HOME > NATIONAL > Article

Text Size

small

medium

large


80 Years On: Ex-Teacher Conveys History of WWII Hidden Island

80 Years On: Ex-Teacher Conveys History of WWII Hidden Island

Masayuki Yamauchi explains the history of Okunoshima to junior high school students visiting the island in Takehara, Hiroshima Prefecture, on May 15.
Masayuki Yamauchi explains the history of Okunoshima to junior high school students visiting the island in Takehara, Hiroshima Prefecture, on May 15.

   Takehara, Hiroshima Pref., July 30 (Jiji Press)--Okunoshima, an island in the Seto Inland Sea in western Japan, is known as a "rabbit island" for being inhabited by around 500 to 600 wild rabbits. Despite this current image, the island has a dark past.
   The tiny island, located in the city of Takehara, Hiroshima Prefecture, hosted a poison gas plant of the now-defunct Imperial Japanese Army before and during World War II, leading to its removal from the map for confidentiality purposes.
   Masayuki Yamauchi, an 80-year-old former high school teacher, has continued to tell the island's history for about 30 years, calling for attention to be paid to Japan's history of aggression, not just its damage from the war, such as the 1945 atomic bombing of Hiroshima.
   Built by the Imperial Japanese Army in 1929, the poison gas plant manufactured yperite, or mustard gas, which causes skin sores, as well as balloon bombs.
   According to Yamauchi, the plant had around 6,600 workers and produced a total of about 6,600 tons of poison gas by the end of the war in August 1945. Some of the gas was deployed in China.

To read a full story, please click here to find out how to subscribe.

NATIONAL

HEADLINES

POLITICS
Trump to Travel to Malaysia for ASEAN Summit in Late October, Anwar Says
ECONOMY
Fuji Media Expects to Swing into 12 Billion Yen in Full-Year Operating Loss
SPORTS
MLB: Mariners Agree to Acquire Eugenio Suarez from Diamondbacks: Report
OTHER
Tsunami Advisories in Japan Fully Lifted 32 Hours after Kamchatka Earthquake

AFP-JIJI PRESS NEWS JOURNAL


Photos