The Forest of Suicides - Aokigahara Forest

[Kazimiera]

Aokigahara

Aokigahara is a forest that lies at the base of Mount Fuji, less than 100 miles west of Tokyo. Locally, it is also known under the name of Jukai ("Sea of Trees") because of its very high density of trees.

It is also very sought-after by tourists because there are two caves located here, The Ice Cave and the Wind Cave.

It is a unique forest in many ways; there is barely any wildlife in here, thus it is very quiet, making it a popular destination among locals. However, this quietness hides a more macabre side of it as the Aokigahara is the number one suicide spot for Japanese.

Its quietness has attracted people to consider it haunted, and there are plenty of Japanese who would not dare to enter the forest. This resulted in even more myths surrounding Aokigahara.

http://www.aokigaharaforest.com/images/Aokigahara-cave-entrance.jpg

When you enter it, there are signs in both Japanese and English preventing people against a suicide. One sign at the entrance reads: "Your life is something precious that was given to you by your parents" while another one states "Meditate on your parents, siblings and your children once more. Do not be troubled alone." The exact number of suicides committed here in a year is unknown as the police discontinued publishing this data. The last time it was made public was in 2003, when 105 confirmed suicides took place. Here is a graph showing the data between 1998 and 2003:

http://www.aokigaharaforest.com/images/aokigahara_cadavres_1998-2003.png

This data is the official one. It is believed that annually more people die here, but their corpses are never found in the thick forest.

It is hard to make a profile of the average person who commits suicide in the forest, but they are usually males between 40 and 50 years, and the biggest month for suicides is March, possibly because March is the end of the fiscal year in Japan. So many people come from all over Japan to end their stressful lives here as they feel it's is the perfect location in which to breathe their last.

It is baffling why there is such a high rate in the country but it has something to do with the Japanese psyche and that many Japanese men feel rejected when retrenched. Some of them had held important positions in their respective companies, including that of chief executive officers.

Unable to face their families and loved ones, they perhaps, in the manner of the samurai warriors of the past, felt that suicide is one way to atone for their failures.

http://www.aokigaharaforest.com/images/Aokigahara-sea-of-the-trees.jpg

The Aokigahara has not always attracted hundreds of people wishing to end their lives. While there is some evidence that suggests that as far as the 19th century, it was a place where Japanese carried their elders to die of starvation (a practice called ubasute), it became popular after the 1960’s when a novel by famed author Seichō Matsumoto was published. In this novel called "Tower of Waves", a couple commit suicide in the Aokigahara forest. Another book from 1993, “The Complete Manual of Suicide” by Wataru Tsurumi added to the fuel and increased suicide rates. The author described the Aokigahara as the perfect place to commit suicide and even described which parts of the forests are less circulated so the bodies cannot be found later on.

http://www.aokigaharaforest.com/images/Aokigahara-pathway.jpg

An annual body sweep is organized before the holiday season in which the found dead bodies are removed and, where possible, identified.


Source: http://www.aokigaharaforest.com/

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[StormBringer]

Some "fun" facts on suicide :D

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ucRM0eYD7U
Nasty, btw, while we're on weird forests.Check this out.
http://misadventuresmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/krummer-wald-polen-gryfino-crooked-forest.jpg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crooked_Forest

[Kazimiera]

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[Seraph of the End]

Yeah, I know about this forest. We used to talk about it with our Japanese teacher. She told us pretty much all of the things written in this article.

Creepy but at the same time interesting.

[turkojew]

ah man i will definitely have a nightmare.

[Gustave H]

I watched a documentary about this forest. Very creepy.

[Rædwald]

The suicide rate is a direct result of the culture of living to work in Japan, and also resulting in their dwindling birth rate.

[Sakis]

What suicides?I killed 'em all :laugh:

[♥ Lily ♥]

An interesting article. It's eerie but intriguing at the same time as to why this happens. It's sad as we only get one precious life which should be cherished.

3 business execs committed suicide in one year by jumping off the top of a sky restaurant in London a few years ago, (one of whom couldn't bear the thought of his children not being able to go a private school anymore), plus a millionaire in England who lost his business, set fire to his home, his horse stables, and killed himself, his pets, his horses, and his family.

