"""The forest of death
Located at the base of Mt.
Fuji, Aokigahara is perhaps
the most infamous forest in
all of Japan. Also known as
the Sea of Trees, Suicide
Forest, and Japan’s Demon
Forest, Aokigahara has been
home to over 500 confirmed
suicides since the 1950s.
Called “the perfect place to
die,” Aokigahara is the
world’s second most popular
place for suicide (the Golden
Gate Bridge being the first).
A Horrifying
Legend is
Born
Legend says that this all
started after Seicho
Matsumoto published a
novel by the name of Kuroi
Kaiju (Black Sea of Trees) in
1960. The story ends with
two lovers committing
suicide in the forest, so
many people believe that’s
what started it all. However,
the history of suicide in
Aokigahara predates the
novel, and the place has
long been associated with
death. Hundreds upon
hundreds of Japanese
people have hanged
themselves from the trees of
Aokigahara forest.
Wataru Tsurumui’s
controversial 1993
bestseller, The Complete
Suicide Manual, is a book
that describes various
modes of suicide and even
recommends Aokigahara as
the perfect place to die.
Apparently this book is also
a common find in the forest,
usually not too far away
from a suicide victim and
their belongings.
Undoubtedly, the most
common method of suicide
in the forest is hanging.
Japan’s suicide rate is
already bad enough as it is,
and having this forest and
suicide manual on top of it
all is pretty terrible. It’s
really sad. Despite many
efforts to prevent suicide and
provide help to those
considering it, Japan’s
suicide rate continues to
rise.
Legend has it that in ancient
times families would
abandon people in the forest
during periods of famine
when there was not enough
food to go around. By
sacrificing family members
to the forest, there would be
less mouths to feed and
therefore enough food for the
rest of the family. Those
abandoned in the forest
would die long, horrible,
drawn out deaths due to
starvation. Because of that,
Aokigahara is also said to
be haunted by the souls of
these abandoned people.
In addition, there are many
other ghost and demon
stories associated with the
forest. It is said that these
ghastly spirits glide between
the trees with their white,
shifting forms being
occasionally spotted by
unsuspecting visitors out of
the corners of their eyes.
Japanese spiritualists
believe that the suicides
committed in the forest have
permeated Aokigahara’s soil
and trees, generating
paranormal activity and
preventing many who enter
from escaping the gnarled
depths of the forest.
Aokigahara is not the kind
of place you’d want to
honeymoon at, that’s for
sure.
Terrifying
Topography
The vast forest covers a
3,500 hectare wide area and
the tree coverage in
Aokigahara is so thick that
even at high noon it’s
entirely possible to find
places shrouded in complete
darkness. It’s also mostly
devoid of animals and is
eerily quiet. Hearing a bird
chirping in the forest is
incredibly rare. The area is
rocky, cold, and littered with
over 200 caves for you to
accidentally fall into.
The discomforting forest is
known for the thickness of
its trees, its twisting network
of woody vines, and the
dangerous unevenness of the
forest floor. All of this
together gives the place a
very unwelcoming feeling.
Personally, I love hiking and
I think the forest actually
looks really pretty during the
daytime. However, I think
the place would turn
absolutely horrifying come
nightfall. Who knows when
you’ll trip over some snarled
root or jagged rock, fall
down a hill and land on top
of a pile of bones or a
rotting corpse. No nighttime
hiking in Aokigahara for me,
thanks.
Further compounding the
creepiness factor is the
common occurrence of
compasses, cell phones, and
GPS systems being rendered
useless by the rich deposits
of magnetic iron in the
area’s volcanic soil. I’m sure
this fact has helped
propagate the legend of the
forest’s demonic habit of
trapping visitors within it.
Besides bodies and
homemade nooses, also
scattered around the forest
are signs put up by the
police with messages like
“Your life is a precious gift
from your parents,” and
“Please consult with the
police before you decide to
die,” in an attempt to
discourage would be
committers of suicide.
Judging from the increasing
number of suicides, these
signs probably aren’t all
that effective.
An
Unfortunate
Suicide
Hotspot
By the 1970s the suicides
had become so infamous
that the Japanese
government started to do
annual sweeps of the forest
to search for and clear out
the bodies. In 2002, 78
bodies were found within the
forest, exceeding the
previous record of 74 in
1998. By 2003, the rate had
climbed to 100.
In recent years, the local
government has stopped
publicizing the numbers in
an attempt to downplay
Aokigahara’s association
with suicide. In 2004, 108
people killed themselves in
the forest and in 2010, 247
people attempted suicide, 54
of whom succeeded. But
that’s just the number they
found and reported. Who
knows how many more there
are that just go
undiscovered?
I’m actually pretty surprised
that I hadn’t heard about
Aokigahara until just
recently. You’d think that
something like this, being
the number two hotspot for
suicides in the world, and
located right at the base of
Mt. Fuji, would be more well
known. Maybe it’s just me.
Its Effect on
the Locals
Nearly as unfortunate as the
suicides themselves is the
impact the suicides have on
the locals and forest
workers. One local man
says, “It bugs the hell out of
me that the area’s famous
for being a suicide spot.” A
local police officer said, “I’ve
seen plenty of bodies that
have been really badly
decomposed, or been picked
at by wild animals. There’s
nothing beautiful about
dying in there.” It’s really a
shame that such a unique
and interesting forest has
become sullied by so many
suicides.
The forest workers have it
even worse than the police
who comb and investigate
the forest. The workers are
tasked with the job of
carrying the bodies down
from the forest to the local
station, where the bodies are
put in a special room used
specifically to house suicide
corpses. The forest workers
then play janken to see who
has to sleep in the room
with the corpse. Talk about
terrible.
The reason for these strange
sleeping arrangements is
that it is believed if the
corpse is left alone, it’s very
bad luck for the ghost of the
suicide victim. Their spirits
are said to scream
throughout the night if left
alone, and their bodies will
get up and shuffle around,
searching for company.
I don’t know about you, but
this sounds like one of the
absolute worst ways to
spend a night. Maybe it
wouldn’t be so bad if the
body is just like a pile of
bones, but I can’t imagine
how creepy it would be to
sleep in a dinky little room
with a fresh corpse as a
roommate.
To make matters worse, a
few years back people
started to scavenge the
forest for valuables. And by
this I mean that people
would search the forest for
dead bodies and then loot
their corpses. Talk about
disrespectful, not to mention
creepy.""""

Oh wow! That's a horrible story. I didn't know the Japanese were so prone to suicide. I wonder why that is?

I want to go sounds like a fantastic place

@Briteeyes: I had just seen a show on the History Channel abt it and googled the abive story. It looked like a forest right out of the Blair Witch Project.

I hope noone quotes u cuz that took forevr 2 read. But that is one reason y vietnam beat us. Whoevr goes 2 war wit japan, they wil hv 2 endure all those f'n trees. Im gona look mor n2 this cuz that is very intriguing

It's also a body dump for the Yakuza.

I watched a little bit of that show. Did you see the 9 scientist and students they found dead in the 50's? They were found dead from radiation and some of them insides were crushed but outside was fine. I don't think I want to stay anywhere near that place.

Yea saw that....but that was in Russia somewhere....found their tents cut from the inside and all 9 bodies a good distance from the tents.....weird as hell.

Sorry I just caught bits an pieces thought it was the same place but oh well I wouldn't want to go to either lol.