Aokigahara (青木ヶ原, 'Blue Tree Meadow'), also known as the Sea of Trees (樹海, Jukai), is a forest on the northwestern flank of Mount Fuji on the island of Honshu in Japan, thriving on 30 square kilometres (12 sq mi) of hardened lava laid down by the last major eruption of Mount Fuji in 864 CE.[1] The western edge of Aokigahara, where there are several caves that fill with ice in winter, is a popular destination for tourists and school trips. Parts of Aokigahara are very dense, and the porous lava rock absorbs sound, contributing to a sense of solitude that some visitors attribute to the forest.[2]
The forest has a historical reputation as a home to yūrei: ghosts of the dead in Japanese mythology. At least since the 1960s, Aokigahara has become associated with suicide, eventually becoming known in English by the nickname "Suicide Forest" and gaining a reputation as one of the world's most-used suicide sites. Because of this, signs at the head of some trails urge suicidal visitors to think of their families and contact a suicide prevention association.
Aokigahara has been portrayed as a place where navigational compasses go haywire. Needles of magnetic compasses will sometimes point away from north if placed directly on the lava, aligning with the rock's natural magnetism, which varies in iron content and strength by location. However, the compass behaves as expected when held at a normal height.[2] The Japan Ground Self-Defense Force has conducted its Ranger Courses including navigation training in the forest since 1956.[5]
Aokigahara is sometimes referred to as the most popular site for suicide in Japan.[13][14] In 2003, 105 bodies were found in the forest, exceeding the previous record of 78 in 2002.[15] In 2010, the police recorded 54 confirmed suicides out of more than 200 attempts.[16] Suicides are said to increase during March, the end of the fiscal year in Japan.[13] As of 2011,[update] the most common means of suicide in the forest were hanging or drug overdose.[16] Local officials have stopped publicizing the numbers in an attempt to decrease Aokigahara's association with suicide.[17][failed verification]
The rate of suicide has led officials to place a sign at the forest's entry urging suicidal visitors to seek help and not take their own lives. Annual body searches have been conducted by police, volunteers, and journalists since 1970.[18][19][20]
The site's popularity has been attributed to Seichō Matsumoto's 1961 novel Nami no Tō (Tower of Waves).[21][22] However, the history of suicide in Aokigahara predates the novel's publication, and the place has long been associated with death; ubasute may have been practiced there into the nineteenth century, and the forest is reputedly haunted by the yūrei of those left to die.[17]
Aokigahara has been referred to in numerous forms of entertainment and documentary media, including anime and manga, films, literature, music lyrics and video games; a drama-mystery film, The Sea of Trees (2015), takes place in the forest, as does American screenwriter Jason Zada's horror film The Forest (2016).
In late 2017, popular American YouTuberLogan Paul, who had earned over 15 million subscribers to his channel by 1 January 2018, uploaded a video in which he and several companions visited Aokigahara in order to document and explore the forest's supposed "creepy" qualities. While filming, the group discovered several personal items, including discarded sleeping bags and clothing, as well as what appeared to be disused campsites. They then unexpectedly came upon the remains of a person who had died by suicide, approaching the corpse and filming (blurring the face of the person, whose identity is a mystery); this video was then uploaded directly to Paul's channel, shocking many and receiving widespread condemnation.[23] One member of the group could be heard saying they did not "feel good" as they viewed the corpse, to which Paul asked, jokingly, if this person had "never stood near a dead guy before".[23] After receiving swift backlash, and even some praise for "raising suicide awareness", Paul stated that he was "misguided by shock and awe"; after removing the video, and filming a subsequent apology, Paul said that he "should have never posted the video" and "should have put the cameras down and stopped recording what we were going through…I'm ashamed of myself…I'm disappointed in myself."[23]
Aokigahara was the subject of a BBC Radio 4 production, broadcast 10 September 2018, in which four poets traveled to the region to write and record poetry.[24] The poets Arai Takako, Jordan A. Y. Smith, Osaki Sayaka, and Yotsumoto Yasuhiro co-authored a bilingual (Japanese/English) anthology of the poems and short writings on Aokigahara, titled Sea of Trees: Poetic Gateways to Aokigahara (ToPoJo Excursions, 2019).[25]
Aokigahara is also the name of Mai Shiranui's stage in Fatal Fury 2, consisting of a raft next to the forest. An updated version of the stage was included in a teaser trailer for her guest appearance in Street Fighter 6.[28]
^Tani, Saburō (1988). Rangers - The Strongest Combatants of the Ground Self Defense Force (in Japanese). Fusosha Publishing. pp. 45–60. ISBN978-4594002350.
^ abLah, Kyung (19 March 2009). "Desperate Japanese head to 'suicide forest'". CNN.com/Asia. Retrieved 10 April 2012. Especially in March, the end of the fiscal year, more suicidal people will come here because of the bad economy. It's my dream to stop suicides in this forest, but to be honest, it would be difficult to prevent all the cases here.
