The
Forest of Suicide
Near the base of Mount Fuji lays the Aokigahara forest, which according to John on Tofugu.com, is “also
known as the Sea of Trees, Suicide Forest, and Japan’s Demon Forest...” John also mentions that “Aokigahara is the
world’s second most popular place for suicide.”
Why would people come to this forest just to commit suicide? Well, after researching Aokigahara, I have
found that the forest became a suicide hot-spot soon after a novel called Kuroi Kaiju by Seicho Matsumoto was
published. In the novel Kuroi Kaiju, which means Black Sea of Trees, two lovers commit suicide in
the forest of Aokigahara. Many believe
that this book sparked the suicide frenzy because according to Lauren Sesana
this book along with The Complete Manual of Suicide has been found
with the remains of the bodies. However, there were also suicides that predated
the novel. During times of famine in
Japan, people would leave family members in the Sea of Trees so they would have
fewer mouths to feed (Sesana). It sounds
gruesome, but Aokigahara has the perfect topography if you want to get rid of
someone.
Aokigahara is known to be very still and quiet. Sesana
notes, “The vegetation is extremely dense; the numerous trees block out most of
the light, even in the middle of the day.
The trees also block the wind, and there is little wildlife to be seen
or heard.” She continues, “Perhaps for
this reason Aokigahara has been thought to be the realm of demons.” The name “Japan’s Demon Forest” has been
given to Aokigahara because according to John the spiritualists of Japan
believe that the ground and vegetation have been infused by the suicides, which
then causes paranormal activity. It is
said that spirits can be spotted by visitors shifting between trees (John) as
seen in the picture below.
Aokigahara is a
beautiful forest which has somewhat been corrupted by the mass suicides that
occur in it. The fact that demons are
believed to live in the forest also makes the forest less appealing. If someone doesn’t believe in demons, doesn’t
mind seeing corpses, and has a good sense of direction, Aokigahara is a lovely
place for sightseeing.
Works
Cited:
John.
“Aokigahara: Japan’s Haunted Forest of Death.” Tofugu.com. Tofugu. 2012. Web. 12 Oct. 2012.
Sesana,
Laura. “Aokigahara, Japan’s Suicide Forest.”TheWashingtonTimes.com. The Washington Times, LLC. 19 Aug.
2012. Web. 10 Oct. 2012.
Image
MILL. “Forest Butoh crawl.” Photograph. Flickriver.
Image MILL, 18 June, 2009. Web. 19 Oct. 2012.
Links for Further
Research:
The
Washington Times Communities.
This site contains information from
what people write since it’s a social journalism site.
Tofogu.
This website provides allot of
information that was taken from other websites.
Environmental
graffiti.
This website gives a somewhat broad
summary about Aokigahara.
No comments:
Post a Comment