Yesterday we went to Okunoshima, more commonly known as Bunny Island (being named because of the abundance of fluffy little bunnies) with some friends.
The way you get there from Fukuyama is you take the Sanyo-sen to Mihara (that's where we were meeting up with our friends), then transfer to the Kure-sen to Tadanoumi, then take a ferry to the island. It was a bit of a hassle to get to, because our train out from Fukuyama station was 15 minutes late. It's quite shocking, I know.
Now, generally this would not be a problem, however, the Kure-sen from Mihara runs really, and I mean really, infrequently. The train leaves from Mihara to Kure between 9AM and 2PM at 9:29, 11:15, 12:52, and 13:25. Yes, that infrequently. The train we were taking from Fukuyama was stupposed to arrive to Mihara station at 11:09, but it was late, so we missed our train out to the ferry. Since we already came this far, and we wanted to be back in Fukuyama by 4:30PM to meet some friends for a last-minute hanami, we decided to try and catch the 12:30 ferry we were supposed to catch by taking a taxi to the port. It cost us ￥4000, but we got to the ferry on time, and met up with our friends after all. The ferry tickets for round-trip cost ￥600/person.
The way you get there from Fukuyama is you take the Sanyo-sen to Mihara (that's where we were meeting up with our friends), then transfer to the Kure-sen to Tadanoumi, then take a ferry to the island. It was a bit of a hassle to get to, because our train out from Fukuyama station was 15 minutes late. It's quite shocking, I know.
Now, generally this would not be a problem, however, the Kure-sen from Mihara runs really, and I mean really, infrequently. The train leaves from Mihara to Kure between 9AM and 2PM at 9:29, 11:15, 12:52, and 13:25. Yes, that infrequently. The train we were taking from Fukuyama was stupposed to arrive to Mihara station at 11:09, but it was late, so we missed our train out to the ferry. Since we already came this far, and we wanted to be back in Fukuyama by 4:30PM to meet some friends for a last-minute hanami, we decided to try and catch the 12:30 ferry we were supposed to catch by taking a taxi to the port. It cost us ￥4000, but we got to the ferry on time, and met up with our friends after all. The ferry tickets for round-trip cost ￥600/person.
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| She's coming for you, bunnies! | The welcome sign of the island. |
We had some lunch as soon as we got off the ferry, as both Rini and our friend's baby were quite hungry by now, not to mention us, adults. Already we saw at least ten bunnies around us, and while I set up our lunch, James tried to acquaint Rini with them with some success. After our lunch, we walked to the abandoned factory near by. While the island is now famous for being overrun by bunnies, during the war poison gas factories operated here, testing the effects of the chemicals on rabbits. After the war, the rabbits were let loose, and lived here ever since. Of course, the bunnies seen today are many many generations down the line from the test bunnies, and having no natural predators, there are literally hundreds of them if not more.
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| It is a huge building. | The view from the stairs... |
After taking a few pictures of the factory, we tried to befriend a few bunnies outside. Though supposedly you can buy rabbit food for a ￥100/cup at the hotel lobby on the island, we brought our own food (cabbage and carrots), since our friend, who has been on the island many times before, said the bunnies prefer it. Though the bunnies are really friendly and will come close for food, they generally don't let themselves being pet.
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| The only place Rini could sit without sitting in bunny poop was the road, but few people were around, so it was fine. | Well, hello there bunny! (^_^) |
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| The clear, clear sea. |
Next, we started walking towards the museum. As we walked along the coast, it surprised me just how clear and beautiful the sea surrounding the island was. Right there I made up my mind to come back in the summer and enjoy the tiny beach that's available for swimmers. The only problem is, there probably won't be too many bunnies around then, as they get really lazy in the heat and prefer to stay in the shade. For this reason, it is said that the best time to visit the island is in April and May, with the added bonus of seeing baby bunnies around this time, too.
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| Taking a rare family photo along the coast. |
Near the museum, there are some big bunny ears that try to simulate how bunnies can hear. I personally could not hear anything special, but James said it was interesting.
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We didn't go into the museum, because our time was nearly up, so instead we hung out near by and fed the rest of our cabbage to some more bunnies.
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We visited the small gift shop which had lots of plush bunnies, bunny key-chains and phone charms, the obligatory senbei (Japanese crackers), and other bunny related things. Finally, it was time to go, and just before we got on the small ferry back, I snapped a picture of the ferry schedule for future reference. The first big column is for the ferry coming to the island, in the order of Tadanoumi, Bunny Island, and one more stop, and the second one is for going back, stops being in reversed order. The times in grey are for the ferry that can transport cars.
We missed the ferry we were planning on taking back, missing our train in the process, but luckily we met some friends on the island, who owned a car, and we got a ride home to Fukuyama. So in the end we were able to join our friends for hanami with being late to the festivities only a little bit. We even acquired a balloon on our way to Castle Park.
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Overall, it was a nice and relaxing day, with good friends and adorable bunnies, and we hop to visit the island again soon.
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