A wealthy German businessman also killed himself a few years ago too when he lost everything.

I think people who have very high pressured jobs and a lot of wealth can't imagine living like ordinary people.... the higher they climb in life, the bigger the drop is for them if they lose everything they own.

I think the less wealthy seem to be stronger and more resilient and used to coping with having less material wealth in life - and there's a saying that what doesn't kill you will make you stronger in coping in life.... it's normally the very wealthy who fall to pieces when they lose everything they have.

[StormBringer]

I think people who have very high pressured jobs and a lot of wealth can't imagine living like ordinary people.... the higher they climb in life, the bigger the drop is for them if they lose everything they own.

I think the less wealthy seem to be stronger and more resilient and used to coping with having less material wealth in life - and there's a saying that what doesn't kill you will make you stronger in coping in life.... it's normally the very wealthy who fall to pieces when they lose everything they have.

Perhaps it's just that the bigger fishes make a bigger splash when they fall, and we simply don't even notice the smaller ones?

[Kazimiera]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4FDSdg09df8

[Kazimiera]

15 Eerie Things About Japan's Suicide Forest

Source: http://mentalfloss.com/article/73288/15-eerie-things-about-japans-suicide-forest

http://images.mentalfloss.com/sites/default/files/styles/article_640x430/public/suicide.jpg

Northwest of the majestic Mount Fuji is the sprawling 13.5 square miles of Aokigahara, a forest so thick with foliage that it's known as the Sea of Trees. But it's the Japanese landmark's horrific history that made the woods a fitting location for the spooky horror film The Forest. Untold visitors have chosen this place, notoriously called The Suicide Forest, as the setting for their final moments, walking in with no intention of ever walking back out. Here are a few of the terrible truths and scary stories that forged Aokigahara's morbid reputation.

1. AOKIGAHARA IS ONE OF THE MOST POPULAR SUICIDE DESTINATIONS IN THE WORLD.

Statistics on Aokigahara's suicide rates vary, in part because the forest is so lush that some corpses can go undiscovered for years or might be forever lost. However, some estimates claim as many as 100 people a year have successfully killed themselves there.


2. JAPAN HAS A LONG TRADITION OF SUICIDE.

Self-inflicted death doesn't carry the same stigma in this nation as it does in others. Seppuku—a samurai's ritual suicide thought to be honorable—dates back to Japan's feudal era. And while the practice is no longer the norm, it has left a mark. "Vestiges of the seppuku culture can be seen today in the way suicide is viewed as a way of taking responsibility," said Yoshinori Cho, author of Why do People Commit Suicide? and director of the psychiatry department at Teikyo University in Kawasaki, Kanagawa.


3. JAPAN HAS ONE OF THE HIGHEST SUICIDE RATES IN THE WORLD.

The global financial crisis of 2008 made matters worse, resulting in 2,645 recorded suicides in January 2009, a 15 percent increase from the previous year. The numbers reached their peak in March, the end of Japan's financial year. In 2011, the executive director of a suicide prevention hotline told Japan Times, “Callers most frequently cite mental health and family problems as the reason for contemplating suicide. But behind that are other issues, such as financial problems or losing their job.”


4. SUICIDE PREVENTION ATTEMPTS INCLUDE SURVEILLANCE AND POSITIVE POSTS.

Because of the high suicide rate, Japan's government enacted a plan of action that aims to reduce such rates by 20 percent within the next seven years. Part of these measures included posting security cameras at the entrance of the Suicide Forest and increasing patrols. Suicide counselors and police have also posted signs on various paths throughout the forest that offer messages like "Think carefully about your children, your family" and "Your life is a precious gift from your parents."


5. IT'S NATURALLY EERIE.

Bad reputation aside, this is no place for a leisurely stroll. The forest's trees organically twist and turn, their roots winding across the forest floor in treacherous threads. Because of its location at the base of a mountain, the ground is uneven, rocky, and perforated with hundreds of caves. But more jarring than its tricky terrain is the feeling of isolation created from the stillness; the trees are too tightly packed for winds to whip through and the wildlife is sparse. One visitor described the silence as "chasms of emptiness." She added, "I cannot emphasize enough the absence of sound. My breath sounded like a roar."


