Aokigahara: The Suicide Forest

At the North Western base of Mount Fuji in Japan lies a forest known as Aokigahara, or The Sea of Trees. Due to the strange absence of most wildlife, and it's wind blocking trees, the forest is know to be eerily quiet. The forest is also home to a few caves and caverns that are popular tourist attractions. But here's the kicker: Aokigahara is the worlds second most popular location for suicides, the first being the Golden Gate bridge in San Francisco.

That's not a prop.

Local volunteers host and annual "body hunt" to search for bodies of those that have committed suicide in the forest. Since the 1950's there have been over 500 deaths in the forest, the majority of those being suicides. So many suicides have taken place that the Japanese government has posted signs urging people who are visiting the forest not to kill themselves. The high amount of death in the forest is often attributed to a popular novel, Nami no To written by Seicho Matsumoto, which ends with two lovers committing suicide in the forest. While the novel may have had some impact on the number of deaths, the forest was associated with death long before the novel was published.
It's thought that a practice called Ubasute was often preformed in the forest during the 19th century. Ubasute was when sick or elderly relatives were taken to a remote place, often a forest or mountain, and left to die. While this doesn't seem to be a common practice it was mostly used during times of drought or famine. Knowing this little cheerful chunk of history has led many people to believe that Aokigahara is haunted by the spirits of those who committed suicide and those that were left to die. This theory isn't helped by the fact that the volcanic soil in the forest often causes compasses to give false readings and the forest is eerily quiet.
Locals in the area claim that there are three types of visitor to the forest: those that come for the nature, those that come hoping to see something grim, and those that plan not to exit the forest alive.

Personal belongings are often found on the forest floor.

Links!

• CNN Article on Aokigahara: [link]
• More photographs *WARNING: GRAPHIC*: [link]
• Atlas Obscura: [link]