"Forest of Death" or Japanese Suicide Forest. Aokigahara Suicide Forest - the most terrible places on the planet

Japan has frightened the world more than once with its horror films; in fact, it draws its plots from very unique myths. It is based on the idea that a person who has died a violent death or a suicide will not simply leave this world, but will remain and take harsh revenge on the living.

ATTENTION: Viewing of this report is not recommended for the faint of heart, impressionable people, pregnant women and those under 18 years of age!

The legend that makes many Japanese perk up when they hear the word “Jukai” goes back to the Middle Ages. In times of famine, peasant families who could not feed the elderly and newborns took them to this forest to die.

In modern times, the forest has become a magnet for those who decide to commit suicide, largely due to Japanese literature. Seicho Matsumoto was one of the first to glorify the forest in his work “Dark Jukai”. Then there was the sensational book " Detailed Guide, how to commit suicide", where the forest was described as an "ideal place" for suicide. Only some time after the release of this creation, two bodies were discovered in the forest, and with them, read copies of the book.

Aokigahara Jukai (青木ヶ原樹海) - a dark forest at the foot of Mount Fuji on Japanese island Honshu. Fuji is a dormant volcano. But in 864, an eruption occurred here, and lava flows shaped the appearance of these places. Then the forested mountain valleys of Aokigahara appeared.

Adding to the mystery is the volcanic origin of the local topography, which caused a magnetic anomaly that makes it impossible to accurately navigate there using a compass.

The land on which the forest is located is volcanic rock that is quite dense and cannot be worked with hand tools, such as hoes and shovels.

Since the 50s of the last century, the remains of more than five hundred suicides have been discovered in Jukai. An impressive figure for a forest of just over 3 hectares. More people step into the abyss only from the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco.

Inscription on the shield: Your life is a priceless gift from your parents. Think about them and your family. You should not suffer alone. Call us 22-0110

In 2002, 78 remains of suicides were found.

The leading methods of suicide are hanging and poisoning. medicines.

According to eyewitnesses, it is enough to take just a few dozen steps deep into the forest from the path, and you can find things, bags, plastic bottles and packaging of tablets.

Imagine a forest from an eerie gothic fairy tale.

With incredibly twisted trees, moss hanging from them and caves gaping everywhere. That's Jukai.

There is dead silence all around, which gradually begins to ring in your ears.

Any rustle makes you turn around, and conversations become unnaturally cheerful, just not to hear this silence. But the most unpleasant thing is that in Jukai you always feel as if there is someone behind your back.

On the bus they will definitely tell you to “be careful”. At any time of the year, at any hour of the day, the gloomy mass of trees hides the sun and leads astray.

The wooded plain stretches for many kilometers and makes it difficult to navigate even from the top of the tallest tree. And the sky around Fuji is often overcast. Hopes for a compass are in vain: the forest has grown by lava flows Fuji, which force the arrow to do anything except indicate the cardinal directions.

And the silence is pleasant at first, but then falls on a city dweller who is unaccustomed to silence, instilling anxiety and a feeling of helplessness.

Only two types of people voluntarily go into the depths of the “forest of death” - members special teams police officers and firefighters who comb Aokigahara every autumn in search of the remains of suicides, and even the suicides themselves.

In order to prevent new suicides, local authorities are taking a number of preventive measures: installing signs with appeals and indicating hotlines, installing video cameras along the road and paths leading into the forest.

Local shops do not sell any means (tablets, ropes) that could be used to commit suicide. There are special patrols in the surrounding areas that catch those wishing to get to Jukai as they approach. It is easy to identify those who decide to go to the forest: most often they are men in business suits.

Many Japanese sincerely believe that if you go to Jukai, you can no longer return from there - the spirits of the dead will be lured into the thicket and will not be allowed to leave.

This is why the forest attracts those who like to tickle their nerves so much.

Aokigahara (Japanese: ?????, "Plain green trees"); also known as Jukai (Japanese ???, “Sea of Trees”) is a forest at the foot of Mount Fuji on the Japanese island of Honshu. The forest, located right at the foot of the volcano itself, is the complete opposite of the beauty and majestic tranquility of these places.