6. DEATH BY HANGING IS THE MOST POPULAR METHOD OF SUICIDE AMONG THE SEA OF TREES.

The second is said to be poisoning, often by drug overdose.


7. A NOVEL POPULARIZED THIS DARK TRADITION. . .

In 1960, Japanese writer Seichō Matsumoto released the tragic novel Kuroi Jukai, in which a heartbroken lover retreats to the Sea of Trees to end her life. This romantic imagery has proved a seminal and sinister influence on Japanese culture. Also, looped into this lore: The Complete Suicide Manual, which dubs Aokigahara "the perfect place to die." The book has been found among the abandoned possessions of various Suicide Forest visitors.


8. BUT IT WAS NOT THE START OF THE FOREST'S DARK LEGACY.

Ubasute is a brutal form of euthanasia that translates roughly to "abandoning the old woman." An uncommon practice—only resorted to in desperate times of famine—where a family would lessen the amount of mouths to feed by leading an elderly relative to a mountain or similarly remote and rough environment to die, not by means of suicide but by dehydration, starvation, or exposure. Some insist this was not a real occurrence, but rather grim folklore. Regardless, stories of the Sea of Trees being a site for such abandonment have long been a part of its mythos.


9. THE SUICIDE FOREST MAY BE HAUNTED.

Some believe the ghosts—or yurei—of those abandoned by ubasute and the mournful spirits of the suicidal linger in the woods. Folklore claims they are vengeful, dedicated to tormenting visitors and luring those that are sad and lost off the path.


10. ANNUAL SEARCHES HAVE BEEN HELD THERE SINCE 1970.

There are volunteers who do patrol the area, making interventional efforts. However, these annual endeavors are not intended to rescue people, but to recover their remains. Police and volunteers trek through the Sea of Trees to bring bodies back to civilization for a proper burial. In recent years, the Japanese government has declined to release the numbers of corpses recovered from these gruesome searches. But in the early 2000s, 70 to 100 were uncovered each year.


11. BRINGING A TENT INTO THE FOREST SUGGESTS DOUBT.

Camping is allowed in the area but visitors who bring a tent with them are believed to be undecided on their suicide attempt. Some will camp for days, debating their fates. People on prevention patrol will gently speak with such campers, entreating them to leave the forest.


12. THE SUICIDE FOREST IS SO THICK THAT SOME VISITORS USE TAPE TO AVOID GETTING LOST.

Volunteers who search the area for bodies and those considering suicide typically mark their way with plastic ribbon that they'll loop around trees in this leafy labyrinth. Otherwise, one could easily lose their bearings after leaving the path and become fatally lost.


13. YOU MAY NOT BE ABLE TO CALL FOR HELP.

Rich with magnetic iron, the soil of the Suicide Forest plays havoc on cellphone service, GPS systems, and even compasses. This is why tape can be so crucial. But some believe this feature is proof of demons in the dark.


14. NOT EVERYONE WHO GOES THERE HAS DEATH ON THEIR AGENDA.

Locals lament that this natural wonder is known first and foremost for its lethal allure. Still, tourists can take in gorgeous views of Mount Fuji and visit highlights like the distinctive lava plateau, 300-year-old trees, and the enchanting Narusawa Ice Cave.


15. GOING OFF THE PATH CAN LEAD TO GHASTLY DISCOVERIES.

The Internet is littered with disturbing images from the Suicide Forest, from abandoned personal effects snared in the undergrowth to human bones and even more grisly remains strewn across the forest floor or dangling from branches. So if you dare to venture into this forbidding forest, do as the signs suggest and stay on the path.

[Spyy]

It seems The Walking Dead

[Milo]

if 2017 turns out like 2016 did for me, I'm gonna pay that place a visit.

[HERK]

These people get so attached to this world, they dream big and forget that the universe is an infinite force which doesn't give a damn about anyones wishes and dreams and you better be in harmony with everything that happens or you will go crazy and see only mysery in your life.