Deeply Rooted in the Aokigahara Forest
How are suicide rates like in Japan? During war, Japanese soldiers would often commit suicide than surrender. This was a way of showing that they would rather die fighting for their country than losing the war. During the 12th century, suicide was performed as a samurai’s act to achieve honorable death called Seppuku. This process was performed by killing oneself with a samurai sword starting from the belly. Suicide in Japan has become a serious national social issue. In 2014, Japan was ranked number one as the country with the highest suicide rates. The overall suicide rate was roughly 60 percent higher than the global average, a 2014 World Health Organization report noted. In 2014 alone 25,000 Japanese people took their own lives, roughly about 70 suicides daily. Men’s suicide rates were 2.3 times higher than women’s. Recently, Japan’s suicide rates changed from the first highest country and is now the sixth highest in the world. Suicide rates decreased to 21,897 people in 2016, which is the lowest it has ever been in 22 years.
A common location for suicides in Japan is in Aokigahara, a forestred area at the base of Mount Fuji. This location is one of the most popular suicide destinations in Japan due to the scale of the forest. People may choose to commit suicide within this dense forest because it’s such a vast location where corpse are not easily found. According to Azusa Hayano based on the documentary “Aokigahara: Suicide Forest” directed by Santiago Stelley, Mr. Hayano has been living in Japan for more than 30 years and his job primarily focuses on environmental protection. Hayano is a geologist who studies volcanic eruptions and the plantation at the foot of Mt.Fuji. In the year 1864, when Mt. Fuji erupted, he discovered the “Jukai” or “Sea of Trees” forest which was originally named “Aokigahara” that grew over the dried lava. Before entering the forest, there is a sign to stop suicidal people which says “Your life is a precious gift from your parents” “Please think about your parents, siblings and children” “Don’t keep it to yourself, talk about your troubles”. Furthermore it says to contact the Suicide Prevention Association. A significant number of Japanese people commit suicide by often hanging themselves or taking sleeping pills when inside the forest. However, for the people who are debating whether they want to commit suicide in this forest, they often set up tents to camp and question if they want to take their lives or not. A lot of times, sadly, those who withdraw themselves from work or family cannot find the motivation to live or cannot see the value of their own lives in society. At least 100 bodies are found each year in the Aokigahara Forest.
As the Aokigahara Suicide forest become known worldwide, others may have curiosity to explore the forest without the intent of committing suicide. There’s a part of the forest that is strictly cut off where there are two trails, one for regular hikers to be able to enjoy the nature of the forest and it’s unique landscape while the other trail is strictly cut off for people who do consider taking their lives. Most of the people who visit the forest without the intent of committing suicide take the cut off trail because they believe in the haunted nature of that part of the forest. By not getting lost and following their footsteps, visitors bring ribbon to trace their way back out once they’re finished exploring. There are numerous videos on YouTube of people exploring and documenting their visit in the haunted part of the forest and label it for educational purposes. Videos include people camping overnight or bring a ouija board as a challenge (a wooden board with printed numbers and letters used to communicate with spirits). These types of videos may encourage their audience of young teens to pay a visit and pick up similar messages of what the YouTuber’s are trying to convey. These messages can include bad representation of committing suicide, or trying to summon ghosts by using spiritual tactics. Young teens who view these types of videos may not be educated about the history of the forest but rather they see it as a haunted attraction somewhere in Japan. This is not what the forest is known to be for but it is becoming that.
“The Forest” is a new horror movie that released in January 2016. The film is about a young woman whose twin sister goes missing, and she has a gut feeling that something is wrong. The story takes place in the Aokigahara forest in Japan. The movie describes how the main character (Sara), enters the forest in search of her sister’s fate, and she comes across many strange illusions and angry souls of the dead. The writer of the movie described how the movie “The Forest” had an opportunity to address an issue that is killing Japanese citizens by the thousands. An issue that would have hit home with many Asian-Americans who also suffer from mental illness and depression. But instead Hollywood decides to turn it into a horror movie and whitewash it’s cast. Thus dehumanizing not only Asians around the globe affected by mental health, but those who have already committed suicide. Instead of approaching the story in a way that could be seen as a sort of respectful memorial for those who have committed suicide in reality or educating people about the issue, like many of the Youtube videos, it was made into a horror movie, to scare and entertain people. Suicide should not be seen as a form of entertainment.
I personally never studied the difference between suicide rates in different countries. Writing about this topic challenged me in a way to think about other countries suicide history and common locations. Much like the Aokigahara forest being one of the most common places for suicide in Japan, I did not expect over 100 bodies are found there each year. This is why we need to inform as many people as we can to put suicidal lifelines to use if they need help. This quotes says it all: “I think the way we live in society these days has become more complicated. Face to face communication used to be vital, but now we can live our lives being online all day. However, the truth of the matter is we still need to see each other’s faces, read their expressions, hear their voices, so we can fully understand their emotions to coexist.” — Azusa Hayano This quote is so important. People come across social withdrawal and depression everyday. This is because you don’t know how exactly a person feels. The real problem when it comes to depression is getting the motivation to go out and be around people even when people are not wanted. Purposelessness, hopelessness, and withdraw all indicate a sign where a person could be led to suicide. In society, we all strive to have a sense of purpose, and if we feel we do not belong, depression can take over but lets try to prevent this from happening by communicating with our peers more and continue to stay positive.