The total area is approximately 35 sq. m. km. The terrain of the forest includes many rocky caves, and the features of the location, in particular the density of the forest and the lowland, provide a “deafening” silence. It is also claimed that there are vast deposits underground in the forest area. iron ore, this apparently explains the fact that compasses do not function in Aokigahara. The land on which the forest is located is volcanic rock that is quite dense and cannot be worked with hand tools such as hoes and shovels.

Aokigahara is considered a young forest because it was formed approximately 1,200 years ago. The last major eruption of Mount Fuji occurred in 1707 and for some reason did not cover one of the slopes with lava, covering an area of about 3,000 hectares of land. Later, this area was overgrown with a dense forest of boxwood, pines and other conifers. The trees stand almost like a solid wall.

But that’s not what’s terrible here...

The soil is dug up, as if someone was trying to uproot centuries-old trunks. The roots of the trees, unable to break through the solid lava rock, come up, intricately intertwined over rocky fragments that were once thrown out of the crater of the volcano. The relief of the forest is riddled with fractures and numerous caves, some of which extend underground for several hundred meters, and in some of them the ice never melts.

Aokigahara's fauna includes wild foxes, snakes and dogs.

Aokigahara is a national park with several tourist routes offering a climb to Mount Fuji along the northern slope, as well as walks through the beautiful forest. Since the forest is close to Tokyo and offers many in various ways spend time on fresh air, Aokigahara is a popular destination for picnics and weekend outings.

Among the park's attractions are the Ice Cave (Japanese: ?? hyōketsu?) and the "Wind Cave" (Japanese: ?? fu:ketsu / kazeana?).

In 864 there was a powerful eruption of Mount Fuji. An indestructible lava flow descending along the northwestern slope formed a huge lava plateau with an area of 40 square meters. km, on which he took root very unusual forest. The soil is dug up, as if someone was trying to uproot centuries-old trunks. The roots of the trees, unable to break through the solid lava rock, come up, intricately intertwined over rocky fragments that were once thrown out of the crater of the volcano. The relief of the forest is riddled with fractures and numerous caves, some of which extend underground for several hundred meters, and in some of them the ice never melts.

As dusk sets in, people begin to talk about this place only in whispers. Disappearances and frequent suicides - this is the real face of Aokigahara. Tourists are strictly warned not to turn off the main paths into the depths of the forest because it is easy to get lost here. The magnetic anomaly makes the compass completely useless, and the similar terrain makes it impossible to find the exit from memory. Legends have long been made about the numerous ghosts that live in the forest. This place became notorious back in the Middle Ages, when in years of famine, desperate poor people brought their elderly and infirm relatives to the forest and left them there to die. The groans of these unfortunates could not break through the dense wall of trees, and no one heard the groans of those doomed to a painful death. The Japanese say that their ghosts lie in wait for lonely travelers in the forest, wanting to take revenge for their suffering.

There are rumors that here among the trees you can see the white ghostly outlines of yurei. According to Shintoism, the souls of those who die a natural death are united with the spirits of their ancestors. Those who suffered a violent death or committed suicide become wandering ghosts - yurei. Finding no peace, they come to our world in the form of legless ghostly figures with long arms and eyes glowing in the dark. And the oppressive deathly silence of the forest is broken at night by their groans and heavy breathing. Those who decide to visit Aokigahara must have strong nerves. It happens that a branch crunching under your feet turns out to be a human bone, and the strange outline of a person in the distance is the corpse of another hanged man.

Only two types of people voluntarily go deep into the “forest of death” - members of special teams of police and firefighters who comb Aokigahara every autumn in search of the remains of suicides, and even the suicides themselves.

Nowadays, no one suffers from hunger in Japan, but Aokigahara continues to play its ominous role even now. The mystical landscape and ringing silence of the legendary forest attracts those who decide to voluntarily take their own lives. In terms of the number of suicides committed annually, Aokigahara is second only to the Golden Bridge in San Francisco. Since 1970, the police officially began searching for the bodies of the dead, for which they are allocated annually from the treasury special means in the amount of 5 million yen. Once a year the police, together with large group Volunteer helpers (about 300 people) are combing the forest. It is reported that between 30 and 80 bodies are found during such raids. This means that, on average, every week someone enters this “sea of trees”, never to return... Three nearby villages, which are responsible for collecting this terrible harvest, have facilities for storing unidentified remains.
A surge in suicide pilgrimages to the Aokigahara forest was caused by the work of the writer Wataru Tsurumi “ Complete Guide on suicide,” published in 1993 and immediately became a bestseller: more than 1.2 million copies were sold in Japan. This book provides detailed description various methods of suicide, and the author described Aokigahara as “a wonderful place to die.” Copies of Tsurumi's book were found near the bodies of some of Aokigahara's suicides. Local authorities worried about unending wave of suicides

