 off the coast of Hiroshima, Japan lies an island. An island that has a very peculiar and dark history, but today brings a smile to many people. This is because this island hosts about a thousand rabbits. But before we go any further, you know what to do. Please hit that subscribe button and give us a like. As always, a very special thank you to all of our producers and our patrons on this channel. If you would like to join our Patreon community, there is a link down in the description box below. Welcome to Esoteric Atlanta. My name is Bryce. And today on this bonus episode, we are going to be talking about Yusagi Shima. Now this is a bonus episode that we are releasing on Saturday. And so some of our new patrons and producers, you will notice your name and the credits for this video. Because of the nature of this video and because it is a bonus video, I did not submit the video earlier to YouTube. And just to explain that for our new patrons and our new producers with the story time videos that I do by myself, I try to render the videos about a week in advance to the YouTube platform. Because some of my videos are monetized, that's a way for me to make sure the video is not going to be flagged. Because as we know, a lot of my story time videos are talking about controversial subjects. But because of the nature of the storytelling, sometimes YouTube does not quite get the context of what y'all understand and what I'm delivering. So when I submit these videos about a week in advance, because I am monetized, YouTube can scan it. And then YouTube will mark it. If they mark it yellow, that means that the video has the potential to be flagged. And the channel has the potential to be flagged because of the video. If they mark it green, that means that it's good to go. And the robot didn't pick up on anything that they don't want us talking about. 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So Monday morning, I will have, I'll put up on the community board, a little message so that you guys can continue the conversation over on the community board. Once again, I know this is super complicated and it's not something that myself or any other people in our community really want to happen. But this is a very active W.A.R. that we're in. And so we're doing everything to try to play this game to keep our content up. So I hope, I hope, I hope that makes sense to you guys. If you are a patron or a producer and you had an idea for a story and I haven't covered it yet, please go ahead and reach back out to me. Some of the storylines that have been recommended have been too intense to put up on YouTube. I know that they will definitely get the channel pulled down. And so if that was the case, and I sent you an email back, find another subject. And once we're over the hump and once we are in the clear, I will go back and cover those controversial, real controversial subject matters that we should be able to talk about, you know, because of free speech. But at this point, we know that we're not because, again, we're in a very active W.A.R. All right, so let's get into this bonus video. This video might be a little bit different than what we normally talk about on this channel. And it is a bit of a break from our New Orleans deep dimes. And this story was recommended by one of our community members, a lovely, lovely woman named Dee Tanya. That's her screen name, her username on the YouTube platform. I know that's not her real first name, but I'm going to be using the username because I don't want to ever dock somebody or invade somebody's privacy in their real life. So this is for you Dee Tanya. And in researching this story about this rabbit island in Japan, I found other islands around the world that host other animals. So that's something you guys want me to do more bonus videos on. Just let me know down in the comment section below. So as I said, off the coast of Japan in the area of Hiroshima lies an island that is inhabited by about a thousand rabbits. You can only get to this island by ferry and a ferry trip from the coast of Hiroshima to the island takes about 15 minutes. From what I understand from my research, it's about 620 yen to get to this island, which is about $6. So pretty reasonably priced. Now this island again does have a very dark history. Before the beginning of the 20th century, this island was used for cultivating farmland crops and specifically fishing. Before the beginning of the 20th century, about three fishing families lived on the island and worked on the island. But in 1904, the Russo-Japan War broke out. And this island then became a base for the Japanese military and the three fishing families that lived there were moved off the island. During the Russo-Japanese War that lasted only a year from 1904 to 1905, 10 different forts were built on this island. And this would become the beginning of military use of this island. In 1925, the Imperial Japanese Army Institute of Science and Technology started to use this island as a place to study chemicals, especially chemicals that are used in warfare. This so happened to also be the same year that Japan signed the Genevieve Protocol, which was an agreement among nations not to use chemicals in warfare. However, the kind of loophole for the Japanese at this point was that even though they signed this agreement that they would not be using chemicals for warfare, they did not sign any agreement saying that they couldn't study said chemicals. They were studying things like tear gas or other such things that would end up being used in the Second World War. If you know what I mean, I have to be very careful again about what I say. Now between 1927 and 1929, they did build plants on the island for them to continue to do their