AOKIGAHARA FOREST
Called "the perfect place to
die," the Aokigahara forest has the unfortunate distinction of the world's
second most popular place to take one's life. (The first is the Golden Gate
Bridge.) Since the 1950s, Japanese businessmen have wandered in, and at least
500 of them haven't wandered out, at an increasing rate of between 10 and 30
per year. Recently these numbers have increased even more, with a record 78
suicides in 2002.
Japanes espiritualists believe that the suicides
committed in the forest have permeated Aokigahara's trees, generating
paranormal activity and preventing many who enter from escaping the forest's
depths.
Contemporary news outlets noted the recent
spike in suicides in the forest, blamed more on Japan’s economic downturn than
on the romantic ending of Seicho Matsumoto’s novel Kuroi Jukai, which
revitalized the so-called Suicide Forest’s popularity among those determined to
take their final walk. (The novel culminates in Aokigahara as the characters
are driven to joint-suicide.)
Locals say they can easily spot the
three types of visitors to the forest: trekkers interested in scenic vistas of
Mount Fuji, the curious hoping for a glimpse of the macabre, and those souls
who don’t plan on returning.
What those hoping to take their lives may not
consider is the impact the suicides have on the locals and forest workers. In
the words of one local man, "It bugs the hell out of me that the area's
famous for being a suicide spot." And a local police officer said, The
workers must carry the bodies down from the forest to the local station, where
the bodies are put in a special room used specifically to house suicide
corpses.