There are posters along the forest paths with the following content:

Your life is a priceless gift from your parents.
Think about them and your family.
You don't have to suffer alone.
Call us
22-0110

It is impossible to say for sure how much these words reduce the number of victims, but every year dozens of new bodies are found in the forest. Of course, not everyone is found: there are also those who take their own lives in a completely uninhabited wilderness. There the remains of the weak in spirit are taken away beasts of prey making them part of this forest forever.

There are rumors about the Aokigahara forest that between the trees you can see here and there the white ghostly outlines of yurei. According to Shintoism, the souls of those who die a natural death are united with the spirits of their ancestors. Those who suffered a violent death or committed suicide become wandering ghosts - yurei. Finding no peace, they come to our world in the form of legless ghosts female figures with long arms and eyes glowing in the dark. And the ringing silence of the forest is broken at night by their groans and heavy breathing.

The mystical horror of "Suicide Forest" has inspired many writers. So, in 1960, a book by the writer Seicho Matsumoto “Wave Pagoda” (Japanese ??? Nami no to) was published in Japan, which told about a woman who once committed suicide in Aokigahara. Later, based on this novella, a television series was produced, which gained extraordinary popularity in Japan.

Why do the Japanese, who seem to live in such a prosperous country, take one of the first places in the world in the number of suicides? More often than other reasons, job loss is called. Many people say that the Japanese have become too pragmatic, and the lack of money means too much in modern world. But here, perhaps, an important role is played by the mentality that developed many centuries ago, when the loss social status is perceived as the worst of evils and can push one to commit suicide.

Also, from ancient times, another terrible ritual has survived to this day, called in Japan “suicide by conspiracy.” This refers to the voluntary departure from life of two lovers who, for some reason, cannot be together in this world. The belief that simultaneous death will unite them in the other world is still very strong. "Suicide by conspiracy" is still so common in Japan that when the bodies of a man and a woman are found side by side, the police usually do not investigate thoroughly, considering the case obvious. One such case is described in a detective novel by the same author, Seicho Matsumoto, published in

A surge in the pilgrimage of suicides to the Aokigahara forest was caused by the work of the writer Wataru Tsurumi “The Complete Guide to Suicide” (Japanese ????????? Kanzen jisatsu manyuar), published in 1993 and immediately became a bestseller: more than 1,000 copies were sold in Japan. 2 million copies. This book provides detailed descriptions of various methods of suicide, and the author described Aokigahara as “a wonderful place to die.” Copies of Tsurumi's book were found near the bodies of some of Aokigahara's suicides.

Released in 2005 documentary"Sea of Trees" (Japanese: ??? Ki no Umi?), in which director Tomoyuki Takimoto narrates story of four people who decided to kill themselves in Aokigahara. At the 17th Tokyo International Film Festival, the film received an award in the category best movie in the section “Japanese cinema. Your own view."

The Japanese metal band Screw recorded the song “The Sea of Trees”, the video clip was based on footage filmed in Aokigahara.

The place is called Aokigahara (青木ヶ原). It is also called Jukai (樹海 - “Plain of Green Trees” / “Sea of Trees”). This forest is located on the island of Honshu, at the foot of Mount Fuji. Inside the forest, the temperature drops, and finding the way back after leaving the path is quite difficult, even if you climb the most tall tree In the woods.

Aokigahara is considered one of the young forests as it was formed approximately 1,200 years ago. Volcano Fuji last time erupted in 1707, and for some unknown reason, not one of the slopes was covered with lava (an area of about 3000 hectares of land). Later, this area was overgrown with a dense forest of pines, white cedar and boxwood. The trees stand almost like a solid wall. Aokigahara's fauna includes wild foxes, snakes and dogs. Aokigahara is also a national park with several tourist routes offering a climb to Mount Fuji along the northern slope, as well as walks through the beautiful forest.

