Aokigahara Forest is considered the second in the world in the number of suicides (on the first - the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco). It still remains a mystery why people take their own lives here. Neither version is convincing enough.
Forest on the slope of a volcano
"Aokigahara" in Japanese means "Plain of Blue Trees"; another name is "Dzyukai" ("Sea of Trees"). This is a national park at the foot of the sacred Mount Fuji on the island of Honshu. It is located not far from Tokyo, and residents of the capital love to have picnics here, they come to breathe fresh air. There are several hiking trails in the park that offer climbing Mount Fuji along the northern slope, as well as walks through picturesque forest areas. Among the attractions are the Ice and Vetryanaya caves.
Many tourists walking in the park do not even imagine that they are in the most ominous and mysterious place in Japan. In 864, there was a powerful eruption of Mount Fuji. A huge stream of fiery lava descended along the northwest slope. A lava plateau formed on an area of about 40 square kilometers. Gradually a forest appeared here. The trees grow on volcanic rock covered with a thin layer of fertile soil that is difficult to work with hoes and shovels. Can't break into the depths and roots of trees. Therefore, they come out, intricately intertwining over the fragments of rocks that in ancient times were thrown out of the volcano. From this age-old trees look as if some giants tried to uproot them. Numerous caves and crevices lurk here and there among the amazing forest. Some of them stretch hundreds of meters underground, and in most of them the ice does not melt even in summer heat.
Stay on the trail
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Park employees warn tourists about this. On both sides of the trail, there are centuries-old trees as a solid wall. It is no wonder to get lost in this endless forest sea. A careless person who has turned off the path and plunged into the thicket for several tens of meters may not find his way back. He finds himself in the realm of a ringing, deafening silence. No sound from the outside breaks through here, and no one will hear the cries for help: they seem to be stuck in the air, which has turned into a dense viscous substance. Experts explain this phenomenon by the density of the forest and the fact that it is located in a lowland. The compass will not help to find the right direction: its arrow rushes here chaotically. The rich reserves of iron ore in the bowels of the Aokigahara region are to blame. This magnetic anomaly is also detrimental to the psyche. In particular, the person has a feelingthat someone is watching him.
But superstitious people believe that an unclean force leads an unwary traveler through the forest. Aokigahara was occupied by hordes of ghosts and demons. The Japanese call them yurei. These demons look like luminous figures with long slender arms, but no legs, and their eyes burn with ruby fire. Yurei wander aimlessly among the trees, sighing heavily and groaning. In Japan, there is a belief that after death a person's soul leaves the body and meets with the souls of relatives. But if the death was violent, the soul was poisoned with a thirst for revenge, or the burial ritual was violated, then the deceased becomes yurei.
Ghost legends did not arise out of nowhere. In medieval Japan, there was a ubasute custom: poor families in times of famine took old people and children who could not be fed into the forest and left them to die. Such fanaticism was practiced as early as the 19th century. The wall of powerful trees muffled all sounds, and no one heard the crying of the sufferers doomed to a terrible, painful and long death. The unfortunate cursed those who abandoned them in the middle of the forest until their last breath, and the souls, possessed by anger, became eternal prisoners of Aokigahara. Locals believe that these ghosts are still waiting for lonely travelers in the forest, trying to avenge their suffering.
Corpses in the thicket
The mystical landscape and the grave silence of the legendary forest attract those who have decided to voluntarily leave this life. From 70 to 100 corpses are found in Aokigahara every year. That is, on average, every week someone enters the thicket so as not to return from there. The most common methods of suicide are hanging and medication poisoning.
Since 1970, the police have been officially searching for the bodies of the victims. Responsibilities for the search, evacuation and burial of the bodies were assigned to the official authorities of the three villages closest to the forest: Narusawa, Asiwada (currently Fujikawaguchiko) and Kamikuishiki (now Kofu). For this, special funds in the amount of five million yen are annually allocated from the treasury. Once a year, the police, along with a large group of volunteers (about 300 people), comb the forest. Just a few dozen steps into the forest from the path, you can find clothes, bags, plastic bottles and empty pill boxes on the ground. Participants in such raids must have strong nerves. It happens that a branch crunched underfoot turns out to be a human bone, and a silhouette in the distance is the corpse of another gallows. Many bodies found during the raidsremain unidentified and unclaimed relatives. They are located in special rooms. So, in 2000, 119 bodies were stored in Kamikuishiki, 52 in Asiwad and another 60 in Narusawa.
On guard
Local authorities are trying to prevent new suicides. For example, there is a poster at the entrance to the forest: “Your life is a priceless gift from your parents. Think about them and your family. You don't have to suffer alone. Call us: 22-0110 . Similar signs with appeals and indication of helplines, as well as video cameras are placed along the road and on the paths leading into the forest. The local shops do not sell ropes, and you cannot buy strong pills here. The park staff carefully observe the visitors and unmistakably distinguish from the crowd those who came here not for a picnic, but to take their own lives.
Especially striking are men who, having a habit of constantly wearing a business suit, wander the paths of Aokigahara in strict office clothes. Or those who hesitate in front of the path leading into the forest, trying not to meet their eyes. Those are the first to be picked up by the police. Regular patrols of the forest and surrounding roads by police and volunteers to some extent helps prevent possible suicide.
And yet, despite all precautions, dozens of new bodies are found in the forest every year. Of course, not everyone is found: there are those who kill themselves in a completely deaf, impassable thicket. There the remains of the unfortunate are taken away by predatory animals.
What drives you to suicide?
Why is such a prosperous country like Japan one of the first places in the world for the number of suicides? Job loss is the most common cause. Many experts believe that the Japanese have become pragmatic, and money (more precisely, their absence) plays too much of a role in their lives. But perhaps this is a mentality that developed many centuries ago: the loss of social status is perceived as the worst of evils. Another terrible ritual, called "conspiracy suicide" in Japan, has survived to this day from ancient times. Two lovers, who for some reason cannot be together, decide to voluntarily leave this life. The belief that simultaneous death will unite them in the other world is still very strong. Conspiracy suicides, alas, are traditional for the Japanese, so when the bodies of a man and a woman are found nearby, the police, as a rule,considers the matter obvious.
The surge in the pilgrimage of suicides in the Aokigahara forest was also caused by … literature. The book by Wataru Tsurumi, The Complete Guide to Suicide, published in 1993, became an instant bestseller, with over 1.2 million copies sold in Japan. This work provides a detailed description of the various methods of suicide, and the author described Aokigaharu as "a great place to die." Copies of Tsurumi's book were found near the bodies of some of the suicides.
It is not surprising that suicides have become a kind of symbol of this forest park, and Japanese children pronounce the word "Aokigahara" in a whisper when they begin to tell each other horror stories in the evening twilight.