Aokigahara Forest is located next to Japan’s Mount Fuji. When viewed from a distance, it is a natural beauty that attracts attention with every shade of green. But the interior of this forest is very different. Domestic and foreign tourists usually come to this forest to see Mount Fuji from various angles, to take pictures of the mountain and to walk in nature on the prepared tracks. People should not deviate from the routes determined for them. Because the dense vegetation makes it impossible to find your way or make your voice heard when you disappear. Although they know this, there are people who take these routes and walk deep into the forest. The reason for these people to leave the determined tracks is that they went there to commit suicide.
Having a mystical place in Japanese history and identified with dead spirits, Aokigahara became a suicide center after the novel Kuroi Kaiju. When you arrive at the entrance of Aokigahara, you will come across abandoned cars. This situation gives you an idea about what kind of environment it is. There are no classic warnings such as “do not light a fire, do not litter” in this forest. Instead of these, there are motivating and deterrent statements such as “please do not commit suicide, life is a gift given to you, think of your family and friends” are written.
You can see farewell notes in the depths of the forest, on the trees. Here, people usually kill themselves by hanging on trees. Some of them die at tree bottoms by overdosing. Certain areas of the forest are always dark, even during daylight hours due to tree density. Forest officials encounter at least one body each time when they go for searching.
Suicide cases are increasing from year to year. For lack of incentives, Japanese government does not officially reveal the number of suicides in this forest. This number is estimated to be between 50 and 100 annually