Tuesday, May 15
There’s a forest in Japan famous for suicides!
It’s called Aokigahara, or the Sea of Trees and every year nearly 100 people hang themselves among its dense trees. The forest lies at the northwest base of Mount Fuji and because the trees are so densely packed, there is a renowned absence of animals or wind, resulting in an eerie silence.
The forest has always been linked with demons and death throughout Japanese mythology. Every year, usually around March, people walk into the forest with a rope and little else to find a tree to end their life. The forest is so densely packed however, that the government has admitted there are most likely many bodies that are never found.
In 1960 the novel “Nami no Tō” consisted with two lovers ending their lives in the forest and ever since suicide rates have skyrocketed. The government has begun placing posters in both Japanese and English throughout the area urging people to reconsider; yet many do not. Every year the government sends a search body of police to find the hanging bodies and has ceased publishing the figure to deter others from following suit.