On Saturday me and a group of friends left to Aokigahara
(lit. “Sea of [Green] Trees” in English), which is located at the northwestern
base of the mountain. Aokigahara is given its title due to the fact that the
forest stays green throughout the year. It’s a beautiful forest that grew from
the volcanic rich soil from Fuji’s last eruption. Besides the forest, there are
also tons of caves due to the magma caves resulting from Fuji’s volcanic
activity. However, this beautiful forest has a dark secret – it’s the most
visited site for suicides in all of Japan – and maybe even the world; hence its
nickname, “Suicide Forest”
Each year, Aokigahara claims around 70 lives and about 250
suicidal attempts. Its reputation as a popular location for suicide is the
result of a story in which a couple comits suicide in the forest, giving the
idea of suicide in Aokigahara a romantic tone. The main cause of death for the
people committing suicide is mostly by hanging – but some also use sleeping
pills. As a result, if you trek around the forest off the trails, you may see
signs of human activity. Our group saw tent materials, strings, wooden boards
with Japanese pinned to a tree, bags, etc. The most frightening find was when
we were about to leave. While walking through the woods, just after we visited
our third cave, we ran into a mangled up noose still hanging on a tree as well
as an umbrella that was leaning against the tree.
I would consider us lucky – some people run into actual
corpses or skeletons as you may see in this video linked below. (While it does
show a skeleton and a pixelated photo of someone who committed suicide, it is
really quite informative as to the whole idea of suicide in Aokigahara)
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