"Don't forget the history of harm done!" - Japanese Army's Visit to "Poison Island" Visitor | Rabbit | History

Strolling through Ohkuno Island in Takehara City, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan, you can see symbols of jumping rabbits and cartoon rabbits everywhere. In the eyes of ordinary tourists, Okuno Island is a well-known "rabbit paradise", and in history, it was the main stronghold for the Japanese army to manufacture poison gas. The large amount of toxic gas bombs produced on Okuno Island were once used by the invading Japanese army to harm Chinese soldiers and civilians.

August 15th is the 78th anniversary of Japan's defeat. The reporter accompanied Japanese anti war peace activists, friendly groups, and international students to visit Okuno Island, known as the "Poison Gas Island".

Okuno Island is located in the Seto Inland Sea and can be reached by boat from Tadahai Port in Takehara City in just over 10 minutes. As soon as they got off the ship, the reporter saw several children happily chasing rabbits and feeding them. Little did they know that the rabbits here were also victims of aggressive wars.

From 1929 to 1945, Japan disregarded international legal prohibitions and produced a large amount of chemical agents for the manufacture of chemical weapons, of which about 90% were produced on Ohkuno Island, where 200 rabbits were raised to test the effectiveness of the gas. After the defeat, Japan wiped out all experimental rabbits to cover up the crime of chemical weapons. Nowadays, rabbits were later introduced to attract tourists.

78 year old Masayoshi Yamauchi is the affairs director of the non-governmental organization "Toxic Gas Island Historical Research Institute". He has been explaining "Toxic Gas Island" on Okuno Island for 25 years. Yamauchi told reporters that in recent years, with Japan's history education only focusing on the history of victimization rather than the history of victimization, the vast majority of tourists only know about "Bunny Island" and not "Poison Gas Island". "Nine out of ten people came from rabbits, and perhaps only one person wants to know about that period of history - it turns out that toxic gas was produced on the island and Japan used it during World War II."

According to data, in 1927, the Japanese army opened a gas factory on Okuno Island. From its official production in 1929 to Japan's defeat in 1945, more than 6000 people worked in gas factories. The produced gas, after being loaded with shells, was continuously transported to the Chinese battlefield. There have been as many as 1241 recorded Japanese gas wars in China, resulting in over 200000 casualties among Chinese military and civilians.

During the War of Aggression, the Japanese military, in order to maintain confidentiality, erased Ohkuno Island from the map of the Seto Inland Sea and stipulated that no one could land on the island without the permission of the Minister of War.

This practice of concealing the history of harm continues to this day in a tangible and intangible way.

There is a gas information museum on Okuno Island, which was built in 1988 for the voluntary collection of information and fundraising by civil peace activists. The museum displays information such as gas manufacturing devices, residual gas bombs, gas suits and masks, and documents ordering the use of gas by the Japanese army in China.

In this library, warnings of "no unauthorized filming" can be seen everywhere. According to insiders, filming requires prior permission from the mayor of Takehara City, which is clearly not possible for ordinary tourists. As a result, although the Poison Gas Archive has been built for many years, most Japanese tourists still know little about the criminal history behind Okuno Island.

"This is equivalent to shifting the obligation to reflect on war to the people and handing over the power to cover up history to the government," Chinese Consul General in Osaka, Xue Jian, told reporters.

Okunoshima is only a few dozen kilometers away from Hiroshima City, with convenient transportation. But there is a huge contrast in the attitude of the Japanese government and society towards the two. The city of Hiroshima, which was once bombed by atomic bombs, has been meticulously crafted as a symbol of war victims. The Hiroshima atomic bomb site, as a world cultural heritage site, has been carefully protected, while the historical relics on the nearby "Gas Island" are rarely visited. Yamauchi said with concern, "Perhaps one day, Japan's bad politicians will destroy the remains here."

Yamauchi also pointed out that the Japanese government enacted laws to compensate victims of atomic bombs after the war, but those who suffered from the aftermath of producing poison gas on Okuno Island did not receive compensation because the Japanese government was unwilling to make the dark history of "Poison Island" public.

Friendly fellow climber and chairman of Fukuyama City University, Toshiko Sato, stated that Japanese people should not only know the history of being bombed by atomic bombs, but also must not forget the history of harm caused by "gas islands".

In fact, the "Poison Gas Island" has not completely become history, and the chemical weapons produced here and abandoned by the Japanese army are still endangering the Chinese people.

On the eve of Japan's defeat, in order to cover up their crimes and evade accountability, the Japanese army buried or abandoned a large number of unused chemical weapons on the spot. These chemical weapons were found in more than 120 locations in 18 provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the central government of China. Since Japan's defeat, the abandonment of chemical weapons has caused over 2000 casualties among the Chinese people.

For a long period after the war, the Japanese government avoided being perfunctory in resolving the issue of abandoned chemical weapons in China. It was not until the late 1990s, under pressure from China and the international community, that a memorandum of understanding was signed with China to destroy Japan's abandoned chemical weapons. However, due to factors such as the lack of urgency from the Japanese side and insufficient investment in human and financial resources, the progress of the disposal of abandoned chemical weapons has been delayed, and it has been delayed four times. In July of this year, the Japanese government decided to significantly postpone the completion deadline of this work to 2027.

"We strongly urge Japan to fulfill its responsibilities and obligations, fully increase investment, accelerate work throughout the entire chain, and clean and completely eliminate the toxic effects of Japanese chemical weapons as soon as possible, returning a pure land to the Chinese people and soothing their war wounds," Xue Jian emphasized. "History is the best textbook. Forgetting history means betrayal. Adhering to the path of peace means guarding the truth of history."