The Mystery Behind Japan’s Suicide Forest: Aokigahara

In 2015, Hollywood brought us a new age classic called The Forest. It outlines the mysterious Aokigahara forest that lies at the base of Mount Fuji in Japan. However, this film doesn’t chronicle the lush, thriving plant life that resides there, but rather—the souls that have gone there to die and haunt the forest. What most people are unaware of is that while the storyline in this movie may be fictional, the Aokigahara, or Suicide Forest, is an incredibly real place, and it’s just as grim as it sounds. In this article, we’ll talk more about the oddity that is the Aokigahara Forest.

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A Brief Description of the Aokigahara Forest

The Suicide Forest covers an enormous twelve mile—or thirty kilometer radius at the foot of the beautiful Mount Fuji. The lush topography has seemingly always existed there, but in 864 A.D., Mount Fuji erupted for the last time and created an odd type of hard lava rock forest floor. Branches twist and wrap around other trees, leaves of all sizes and species drape other exotic plant life, and vines lie silently on top of damp, soft moss. The vegetation in Aokigahara is so abundant and dense, in fact, that even in the heat of the mid-day sun, there are still pitch-black areas that receive no sunlight. Within this botanist’s paradise, however, many self-made nooses, pairs of shoes, and abandoned tents can be found. Twist and turns loom everywhere, adding to the already eerie feeling most report getting upon entering Aokigahara.

Why is it Called “The Suicide Forest”?

Oddly enough, suicide is something that’s been revered as honorable in Japan. Whether by way of religious beliefs or even in terms of war and politics, those who set out on suicide missions are usually considered heroes and sometimes even entered into ancestral sainthood. However, though suicide is viewed that way, Japan doesn’t want people running off and killing themselves in abundance. A great example of this would be perhaps a Japanese child’s bedtime story may tell the story of a great hero who commits suicide, but it’s not okay for the child to do. For a more westernized culture example, Spiderman or any other comic book character beating up bad guys in isn’t okay for “regular people” to do, but is okay for Spiderman.

In light of this type of unique suicide culture, the people of Japan hold the highest suicide rate on the planet. An average of over 70,000 kill themselves there per year, and about three hundred of those occur in the Aokigahara Forest, making it come in second place as the global suicide hotspot. This phenomenon seemingly began in 1971 when over one hundred bodies were recovered and removed from the forest. Each year since then, that number has not only grown, but doubled, tripled, and quadrupled.

Officials believe the reason suicidal people flock to the Aokigahara Forest to kill themselves is because of its’ large size which enables people to find solitude so they can carry out their intentions without interference. Many others state that demons and the sad souls of those who have already passed in this makeshift graveyard dwell among the forest and whisper terrible things to the depressed and vulnerable, persuading them to kill themselves. It’s evident that some people camp out for a couple of days before making their final decision to end their life, and groups of specially trained mental health professionals regularly patrol the area in hopes of being able to talk someone out of going through with their plan. In addition to these types of groups, city officials also must send out special staff to sweep the forest for bodies. Unfortunately, many of the people who die here never get a proper funeral as the animals living among the trees and brush often snag the corpses for dinner before anyone else can get to it.
Signs of hope and phone booths that connect people to suicide prevention hotlines are placed throughout the twelve miles of forest, but the numbers show that they are rarely used. Authorities blame the problem on the economic issues that the new generation faces as over half of the bodies recovered there were unemployed and otherwise completely broke at the time.

While there are few that go in there to hike or explore the vegetation, they typically embark on such journeys in groups. Those who go in solo very rarely ever come back out. Is this insane phenomenon occurring in the Aokigahara forest truly supernatural? Or is it because of the financially unstable hand that the new generation of young adults have been dealt? Perhaps it’s something that we’ll never know the clear cut answer to.