Rabbit stands alone

Nagoya Institute of Technology Faculty of Engineering, Architecture & Design Department

Project idea

During the war, Okunojima Island in Hiroshima Prefecture was a Japanese chemical weapons manufacturing base where poison gas was produced, and the island was erased from the map to hide this fact. Despite this dark history and the traces of the factory, many bred wild rabbits now live on the island, which has become a tourist attraction for many visitors. On the other hand, with so many tourists visiting the island, the rabbits have come to depend on the tourists for food, and at night and in winter, when the number of tourists is low, the rabbits are unable to survive on their own and become weak. The goal of this proposal is to help these rabbits establish a better relationship with people. At the same time, it is a proposal that allows people to learn more about rabbits and poison gas.

Project description

In order to create a better relationship between people and rabbits, a town is created and the residents manage this island. Here, coexistence between residents and rabbits, as well as tourists, will be created. Next, we propose a facility using the remains of a poison gas factory. Here, a relationship will be created between people and rabbits, as well as between the factory site and the island. Through these relationships, we hope that people will come to know the rabbits, learn about the poison gas factory, and feel a sense of peace from the past to the present, and that the island will regain a more lively and nature-rich environment where people and rabbits can interact with each other and the rabbits can become self-reliant.

Technical information

By renovating the ruins of a poison gas factory that once existed as a negative legacy by reinforcing it with pillars and beams, connecting it with walls, and creating a new space, it will become a place where tourists can play with the rabbit, a symbol of peace on this island, and feel more contemporary peace from the negative legacy.
The rabbit pathway in the playground is made of acrylic resin, which is stronger and more transparent than glass, making it safer and easier for visitors to watch the rabbits run through. Furthermore, since acrylic resin is lightweight, it can be removed for cleaning. A transparent vinyl sheet is placed inside this passageway to prevent the acrylic resin from being scratched and the rabbits from slipping on it.