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is a small island located in the Inland Sea of Japan in the city of Takehara, Hiroshima Prefecture. It is accessible by ferry from Tadanoumi and Ōmishima. There are campsites, walking trails and places of historical interest on the island. It is often called because of the numerous feral rabbits that roam the island; they are rather tame and will approach humans. Ōkunoshima played a key role during World War II as a poison gas factory for much of the chemical warfare that was carried out in China.〔Ian Buruma, ''The Wages of Guilt: Memories of War in Germany and Japan'', (New York: Meridan, 1994), 111.〕 ==History== The island was a cultivated area until the Russo-Japanese War when ten forts were built to protect it. Three fishing families lived on the island.〔 In 1925 the Imperial Japanese Army Institute of Science and Technology initiated a secret program to develop chemical weapons, based on extensive research that showed that chemical weapons were being produced throughout the United States and Europe.〔Yuki Tanaka. "Poison Gas: The Story Japan Would Like To Forget". ''Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists'', October 1998. pp. 10-19. Reproducing documents from the Historical Records Office, Repatriation Relief Bureau, Japanese Ministry of Health and Welfare.〕 Japan was a signatory on the 1925 Geneva Protocol which banned the use of chemical warfare. Although the development and storage of chemical weapons were not banned, the country went to great lengths to assure the secrecy of construction of the chemical munitions plant begun in 1929, even going so far as to remove records of the island from some maps.〔"The Beginning of the Gas Plants," (Ōkunoshima Poison Gas Museum Exhibit: Ōkunoshima Island, Hiroshima Prefecture), visited December 10, 2006.〕 The plant was built over the period of 1927 to 1929, and was home to a chemical weapon facility that produced over six kilotons of mustard gas and tear gas.〔 The island was chosen for its isolation, conducive 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 toxic 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 toxic-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, burning, or burying it, 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 Ōkunoshima Poison Gas Museum was opened. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Ōkunoshima」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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