered from gas exposure related illnesses.
With the end of the war, documents concerning the plant were burned and Allied Occupation Forces disposed of the gas either by dumping it or burying it. The laboratory animals were set loose - hence the many rabbits today - and people were told to be silent about the project. Several decades later, victims from the plant were given government aid for treatment, and in 1988 the Ōknoshima Poison Gas Museum was opened.
[edit] Present
The Island now has a congress-hotel, a six-hole golf course and a small camping ground. When the tide is at its maximum or minimum, people can swim in clean water. The whole island looks a little like a petting zoo: this is because the school children who had to care for the rabbits in the laboratories set them free when the factory was demolished. Hunting these creatures is forbidden and dogs and cats may not be taken onto the island. The ruins of the old forts and the gas factory can be found all over the island; entry is prohibited as it is too dangerous. Since it is part of the Inland Sea National Park system of Japan, there is a resource center and across the way is the Ōkunoshima Poison Gas Museum.
[edit] Poison Gas Museum
Opened in 1988, the museum "was established in order to alert as many many people as possible to the dreadful truths about poison gas."[3]
Only two rooms large, the small building provides a basic overview of the construction of the plant, working conditions and the effects of poison gas on humans. Families of workers who suffered the aftereffects of the harsh working conditions donated numerous artifacts to help tell the story of the workers' plight when handling the gas with poor safety equipment that often leaked.
The second room shows how poison gas affects the human body through the lungs, eyes, skin, and heart. Images of victims from Iraq and Iran add to the message of the museum: that the effects of poison gas are devastating to people and should not be used in any war.
Because of the secrecy involved, people around the world and in Japan do not realize the active role the island played creating gas for the war effort. This is why the museum was created: to inform the world, especially the Japanese, about the aggressive stance that the country adopted. As expressed by the curator Murakami Hatsuichi to The New York Times, “My hope is that people will see the museum in Hiroshima City and also this one, so they will learn that we [Japanese] were both victims and aggressors in the war. I hope people will realize both facets and recognize the importance of peace."[4]
In the museum one can pick up a guide to the numerous remains of the forts from the Sino-Japanese War and the poison gas factory. Most of the buildings are run-down and condemned, but recognizable.
The museum is aimed mainly at the Japanese people, but English translations are provided on the overall summary for each section. The rest is entirely in Japanese.
[edit] Travel
Getting to Ōkunoshima can be a task but it is possible.
Option 1:
- Ride the Sanyō Shinkansen train to Mihara Station (the Nozomi does not stop there so a slower train will have to be taken); at Mihara, catch the Kure Line local train to Tadanoumi, from there walk to the docks and catch a ferry.
Option 2:
- From Hiroshima, ride the Kure Line local train to Tadanoumi and then catch the ferry.
There are other means of getting there, but it may take a little more research.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Ian Buruma, The Wages of Guilt: Memories of War in Germany and Japan, (New York: Meridan, 1994), 111.
- ^ "The Beginning of the Gas Plants," (Ōkunoshima Poison Gas Museum Exhibit: Ōkunoshima Island, Hiroshima Prefecture), visited December 10, 2006.
- ^ "Ōkunoshima Poison Gas Museum," (Ōkunoshima Poison Gas Museum Exhibit: Ōkunoshima Island, Hiroshima Prefecture), visited December 10, 2006.
- ^ Nicholas D. Kristof, “Okunoshima Journal; A Museum to Remind Japanese of Their Own Guilt,” The New York Times, August 12, 1955, sec. 1, p. 2.