Because the forest is close to Tokyo and offers many different ways to spend time outdoors, Aokigahara is a popular destination for picnics and weekend walks. Among the attractions of this park are the Ice Cave and the Wind Cave.

Now let's talk about history:

The forest is one of Japan's kind of sad landmarks. This place is usually called the "Suicide Forest." Initially, the forest was associated with Japanese mythology and was traditionally considered the habitat of demons and ghosts (really similar).

Legends about this place have been known to the Japanese since the Middle Ages, and in the 19th century the poor Japanese families they brought and left in this forest their elderly people and children, whom they could not feed, to certain death... (goosebumps). All Japanese believe that evil spirits and supernatural forces live in this forest (the atmosphere is proof of this). Aokigahara is also considered one of the most terrible places on Earth: since 1950, more than 500 people have committed suicide there. For example, 78 bodies were found in 2002 alone. It was believed that it began when Seicho Macumoto published his novel Kuroi Kaidzu (Black Sea of Trees), where two of his characters committed suicide.

Imagine a forest from an eerie gothic fairy tale. With incredibly twisted trees, moss hanging from them and caves gaping everywhere. That's Jukai. But the creepiest thing about it is the dead silence, which gradually begins to ring in your ears. Any rustle makes you turn around, and conversations become unnaturally cheerful, just not to hear this silence. But the most unpleasant thing is that in Jukai you always feel as if there is someone behind your back.

Tragic outcomes/suicides:

A country rising sun, which has frightened the whole world more than once with its horror films, actually draws its plots not from the overheated imagination of the screenwriters, but from very peculiar myths. They are based on the idea that a person who has died a violent death or committed suicide will not simply leave this world, but will remain and will cruelly take revenge on the living. For almost everyone who decides to enter the “Sea of Green” (this is how the real name of the Aokigahara Jukai forest is translated), it will be a one-way road. Imagine how dense, suffocating stands of trees compete for light and space. Entire floors made of fallen branches, rocks covered with moss, lichens, barely visible paths, climbing plants, flowers and cobwebs. Deep caves made of ice and stone complete absence any sound around...

Even a compass won't save you. The forest stands above a huge magnetic anomaly, and the needle will dance like clockwork. If you still dare, then take your GPS with you...and if something happens to you, few people will come to your rescue, not even the authorities. For this is the forest where death lives...

Aokigahara is a popular suicide spot among residents of Tokyo and the surrounding area and is considered the second most popular place in the world to take one's own life (after the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco). Every year, between 70 and 100 bodies are found in the forest. Officially, the police began searching for the bodies of Aokigahara suicides in 1970. Since then, the number of discovered bodies has been growing more and more every year...

The leading methods of suicide are hanging and drug poisoning. According to eyewitnesses, it is enough to take just a few dozen steps deep into the forest from the path, and you can find things, bags, plastic bottles and packages of pills on the ground...

In itself, there is nothing unusual here; any ancient forest acquires an atmosphere of mystery and collects many similar stories. However, in this case they grew into something more, a kind of feedback with dark places in the human psyche.

According to statistics, most of the suicides are men in business suits, and according to officials, suicides are due to the crisis (Japan's economy has always been unstable, even before the global economic crisis). However, not all so simple. It’s clear that the Japanese are very hardworking people, they already work beyond the norm, and they lose their nerves, and after long hours of work in offices or somewhere else, all the work is “down the drain”, the bosses don’t have enough, but the crisis is not the only problem. As it turned out, literature also intervened: There was a sensational book “A Detailed Guide to Committing Suicide,” where the forest was described as an “ideal place” for suicide. The government is fighting this - they will put up security cameras and “Remember” signs. Near the forest there is even a person who is called a “guide,” but he, in fact, is trying to distinguish a suicide from an extreme person, that is, whether to let him in or not, call the authorities, or it’s not so simple. Located at the foot of Fuji, the Aokigahara forest (Aokigahara, or Jukai) - favorite place Japanese youth to settle scores with their lives...