experiments. And when World War II started and Japan got involved in World War II with the Axis powers, they made this island top secret. The Japanese government removed the island from the maps so that nobody knew what they were doing on this island. Now eventually as time would move on, the island would then become unusable by the government. And all these rabbits were starting to appear on the island. And there's two theories as to how all these wild rabbits got on this island. The first theory is that these are the descendants of some of the rabbits that were used in the labs for testing. And even though they, the powers that be say this theory is not accurate, many people who go and visit Rabbit Island do say that that is probably the case because some of the rabbits that live on the island today look like they do have deformalities that would have possibly been from experimental use back during the time the plant was used. We know that rabbits are fertile, they breed, literally they breed like rabbits. And so they were able to quickly, quickly multiply. Now the powers that be say that this is not possible because the rabbits that were used in the lab experiments did not live. And so if they didn't live, they couldn't breathe. Another explanation for why there's so many rabbits on this island now is that when the island was designated as a national park, after the government was done using it, that students brought rabbits to the island and released them on the island. And that's how they were able to multiply. Now in a second, we're going to look at one of the websites for this particular island. According to this website, there is a resort on the island where you can go and spend the night if you want to. However, other people claim that no one actually lives on the island. It's just tourists that come. But if there's a resort on the island, then obviously there's somebody always there. Many people are concerned for these rabbits because it doesn't appear that they're getting the medical attention that they need. And I can actually agree with that, even though it's kind of cool that they all have a home where they can live. No dogs are allowed. No cats are allowed. Nothing is allowed that's going to be threatening to the rabbits. There still seems to be some situation with disease amongst the rabbits as well as injuries from rabbit fights. In one video I watched, you can definitely tell where some of the rabbits are missing part of their ears because of said fights. Now again, it's awesome that they're allowing nature just to kind of do its thing. But in my spiritual beliefs and the beliefs that I practiced and my relationship with God, I believe that as human beings, we're responsible for the animals, especially animals like rabbits that have somewhat been domesticated into human life. Now the real, real wild animals that are not domesticated, you know, let them live in their animal kingdom. But those animals like dogs, cats, rabbits that have been domesticated and have that sense of dependency on humans, we now have the responsibility to make sure they are taken care of. So even though they don't want the rabbits to be messed with when it comes to that kind of stuff, I think that does a hindrance to them because even though they're generationally living on this island, they are exposed to human beings. They are somewhat domesticated. Therefore, the government or the people because I don't trust the government with anything need to be now going and taking care of some of these rabbits who are injured or are sick. Now when you go to the island, apparently even from far away on the boat, you can already see the rabbits kind of lining up and waiting for you. They're very interactive with the humans that come to visit them. Now there is particular food you can bring to help feed the rabbits, but as you'll see on our website, there are some regulations because they don't want predators coming to the island. You can also explore the abandoned buildings that are left over on the island from when the island was a plant. And many, many people love to do this. My boyfriend would love to do that. He loves exploring abandoned houses. In fact, there's another channel here on YouTube that he'll sit and watch for hours. And it's just these guys going all over the world exploring abandoned houses. They're not even really saying much. They're just taking their cameras into these abandoned houses and exploring them. But many people believe, because the plants are still up, that there is still some like chemical disturbance from all the experiments that happened on the island before they closed it down. There's also a museum on the island that opened up in 1988. And this is the poison and gas museum that goes into more detail about the use of the island in the early 20th century. So with that being said, let's take a look at the website. I told you guys that when I need like junk food for my brain, I watch drama, drama, television. So that's why Trisha Paytas is up here on my channel right now. Also, side note, I love my mystery shows. And this is a great show from England if you guys also love your mystery shows like I do. All right, let's get to the Gateway to Rabbit Island, this awesome website. Now I am using DuckDuckGo. That's for the other three YouTube's I showed you, I'm on Google because it's all just brain candy. But this I actually did go to DuckDuckGo to see if I could find any more information on the island besides what most people already know. So we're going to go all the way back up to the top here. Let's see here. So this is a great website. It's rabbit island information backslash, backslash, excuse me, and backslash. I will put a link to this website down in the description box below. It's