THE ISLAND
...w hereyou’ll
be outnumbered
by rabbits
Two sounds tend to fill the air in
Okunoshima: the thump of furry feet,
and cries of “kawaii” (cute). This small
island in Japan’s Inland Sea would be
unremarkable if it weren’t for the 900-odd
rabbits that hop around it. Visitors arrive
by boat, armed with veg or bags of rabbit
pellets, and prepare themselves to be
mobbed – at least in the morning,
while the rabbits’ appetites are still keen.
It’s a strange departure from the island’s
darker past as a WWII-era manufacturing
site for poison gas, as documented in
a small museum. Nobody is quite sure
how the bunnies got here but they carry on,
blissfully unconcerned. Away from the busy
landing jetty and the lone hotel (www.
qkamura.or.jp/en/ohkuno), it trulyfeels
as thoughtheplacebelongsto them.
The nearest big city is Hiroshima. Reach
Okunoshima by ferry from Tadanoumi
or (on weekends only) Mihara (www.
PHOTOGRAPH: PHILIPPE MICHEL/ AGE FOTOSTOCK, habushosen.jp/rabbit-line).
YUKIHIRO FUKUDA/NATURE PICTURE LIBRARY
THE ISLAND
...that ’s on a clock
There’s a strange, melancholic charm about places you know might not exist
a decade or two down the line, and the Assamese river island of Majuli seems to
embody that better than any other. Although at the mercy of the River Brahmaputra
that erodes chunks of its land in annual floods, it holds the Guinness record
for the largest river island in the world. Centuries of tradition await on the island.
Mask-making shops, manuscript-writing centres, weaving and pottery hubs, and
cultural celebrations are on the menu. You’ll soon find yourself drawn into daily
life and continuously craving the delightful fish curries and rice beer. Conveniently
close to the mainland and still a world of its own, Majuli’s remarkable melange
of experiences is a walk through a time portal that’s about to close forever.
Majuli can be reached via an hour-long ferry ride from Jorhat.3 4