Nowadays, all this has changed; the forest's reputation makes it attractive to depressed young people, a refuge for rejected lovers, and other categories of suicidal individuals. Again, the notorious Japanese bestseller The Complete Manual of Suicide, written by Wataru Tsurumi and published in 1993, described Aokigahara as “a wonderful place to die,” and this only increased attention to him.

Managers and law enforcement agencies The three villages bordering the forest - Narusawa, Ashidawa and Kamikuishiki, are under Japanese law responsible for unidentified bodies in their area, and often corpses wait a long time in Aokigahara before they are discovered, making their identification impossible or extremely difficult and expensive. The search party must find the bodies, remove them from the forest, and “dispose of them” either by burning them or organizing a funeral.

For this they receive money from Yamanashi Prefecture, but the task has become so onerous that the costs reach 5 million yen every year (1.5 million rubles). The corpses must be returned from the forest to the local forestry office, where a special room is allocated for their storage - a room with two beds, one for the corpse and one for the forest worker, who must sleep nearby. This is explained by the fact that according to Japanese superstitions, the ghost of someone who has died prematurely will howl all night and may try to carry away the body, since the body of a suicide should remain in the company of others like it. Foresters usually play with each other for the prize of who should sleep with the corpse.

At the entrance to the forest there is a poster:

Your life is a priceless gift from your parents.
Think about them and your family.
You don't have to suffer alone.
Call us: 22-0110.
"FOREST OF DEATH" or "JAPANESE SUICIDE FOREST"

The same employee confirmed that in case of suspicion, they immediately report to the police. Regular patrolling of the forest and surrounding roads by police and volunteers also helps prevent possible suicides. Particularly striking are the “men who have never given up the habit of constantly wearing a business suit, wandering along the paths of Aokigahara in formal office clothes”; the police take them away first of all! Once a year, the forest undergoes a thorough inspection by a large group of volunteers (about 300 people) and the police. The forest areas they inspect are fenced off with a special tape, which remains hanging.

Numerous tourist guides and websites are full of advice not to deviate from the official routes and paths, since it is very easy to get lost in the forest.

This forest has long had a bad reputation in Japan itself and beyond its borders. Someone thinks it's there anomalous zone, which attracts people burdened with thoughts of suicide, and legends about it go back to the Middle Ages. Someone writes that popularization is to blame for everything - things that came out of hand talented Japanese books and films fuel interest in this place. Be that as it may, the number of bodies found increases every year.

If you go off the path, you won't get out

What's so creepy about this forest? Let's start with something simple - Aokigahara is located on huge deposits of iron ore, so your compass will probably go crazy when it gets here. You won't be able to get out with it. The suicide forest extends over an area of thirty-five square meters. km, it is riddled with deep caves and rocky cliffs. Even if you are not suicidal and accidentally get lost here, your body may never be found. Huge trees growing from the black volcanic soil, the very topography of the forest, which is a vast lowland, will hide your screams. And fluffy mosses and broad-leaved ferns will hide your body. So don't go off the path.

Suicide Forest. A terrible legend from ancient times.

There is a legend according to which in the Middle Ages, old people were brought into the forest to die a natural death, since it was difficult for poor families to feed them. This is hard to believe, since in Japan old age is highly respected. According to another legend, sick and infirm children or simply adults who were no longer able to help their family were taken here. This, in my opinion, is more likely. Since then the forest and
began to attract people who want to commit suicide. He's like a funnel, he spins souls and that's it more people are drawn to Aokigahara.
The most popular methods, by the way, are hanging and drug poisoning. As soon as you leave the path, you will immediately begin to encounter the belongings of the dead, medicine packages, a gallows forgotten by the authorities, or maybe even someone’s body. Every year the authorities remove from here from seventy to one hundred bodies of varying degrees of decomposition; we will talk in more detail about how the authorities arrange everything there.

Popularization of death

Another version of the popularity of the suicide forest is more pragmatic. The fact is that this place is often glimpsed in Japanese books and films. For example, in 1960, a book by Seicho Matsumoto was published called “Wave Pagoda.” This work gave a new leap in the number of suicides, which increased significantly in a year or two. Remember that the Japanese are a very impressionable race, which is much more inclined to trust multimedia, literature and cinema than you and I. So don’t let it seem strange to you that they reacted this way. However, the real bestseller, mentioning the forest of suicides, was yet to come. It was the famous “Complete Guide to Suicide,” written by Wataru Tsurumi. Just imagine, in Japan the book sold a million copies and it says in black and white that Aokigahara is “a wonderful place to die.”
By the way, in 2016, the Americans reached out to the glory of the suicide forest. The film "Forest of Ghosts" was made, which, by the way, was quite good.

