On the outside, Japan seems like a very happy country with loving people, but on the inside, the deep inside of Japan, that's not the case. In the dense forest of Mount Fuji lies the suicide forest. Often known as the sea of trees. Aokigahara is considered the most haunted location in all of Japan. The sucide forest is the second most popular place for sucide, right behind The Golden Gate Bridge in San Fransico, California.
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| Don't look for me. |
The
suicide forest, located in Aokigahara, Japan is a very lonely place to die.
Because of how dense the forest is, it is very easy to disappear in the
vegetation, making it the perfect place to die. Also because of the density, no
sounds can be heard other than the actual sounds of the forest. Every year,
authorities find and remove over 100 bodies, but others are still undiscovered
for years because the forest is to dense to be patrolled frequently. Hundreds
of volunteers along with authorities seek to find the bodies of the suicide
victims. So many people kill themselves, the authorities have no other place to
store the remains. Rumor has it that the cause for this place to be the
ultimate place to die, is based on a Sixties novel of a woman killing herself
in the actual forest. They actually made a television show out of it! I'm
pretty sure that will spark an idea. After the launch of the novel, people
started to take their own lives at the rate of fifty to one hundred deaths a
year. Each year the suicide ratings go up. The number of bankruptcies and
unemployment have a lot to do with those rising ratings. In March, which is the
end of the fiscal year, more people come to the forest because of the bad
economy.
The rate
of suicide is so high here, the police have put up signs on the way to the
forest saying, "Please Reconsider" and "Please consult the
police before you decide to die!" nailed to the trees. The bodies that are
taking from the woods are taking to a room and put on a bed where someone
sleeps beside it… creepy right? Well, it's true! It was said that if the corpse
was left alone, it will scream though out the night.
The
Japanese government has raised the suicide awareness in school and work places.
They have gone as far as to post security cameras to the entrances of the
forest.
Mount Fuji is a beautiful place to visit, from a far that is. If you go into the actual
forest, prepare to hear weird sounds, and be visited by ghosts and demons.
Works
Cited:
Lyle
Brennan,"The suicide forest of Japan: Mount Fuji beauty spot where up to
100 bodies are found very year,"Mail Online, Glam Entertainment, 2012,
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2127414/The-suicide-forest-Japan-Mystery-Mount-Fuji-beauty-spot-100-bodies-year.html
Zack
Davisson,"The Suicide Woods of Woods of Mt.
Fuji,"Japanzine,2006,http://www.japanzine.jp/article/jz/957/the-suicide-woods-of-mt-fuji
Peter
Hadfield,"Japan Struggles with soaring death toll in Suicide Forest,"
The Telegraph,
2000,http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/japan/1373287/Japan-struggles-with-soaring-death-toll-in-Suicide-Forest.html
Kyung
Lah,"Desperate Japanese head to 'suicide forest'," CNN, 2009,
http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/03/19/suicide.forrest.japan/
Vice
News,"Aokigahara Suicide Forest," Vice, 2011,
http://www.vice.com/vice-news/aokigahara-suicide-forest-v3
Websites
for further research
The Japan Times
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2011/06/26/general/inside-japans-suicide-forest/#.UmHGKBYTv6c
This website delivers a personal experience that the author observed going into
the forest.
Intruders
tangle 'suicide forest' with tape
http://web.archive.org/web/20080506060315/http://www.asahi.com/english/Herald-asahi/TKY200805020328.html
This website gives additional information bout the actual density f the forest.
Japan's
harvest of death http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/japans-harvest-of-death-635356.html
This website gives information about how much deaths are recorded, and how much
people die a year.
