Forest Aokigahara - Japanese forest of suicides at the foot of Mount Fuji

The forest of Aokigahara is known as Dzyukai (translated from Japanese as "sea of trees"), it is located at the foot of Mount Fuji (Honshu Island) in Japan. It is not included in any excursion program on the sights of the country, but many tourists are here when they come to Mount Fuji. Many of them do not even assume that they were in the most sinister and mysterious point of Japan.

History of forest appearance

The most powerful eruption of the Fuji volcano occurred in 864. A huge stream of fiery lava descended the north-western slope. A lava plateau was formed, the area of which reached 40 square kilometers. At this point the forest gradually appeared.

The soil looks as if someone was trying to uproot the ancient trees. Their roots, which are unable to break through the lava rock, come out, intertwining fancifully over the debris of the rocks, which in antiquity were thrown out of the vale of the volcano.

Japan, forest of Aokigahara: description

The relief of this amazing forest is covered with numerous caves and crevices, some of them stretched underground for hundreds of meters, and in most of them, ice does not melt even in summer heat. The total area of the massif is a little more than 35 square kilometers.

Features of its location (lowland, forest density) provide these places with ringing deafening silence. Experts believe that in the subsoil in the area of the forest there are rich reserves of iron ore. This probably explains the fact that there are no compasses in the forest.

The land on which this strange forest is located can not be worked with hand tools (hoe or shovel). The Japanese forest of Aokigahara is considered young, since it appeared approximately 1200 years ago. The last time Fuji volcano erupted in 1707. For some unknown reason, the lava did not cover one of the slopes, the area of which is about 3000 hectares. Later it overgrew a dense forest consisting of pines, boxwood and other conifers.

The forest of Aokigahara (Dzyukai) is a national park, along which several tourist routes are laid. They offer a climb up the northern slope to Mount Fuji and walk along the beautiful forest. Since the forest of Aokigahara is located not far from the capital of the country (Tokyo), there are many ways to spend an interesting time in nature. Its attractions include the wind and ice caves.

This forest, according to many Japanese, is a sad sight of the country. It is often called nothing but a forest of suicides. Aokigahara was originally associated with the mythology of Japan and was traditionally considered a place where ghosts and demons live.

Legends and legends

Legends of this mysterious place are known to the people of Japan since the Middle Ages. It is said that in the XIX century poor families were brought to the forest and left in it, dooming to certain death, their parents and children, who were unable to feed. The groans of the unfortunate did not penetrate the wall of powerful trees, and no one heard the wailing of the doomed for a terrible, painful and long death. Local residents are sure that their ghosts are still waiting in the forest of solitary travelers, seeking revenge for the suffering that has fallen on their share.

Today, there is no famine in Japan, but the Aokigahara forest still plays a sinister role today. The ringing silence, the mystical scenery of this place attracts here, like a magnet, those who decided to voluntarily settle accounts with life. Even more chill the blood of the legend of the numerous ghosts that hide in this forest.

The word "Aokigahara" children in Japan utter a whisper, when in the evening twilight begin to tell each other horror stories. All tourists are reminded of caution. In no event should one deviate from the path and go deeper into the forest. In this vast sea of trees, it's easy to get lost. It is worth a few tens of meters to move away from the path, and everything can be lost for a long time, if not forever ... In this situation, even the compass will not help - the magnetic anomaly randomly rotates the arrow, making this device completely useless.

Suicide tree (Aokigahara)

This name is firmly entrenched in this array. The forest of Aokigahara, the photo of which you see in this article, for very unknown reasons attracts people who decided to leave this world. According to this indicator, it occupies the second place in the world, second only to the Golden Gate Bridge, which is located in San Francisco.

Every year in the forest, from 70 to 100 bodies are found. Japanese police since 1970 began to officially look for bodies of suicides. The statistics of the country give an awesome fact - the number of bodies found in the forest increases from year to year. The most common methods of suicide are: drug poisoning and hanging.

Eyewitnesses say that it is enough to go deep into the forest only a few meters, as you can find on the ground various things - plastic bottles, bags, medicine packaging.

Thickets of Aokigahara

In Japan, there is ongoing work to find, evacuate and dispose of the bodies found. This responsibility was assigned to the authorities of the three settlements closest to the forest (Fujikawagutiko, Kamikuishi and Narukava).

To do this, they are allocated annually funds from the country's budget of 5 million yen each year. The special rooms reserved for this purpose are crowded with bodies that are not in demand by anyone.

At the entrance to the forest, you can see a poster with a call to people, tired of countless problems and worries, to look at their lives as an invaluable gift of their parents. They are asked to think about their family, relatives. People who have not become happy with life, are convinced that they are not alone in their misfortune. There are those who can help them solve the most difficult problems. Below is the phone number where they can call.

Preventive measures

In order to prevent new attempts on their own lives, local authorities take various preventive measures : they fix the signs with appeals, the video cameras along the road and on the paths leading to the forest. In local stores you can not buy potent medicines, ropes, which are most often used to reduce bills with life.

It is necessary to say that the employees of the shops that are located near the roads leading to the forest have learned to accurately determine from the crowd of people who conceived suicide. According to their observations, these people walk around for a while before going along the path, while trying not to meet their eyes with anyone.

By agreement with the police, with the slightest suspicion, all employees are required to report them. Helps prevent suicide and regular patrols of surrounding roads and forests by volunteers and policemen. In the forest of Aokigahara (Japan), men often come who are especially striking. Not abandoning the habit of constantly wearing a strict suit, they wander through the paths of the forest in office clothes. The police detain such "tourists" in the first place.

Once a year the forest of Aokigahara is subjected to the most thorough examination. It is attended by the police and a large group of volunteers (at least 300 people). The areas of the forest they test are encircled by a ribbon.

Here he is, mysterious and ominous, deafening his incredible silence, but at the same time beautiful in its primordial nature - the forest of Aokigahara.