Aokigahara Forest - suicidal forest in Japan

Despite being known as a suicide forest, on the northwestern flank of Mount Fuji on the island of Honshu in Japan, Aokigahara Forest is a huge tourist hit.

The close-together trees and dense vegetation makes it easy to hide, and the animals here are minimal. It's said that the soil here contains magnetic elements, which bring about the fact that compasses don't work here. This forest is second only to the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco on lists of places to commit suicide.

Is for those deads responsible a book?

After 1960, when the book named Nami no To was published in Japan, the Aokigahara Forest gained a reputation as a place where anyone could commit suicide. In its conclusion, its two protagonists go to die at this forest. This book thus started a wave of suicides.

According to some people, there have been suicides taking place in the forest for years before the book was published. The fact remains that more than a hundred people commit suicide here every year, and hundreds more at least try. Official statistics show that in 2002 there were 78 dead bodies. In 2003, 105 bodies were found in the forest but this may not be accurate because not every body is found. The most common way of suicide in the forest were hanging or drug overdose.

Tourists attraction and hard job

As the place became popular, the Japanese government stopped reporting exact numbers of people who commit suicide here to prevent more people from coming. However, it is believed that hundreds of people each year make the journey to the forest and many never come back. The locals stay away from the forest and report any visitors who are alone or seem like they might be there to take their life. There are also many warning signs and boards displayed throughout the forest warning people to stay on the path and to think twice before commiting suicide.

Are ghosts here?

Aokigahara is associated with many stories. These are medieval fables that connect the forest with demons and ghosts. It is also said that in the 19th century the forest served as the site of a disgusting tradition called ubasute (Young men took their mothers to this forest, who they left there and they died exhausted in the forest)

Tourists who visited this forest often mentioned that they witnessed paranormal activities. The ghosts of people who took their lives here are supposed to wander through the forest and remind curious tourists of their sad stories. We can only speculate on the truth of these testimonies, but noone can argue with the fact that there is a really dark atmosphere in the forest. However, it is not only tourists who regularly visit this forest.

Even since 1970, local volunteers once a year undertake an expedition into the forest with the necessary equipment, where they subsequently "collect" dead bodies, which are buried then. This is not an attractive job, but based on the decision of the local authorities it is needed. If this was not done, soon the forest would be full of dead bodies, rotting remains and skeletons. After all, the bodies of hanged men hang from tree branches.

There are also cases of thieves who go into the forest to hunt for the aim of getting of the valuables which dead have with them. There was even a short documentary about the whole Aokigahara forest phenomenon. It is aptly named Aokigahara – the forest of suicides.

What do you think about this mysterious place? Would you visit this forest or rather not?