the Gateway to Rabbit Island. All right. So of course, they want to have a live port camp, which is pretty cool, but that's not available yet. So on this website, rather, they have a lot of information about how to get to the island. Let's just read through it together. So again, it's located in eastern Hiroshima. Rabbit Island is a small enclave occupied by hundreds of wild rabbits that roam the forest and filled chasing tourists for food. Only a 15 minute fair ride from the mainland, the island is a popular destination for tourists from around the world. Rabbits are usually surrounded by their large families and are known for their high fertility rates. As I said, that's why we call it breeding like rabbits. For these reasons, rabbits are often considered a symbol of safe childbirth and the blessings of many children. Rabbit Island is the home to over a thousand rabbits is known as a place to seek good fortune for your own family's fertility. That's interesting, right? So here you see a map so you can kind of see the map of the Japan mainland and you kind of come into this island that's inside of the other islands. It looks rather small on the map. It's obviously smaller than these other islands. But from what I watched of other people's videos, it's actually it's pretty big. You know, rabbits got a lot of space there. Here's some itinerary maps. So again, you can see the bigger map of Japan with Hiroshima down here and the island is right there. So if you find a Tokyo, you've got a bit of a ways to go. All right. There is some different train information because a lot of people have to take trains to get to the port to be able to then get on a ferry to go to the island. So Rabbit Island is a 15 minute fair ride from Tatanomi, I hope I'm saying that right, Tatanomi port with services leaving roughly every 30 to 45 minutes. The port is a three minute walk from the station and which is a 25 minute train ride from another station. But as I said, you have to take a lot of trains to get there. All right. And here it says, if you plan to stay overnight, advanced hotel reservation is advised as accommodation is limited around the area. The hotel on the island is not always available for last minute visitors, especially during high seasons. So again, there is a hotel on the island which we're going to look at in a minute. You know, the ferry schedule right here. And again, I think it's like $6 US. So that's not that expensive for a round trip to get at all. So here's some do's and don'ts I thought were interesting. So do not hold rabbits in your arms or chase them. But you will see videos of some people holding them. Rabbits are usually afraid of being held and they will struggle to escape. Living in the wild means they have no access to vets in case of injury. Therefore it is critical they be left alone to minimize the risk of getting hurt. And this is what I said, because they take people to this island, they haven't just left the island. They put these rabbits on the island. And that's that because people are coming and going, I don't understand why they don't give the rabbits medical attention if the rabbits need medical attention. You know what I'm saying? Like it's not like they're completely wild and just left alone. People are coming and going on the island. And there's obviously a hotel there too. So I think they probably should be giving some of these rabbits medical attention. Do not feed rabbits on the roads. Rows are busy with bicycles. While eating rabbits are usually too focused and do not notice incoming traffic. By trying to escape at the last minute they may run crash into bicycles or even vehicles. That's sad. Do not leave rabbit food leftovers. Rabbits do not eat dampened pellets or spoiled vegetables. These attract crows which interfere with rabbits. Also leaving rabbit food near their nest means leaking the whereabouts of baby rabbits to their predators. Do not feed rabbits with human foods. Rabbits will become ill by eating our food such as bread or snacks. Also rabbits cannot digest potatoes. It's just basically a good rule for all animals. I mean we talked about that with Janina a little bit. We know that there's some human foods that some animals can eat. And if you're trying to load up your pantry in case of you know a certain type of activity where things are shut down and you can't get out and get food. There are some human foods you can find for your pets that you can load up on just in case you run out of the pets food. But it by far is pretty you should be feeding your animals their specific food because eating human food is not bad for is bad. Eating human food is bad for most animals. Do not ride bicycles recklessly while eating food. Rabbits are usually too focused by trying to escape at the last minute. They may run towards you. Do not take rabbits home with you. I would want to probably take all the rabbits home with me. By the wildlife protection and hunting laws prior permission is needed for the ministry of the environment to capture wild animals. Also you may incur expensive treatment fees later on as some of the rabbits may carry parasites or other diseases. Exactly why they should have vets coming out to the island. People coming out to make sure these animals are okay especially since we have involved ourselves with the rabbits on this island. We as human beings that is. Do not take your own rabbits in a band and then that's so sad. Don't freaking do that guys. Rabbits which have been kept as a pet cannot survive on the island. Rabbits are strongly teratrile and will get bullied and beaten by local rabbits. Don't ever abandon your pets guys. That's just I have no grace or mercy for people who abandon their pets. Like if you can't handle the