The authorities are clutching their heads

A huge amount of money, about one and a half million rubles in our equivalent, is spent by local authorities every year on organizing searches and transporting corpses. At the entrance to the forest, a special guide is on duty, who actually peers into the face of each visitor in the hope of uncovering a suicide. If he is suspicious, he calls security.
In the morning, the police stage a raid to find more corpses. Most of them are young people and middle-aged men in business suits. It is not surprising, there is a crisis, an unstable economy.
Every year, about three hundred volunteers comb the forest, but even then it is not possible to find all the remains. The suicide forest is replete with video cameras, whose glass eye is aimed at the most popular trails, and warning signs and helplines. Whether this helps or not is difficult to say. In the meantime, fresh and half-decomposed bodies are found in the forest over and over again. Sometimes it happens that only bones remain from them, and in this case identification becomes very difficult.

Suicide Forest photo

And finally, a photo of the suicide forest so you can enjoy all the beauty of it wonderful place. No, really, the forest is very beautiful, it looks like the mysterious thickets of Druids from ancient fairy tales and who knows what really attracts people here.

Find out why bodies turn into

The place is called Aokigahara (青木ヶ原). It is also called Jukai (樹海 - “Plain of Green Trees” / “Sea of Trees”). This forest is located on the island of Honshu, at the foot of Mount Fuji. Inside the forest, the temperature drops, and finding your way back after leaving the path is quite difficult, even if you climb the tallest tree in the forest.

Aokigahara is considered one of the young forests as it was formed approximately 1,200 years ago. Volcano Fuji last erupted in 1707, and for unknown reasons, not one of its slopes was covered with lava (an area of about 3,000 hectares of land). Later, this area was overgrown with a dense forest of pines, white cedar and boxwood. The trees stand almost like a solid wall. Aokigahara's fauna includes wild foxes, snakes and dogs. Aokigahara is also a national park with several tourist routes offering a climb to Mount Fuji along the northern slope, as well as walks through the beautiful forest.

Since the forest is close to Tokyo, and offers many different ways to spend time outdoors, Aokigahara is a popular place for picnics and weekend walks (I wouldn't be scared, but definitely uncomfortable... but who knows) .

Among the attractions of this park are the Ice Cave and the Wind Cave.

Now let's talk about history:

It (the forest) is, perhaps, one of the sad landmarks of Japan. This place is usually called the "Suicide Forest." Initially, the forest was associated with Japanese mythology and was traditionally considered the habitat of demons and ghosts (really similar).

Legends about this place have been known to the Japanese since the Middle Ages, and in the 19th century, poor Japanese families brought and left their elderly and children in this forest for certain death, whom they could not feed... (goosebumps). All Japanese believe that evil spirits and supernatural forces live in this forest (the atmosphere is proof of this). Aokigahara is also considered one of the most terrible places on Earth: since 1950, more than 500 people have committed suicide there. For example, 78 bodies were found in 2002 alone. It was believed that it began when Seicho Macumoto published his novel Kuroi Kaidzu (Black Sea of Trees), where two of his characters committed suicide.

Tragic outcomes/suicides:
The Land of the Rising Sun, which has frightened the whole world more than once with its horror films, actually draws its plots not from the fevered imagination of the scriptwriters, but from very peculiar myths. They are based on the idea that a person who has died a violent death or committed suicide will not simply leave this world, but will remain and will cruelly take revenge on the living. For almost everyone who decides to enter the “Sea of Green” (this is how the real name of the Aokigahara Jukai forest is translated), it will be a one-way road. Imagine how dense, suffocating stands of trees compete for light and space. Entire floors made of fallen branches, rocks covered with moss, lichens, barely visible paths, climbing plants, flowers and cobwebs. Deep caves of ice and stone, complete absence of any sound around...

Even a compass won't save you. The forest stands above a huge magnetic anomaly, and the needle will dance like clockwork. If you still dare, then take your GPS with you... and if something happens to you, few people will come to your rescue, not even the authorities. For this is the forest where death lives...

