Listen&Learn: The “Rabbit Island” in Japan

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Posted by: Jaksyn Peacock

An adorable tourist destination with a surprising history.

Pre-listening vocabulary

populated: inhabited; occupied
tourist: someone who travels to and explores different places
ferry: a boat meant to carry passengers across a short distance
mainland: the area of land that forms the main part of a country
theory: an attempt to explain something

Listening activity

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Gapfill exercise

Okunoshima, a small island off the of Japan, is a place mostly populated by rabbits. The island is a tourist destination for people who want to spend the day with cute animals. Tourists can reach this island by taking a ferry over from the mainland. Although Okunoshima is mostly known for the rabbits that live there today, it is also a very site. The island was once used to produce chemical weapons during World War II. Back then, these weapon factories were kept so secret that Okunoshima wasn’t even labelled on Japanese maps. Many people believe that the island’s rabbit population is related to this history. A theory is that the military once brought rabbits to the island to test chemicals on, and a few rabbits were into the wild. Today, over 1,000 rabbits live there, and the population is only growing.

Comprehension questions

[wp_quiz id=”19547″]

Discussion/essay questions

Although it may sound like fun to visit an island full of rabbits, tourism has caused unfortunate consequences. People who feed the rabbits are contributing to an overpopulation problem that is harmful to the island’s natural ecosystem. How could tourism be regulated to protect the ecosystem?

Transcript

Okunoshima, a small island off the coast of Japan, is a place mostly populated by rabbits. The island is a popular tourist destination for people who want to spend the day with cute animals. Tourists can reach this island by taking a ferry over from the mainland. Although Okunoshima is mostly known for the rabbits that live there today, it is also a very historical site. The island was once used to produce chemical weapons during World War II. Back then, these weapon factories were kept so secret that Okunoshima wasn’t even labelled on Japanese maps. Many people believe that the island’s rabbit population is related to this history. A common theory is that the military once brought rabbits to the island to test chemicals on, and a few rabbits were released into the wild. Today, over 1,000 rabbits live there, and the population is only growing.

Written and recorded by Jaksyn Peacock for EnglishClub

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34 comments

English Club Indonesia says:

The rabbit overpopulation has nothing to do with tourism. Rabbits are known for their high reproductive rate. If people don’t want the island to be overpopulated by rabbits, they have to move many of the rabbits off the island.
Daniella says:

you can do campaigns
Mahbubul Alam says:

It’s interesting and effective also. It has green value, too.
Harini S says:

It’s very nice :)
Cristell Sauceda says:

This is very interesting!
Anna says:

very interesting subjects, thanks a lot!
Muhawenimana claudine says:

thank you
this story is very interesting
Lucy Fortin says:

It’s always a pleasure to read your email and and doing your quiz it’s helful for me to improve my English!:)
Maria says:

Very interesting history, i like spend time into knowledge…
Thank u
Christine PENNEC says:

I enjoyed too
Maubashera says:

Nice way to learn.
Its very helpful for me. Thanku
saahamza says:

really it is very nice , with very useful paragraphs and essays that extremely benefits students and English teacher .. Thanks once more , we are looking forward for more and more…
Samuel says:

firstly, thanks a lot for both this knowledge and everybody who prepare
joseph puspana says:

it is really useful to increase my English spoken skill.
Josue mbamba says:

Excellent worksheet for improving vocabulary and comprehension
Dilip Guha-Ray says:

An interesting exercise of memory test.
Elsa says:

I am really enjoying all the stories given by this club. Please keep it up.
roslin merlin miri says:

i really be happy
Satnam Singh says:

I have not fluent English speaks language with other person.Please my help to you sir/ mam.Thank you.
Satnam Singh says:

I don’t speak fluent English language.please my help to you sir/ mam.I shall be thankful to you for this.yours sincerely Satnam Singh from dubai.Thanks
saravanan m says:

its a very good information to know
Masih says:

Very good.but i think we need question and respond method to internalize new vocabulary.
Nohemi says:

It is so useful, thanks a lot!
bashir says:

I’m very happy to learn listening and speaking English
Pat says:

Very good exercise. Enunciation is excellent. Very helpful for my student.
nour says:

its a very good information to know
Florea Alexandru says:

This lesson is very interesting!
Alaa says:

Thank you useful for me
The King Of Love From IRAN says:

Thank you,
liz says:

It’s really helpful to me. thank you.
Janeth says:

The pronunciation is very clear
Dessislava Reffay says:

Useful
Nandini says:

It’s really helpful for me 😊
Chris Abias says:

I really enjoyed it