responsibility of owning a pet don't abandon it. Find someone who can't adopt it. Be responsible for that animal. You owe it to that animal. Do not forget to check under your cars for rabbit under the car. It can be an ideal place to hide from direct sun and their predators. Please make sure to check under your car as they may stay even after starting the engine. That's true with like any type of rodent like cats and squirrels. Cats on a rodent but you guys know what I mean like small animals. We always check our cars here because we don't want them climbing up into especially in the winter when it's cold if the cars were warm and starting it and killing them. Please quietly watch over the rabbits. Do not share your photos online while people do that all the time. Let the world know about the mysterious enclave rabbit island people. You can google this. People literally have all sorts of videos up of their experiences at the island. Please refill water pans. Water is scarce on the island especially around the hotel. Please refill the water pans around the island whenever possible. Rabbits living up on hillside can feed off natural springs. However for those around the hotel these pans are crucial for survival. So again you can explore the island. A day trip to the island is fun enough but staying overnight can give you the chance to fully explore the island including its dark history. All right. Being the center of chemical weapons research and production during World War II rabbit island was completely erased from the map and workers on the island were sworn to secrecy. That's what I told you guys in the beginning. With its picturesque scenery of the Inland Sea the island is now a natural park resort and welcomes tourists from all around the world. Some say that rabbits were released on the island after the war to spot signs of poison gas leaks just as cage birds were dropped down into construction wells to see a carbon dioxide concentrations back in the day. So basically they were using them to see if they were putting their lives at risk to see if the the area was okay. All right. So model course one this is duration of two hours. Rabbits will chase you for food enjoy the time with your rabbits to your heart's content. So yeah you can go and just save for a certain amount of time to play with the rabbits. You'll see people like lying down and rabbits just jump on them. So here's the resort right here guys. So the only resort on the island where you can dine on local delicacy a hot spring is available a towel towels available for visitors to rent. You can also rent bicycles and for fully explore the island using its bicycle track running along a four kilometer perimeter. So here are the details. Let's see here. All right guys so here's the whole overview of the island. Look they have tennis courts over here. I'm assuming that this would be the hotel the resort and this looks like some of the abandoned buildings over here. So I guess there's multiple places for the ferries to dock. So it is on the island. All right let's see. So let's look at images. Let's just see what it looks like. Pictures are always fun. So we've got a beautiful hot spring. Oh here's some ladies playing with the rabbits outside. I wonder if they have a picture of the actual hotel room. I don't see a picture of the hotel room what it looks like on the inside. Maybe this does. That might be a room I'm not sure but anyway okay. Let's see here. What's the so let's look at the tourist spots. So it looks like there's a restaurant. There's a museum of art. Let's go back and see of their attraction. So again here's the poison gas museum right here. Adorable rabbits in the dark history of the island and two in our two and tithes give the island a more mysterious touch being the center of chemical weapons research and production until 1945 under complete secrecy. The island now offers a museum which will just which displays and preserves the memory of the crucial aspect of Japan's World War II history. All right so the port was extraterrestrial. The port was extraterrestrial during the war being the only departing port to reach the island. It is said that that the thick historical wall besides the ticket office separated the port from the main lender in World War II. So here guys so that's beautiful. Some of the videos that people put up it was kind of rainy so it didn't look quite as pretty as these pictures do. So there's walking trails. You can hike again only one restaurant operating on the island along with a coffee shop. So there's the beach with rabbits. It's a lighthouse. Hot springs again and the beach. Anyway this seems like a super super cool experience if you're ever in Japan or if you live in Japan go visit this. This looks really really cool. So they do have like a souvenir shop where you can get some stuff. A lot of the videos I watched when I was researching and looking into this they all were in the souvenir shop and showing stuff and it looked really cool. So octopus kelp rolls. I'm a vegetarian so okay guys. So anyway let me know your thoughts down in the comment section below. Thanks for sharing this with us Deetanya. This was kind of a break from all the heavy stuff that we've been looking over on this channel. It's been super heavy lately and so this is kind of nice little break to look at some really really cute little rabbits and something fun that's in the world. Again as I said when I was looking this up there are a lot of islands that are dedicated to like one specific specific species of animal. If you guys want me to do some more bonus episodes on those again just let me know down in the description box below. All right guys I hope you have a wonderful rest of your Saturday and I'll talk to you soon. Bye!