Aokigahara forest is located in the northwest of Japan's Mount Fuji. This beautiful natural site covers almost 35 square kilometers, but it has an infamous reputation. Japan is a country with a developed economy, but its inhabitants have the third highest rate of suicide in the world. Aokigahara attracts those who decide to commit suicide.
Some statistics
For many people living on our planet, according to life principles, for example, deep religiosity, suicide is something completely unacceptable. But if you take a quick look at the data of the World Health Organization, it turns out that more than 800 thousand people commit suicide every year. The problem is most acute in the category of adolescents and young people aged 14 to 29 years. A 2012 study found that suicide is the second most common cause of death in girls and young adults.
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Destination
Aokigahara has a bad reputation among the people, which is perfectly logical. According to statistics, more than a hundred people find their last refuge here every year. Locals called this scary place the forest of suicides. Of course, the Japanese government, together with public organizations, are making certain efforts to put an end to this terrible tradition once and for all. However, so far all these attempts are in vain.
Reasons for "popularity"
Is it possible to explain such an alluring "popularity" of this beautiful quiet place? And how did it happen that the forest of unearthly beauty became a truly demonic object? Many Japanese believe that the novel "Black Sea of Trees" by the famous Japanese detective writer Seite Matsumoto laid the starting point for a bad tradition. The book was published in the 60s of the last century and was an overwhelming success with the reader. In the story, a grief-stricken lover decides to take his own life in the beautiful forest of Aokigahara. Perhaps the inconsolable man had too many followers.
What measures are being taken?
Of course, with the surge in suicide, the novel was not banned. Local authorities have chosen a different method of counteraction. The increase in forest patrols, the equipping of entrances with surveillance cameras, and special signs located around the perimeter should have reduced the number of attempts leading to suicide. Volunteer groups are looking for the missing. Reportedly, the state structures of the island of Honshu annually carry out massive operations aimed at saving lives. Well, if the tragedy still could not be prevented, the bodies are searched to the last, because they should not be left without burial.
According to local folklore
Seite Matsumoto chose this place as a person involved in his book for a reason. According to local folklore, this forest attracts angry souls. Thousands of people who once died with a feeling of anger and contempt cannot find peace for themselves, and their restless souls wander among the mysterious black trees. Locals believe that these phantoms seduce the lost, desperate travelers, and convince them to enter their "home". Everything else is just a matter of a sick imagination. Despite the general searches and constant combing of territories, not every missing person can be found. Due to the high density of the forest, the bodies of people who committed suicide still remain there. According to statistics, death by hanging is still the most popular. In second place is poisoning.
You can easily get lost there
Some people who have decided to commit suicide leave here in despair, leave notes for their relatives and secretly hope that they will be heard, found and helped to rectify the situation. Even if a person abandons his original idea, it is so easy to get lost in a dense, impenetrable forest … Probably, the number of accidental victims is high - people who are looking for missing persons on their own or who have come here out of curiosity. Heartbreaking calls for help are lost in the thicket.
