Aokigahara Jukai - Japan's Suicide Forest

Caramello KoalaCaramello Koala Acolyte
edited March 2012 in Life
Maybe you've heard about this forest already, maybe you haven't. It's located at the foot of Mt. Fuji, sharing banks with Lake Saiko (pronounced psycho), which is one of the famous Fuji Five Lakes. The forest was formed on top of lava from one of Fuji's eruptions and is known for being the second most popular location in the world to commit suicide (next to the Golden Gate Bridge). More than 500 people have done the deed there since the 1950s and the numbers are climbing dramatically; each year volunteers, forest rangers and police comb the forest in search of bodies, while looters slip in unnoticed and steal wallets. Hundreds of bodies are found by wild animals before the search patrols, and many people go missing in the forest's depths. Recently the body searches have been stopped, in an attempt to downplay the area's association with suicide, as a result the bodies are left to decay and eventually fuse with the earth. Locals have believed the forest is haunted for centuries and all the popular Japanese ghost stories and movies, such as Ringu, have been inspired by it.

Last December two friends and I visited Aokigahara forest, it was cold and wet; naturally we brought umbrellas and cameras to document our experience. I wrote a post about the trip on my blog - it contains all of the pictures and video footage we took, along with excerpts from my travel journal, which I was writing in during my stint in Japan. You will find the link below, warning: it's quite a long read, but it's worth your time in my opinion.

http://endofthegame.net/2012/02/20/aokigahara/

Comments

  • fagfag Regular
    edited February 2012
    Wow! What a creepy as shit place. Your account of the trip made for a captivating tale. You shoulda stuck around for witching hour!

    So odd there are no animals or anything. Previous accounts mentioned corpses often being lost, due to being devoured by wild animals. But where the hell are they? Did you see any signs of animals(ie droppings, tracks)?
  • bornkillerbornkiller Administrator In your girlfriends snatch
    edited February 2012
    Seriously dude, I found it quite readable. Always had an interest in the stories concerning that forest. Bookmarked it. Will read the rest later.

    Oh yah!....Long time no see mang. ;)
  • Caramello KoalaCaramello Koala Acolyte
    edited February 2012
    @ fag: No way man, I wouldn't stay there until 3 am for all the money in the world. Yeah I don't get it either, there was no sign of any animal - or even insect - the place was dead as a corpse.

    @ bornkiller: Thanks mate, hope you enjoy the rest! ;)
  • Darth BeaverDarth Beaver Meine Ehre heißt Treue
    edited February 2012
    I would like to build a cottage in that forest and bake lost children in my hearth.
  • chippychippy <b style="color:pink;">Global Moderator</b>
    edited February 2012
    Would that be a gingerbread house?
  • Darth BeaverDarth Beaver Meine Ehre heißt Treue
    edited February 2012
    chippy wrote: »
    Would that be a gingerbread house?

    Yup, the would be the very one.
  • chippychippy <b style="color:pink;">Global Moderator</b>
    edited February 2012
    Would it be a bungalow?
  • Darth BeaverDarth Beaver Meine Ehre heißt Treue
    edited February 2012
    It would until I moved in then it would become a bungahigh.
  • chippychippy <b style="color:pink;">Global Moderator</b>
    edited February 2012
    Do you know why a bungalow is so called?
  • Darth BeaverDarth Beaver Meine Ehre heißt Treue
    edited February 2012
    A bungalow is a type of house, with varying meanings across the world. Common features to many (but not all) of these definitions include being detached, low-rise (single or one-and-a-half stories), and the use of verandahs. The term originated in India, deriving from the Gujarati બંગલો baṅgalo, which in turn derives from Hindi बंगला baṅglā, meaning "Bengali" and used elliptically for a "house in the Bengal style".[1] Such houses were traditionally small, only one story and detached, and had a wide veranda.[2]
    The term was first found in English from 1696, where it was used to describe "bungales or hovells" in India for English sailors of the East India Company, which do not sound like very grand lodgings.[3] Later it became used for the spacious homes or official lodgings of officials of the British Raj, and was so known in Britain and later America, where it initially had high status and exotic connotations, and began to be used in the late 19th century for large country or suburban houses built in an Arts and Crafts or other Western vernacular style - essentially as large cottages, a term also sometimes used.[4] Later developers began to use the term for smaller houses. In Australia, the California bungalow was popular after the First World War. In Britain and North America a bungalow today is a residential house, normally detached, which is either single story, or has a second story built into a sloping roof, usually with dormer windows ("one and a half stories"). Full vertical walls are therefore only seen on one story, at least on the front and rear elevations. Usually the houses are relatively small, especially from recent decades, though early examples may be large, in which case the term bungalow tends not to be used today.
  • chippychippy <b style="color:pink;">Global Moderator</b>
    edited February 2012
    It's because they "bung a low" roof on them.
  • imoscardotcomimoscardotcom Acolyte
    edited February 2012
    I was always very interested in this forest as well, and the documentary with the kind old japanese man was excellent. Bookmarked to read in its entirety later. :thumbsup:
  • bornkillerbornkiller Administrator In your girlfriends snatch
    edited February 2012
    'HARDGAY' Did one of his shows about that forest.....HOOOOOoooopo!
  • bornkillerbornkiller Administrator In your girlfriends snatch
    edited March 2012
    I thought it was well worth the read & recommend it to anyone interested in this sorta shit. Thanks mang...:thumbsup:
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