Aokigahara is a popular suicide spot among residents of Tokyo and the surrounding area and is considered the second most popular place in the world to take one's own life (after the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco). Every year, between 70 and 100 bodies are found in the forest. Officially, the police began searching for the bodies of Aokigahara suicides in 1970. Since that time, the number of discovered bodies has been growing more and more every year... In 2002, 78 remains of suicides were found.

The thickets of Aokigahara completely absorb...
In itself, there is nothing unusual here; any ancient forest acquires an atmosphere of mystery and collects many similar stories. However, in this case they grew into something more, a kind of feedback from dark places in the human psyche.

According to statistics, most of the suicides are men in business suits, and according to officials, suicides are due to the crisis (Japan's economy has always been unstable, even before the global economic crisis). However, not all so simple. It’s clear that the Japanese are very hardworking people, they already work beyond the norm, and they lose their nerves, and after long hours of work in offices or somewhere else, all the work is “down the drain”, the bosses don’t have enough, but the crisis is not the only problem. As it turned out, literature also intervened: There was a sensational book “A Detailed Guide to Committing Suicide,” where the forest was described as an “ideal place” for suicide. The government is fighting this - they will put up security cameras and “Remember” signs. Near the forest there is even a person who is called a “guide,” but he, in fact, is trying to distinguish a suicide from an extreme person, that is, whether to let him in or not, call the authorities, or it’s not so simple. Located at the foot of Fuji, the Aokigahara forest (Aokigahara, or Jukai) is a favorite place for Japanese youth to settle accounts with their lives...

Leaders and law enforcement of the three villages bordering the forest - Narusawa, Ashidawa and Kamikuishiki - are, under Japanese law, responsible for unidentified bodies in their area, and often corpses wait a long time in Aokigahara before they are discovered, making their identification impossible or extremely complex and expensive. The search party must find the bodies, remove them from the forest, and “dispose of them” either by burning them or organizing a funeral.
For this they receive money from Yamanashi Prefecture, but the task has become so onerous that the costs reach 5 million yen every year (1.5 million rubles). The corpses must be returned from the forest to the local forestry office, where a special room is allocated for their storage - a room with two beds, one for the corpse and one for the forest worker, who must sleep nearby. This is explained by the fact that according to Japanese superstitions, the ghost of someone who has died prematurely will howl all night and may try to carry away the body, since the body of a suicide should remain in the company of others like it. Foresters usually play with each other for the prize of who should sleep with the corpse.

At the entrance to the forest there is a poster:

Your life is a priceless gift from your parents.

Think about them and your family.

You don't have to suffer alone.

Call us: 22-0110.

In order to prevent this, local authorities are taking a number of preventive measures: installing signs with appeals and indicating hotlines, installing video cameras along the road and paths leading into the forest. Local shops do not sell any means (tablets, ropes) that could be used to take one’s own life. Employees of shops located near the roads leading to Aokigahara unmistakably single out from the crowd those tourists who arrived here with the intention of committing suicide: "They wander around for a while before starting down the trail and are careful not to make eye contact with anyone..." Translation: "...They hang around for a while before heading down the path, and they also try not to make eye contact with anyone."(c) Kazuaki Amano, cashier at the Lava Cave shopping center. The same employee confirmed that in case of suspicion, they immediately report to the police. Regular patrolling of the forest and surrounding roads by police and volunteers also helps prevent possible suicides. Particularly striking are the “men who have never given up the habit of constantly wearing a business suit, wandering along the paths of Aokigahara in formal office clothes”; the police take them away first of all! Without fail, once a year the forest undergoes a thorough inspection by a large group of volunteers (about 300 people) and the police. The forest areas they inspect are fenced off with a special tape, which remains hanging.

Numerous tourist guides and websites are full of advice not to deviate from the official routes and paths, since it is very easy to get lost in the forest.

If I'm not mistaken, there is the film "The Forest" 2011.

Life is a GIFT! Let's not think about the bad (thoughts materialize), let's smile more often and enjoy every day. Let's do nice little things for each other. Let's just live for the sake of those who love us!!! WORLD PEACE!!!

"FIAT LUX! Translation: "Let there be Light!"