The Hauntings of Suicide Forest | Ep. 41

This week we take a step into the unknown and discuss Aokigahara, also known as Suicide Forest.

With an estimated 500 suicides since the 1950s, Suicide Forest is one of the most popular destinations for people to tragically take their own lives. Combining that with the eerie, thick trees and hardened lava floor that promotes intense silence and the feeling of isolation, it can be a haunting location.

But, is it truly haunted by Yurei – vengeful, lingering spirits that trick and lure visitors of Aokigahara to their doom?

Listen now to find out.

The Sea Of Trees

If you are feeling depressed or having negative thoughts, we urge you to reach out to the national suicide prevention hotline – 800-273-8255.

Nature has always been a way to connect with yourself.  The fresh air, the cacophony of insects and animals creating a natural playlist that relaxes you and lets you take in the serene beauty of the environment you’re in. 

But what if there are places in the world that don’t help you connect with yourself?  What if they help you connect with something sinister? What if its goal is to bring you closer, just so it can never let you leave? Aokigahara may just be that place.

More commonly referred to as Suicide Forest, Aokigahara, has become a grim destination for those looking to end their life. 

In this episode, we tackle one of the most frightening places on Earth.

Nestled at the northwestern base of Mt. Fuji, Aokigahara has a surprising lack of wildlife, with only a few animals able, or willing to call this forest home.  This is due in large part to the hardened lava that was laid down by Mt. Fuji in 864 CE. 

The porous lava helps give the forest a sound dampening effect, as hikers, or the poor souls who have come with dark thoughts and a bleak outlook, find themselves immersed into a dark silent world that beckons them deeper.  

Signs are posted at the entrance and throughout the forest’s trails encouraging people to “remember their family” and that “death is not the answer.”

The signs, coupled with the silence, adds to the sense of foreboding that seems to reach out through the forest wanting to pull you into it deeper and deeper.

Aokigahara’s popularity as a suicide forest started in 1961 thanks to Seichō Matsumoto’s 1961 novel Nami no Tō (Tower of Waves), but the act of  ubasute, or senicide where older members of poor families were left to die, lessening the burden on the family for feeding and caring for them.  

It is thought that the ubasute that happened atAokigahara has caused the forest to be inhabited by the yurei  (yu- faint/dim rei- soul/spirit).  These faint souls are thought to beckon those contemplating suicide deeper into the forest, twisting their path and helping them to become ensnared in the heart of the dark forest. 

While the forest seems to draw the suicidal in, they aren’t the only ones who find trouble in the forest.  Hikers and campers routinely get lost in the woods. The popular theory is that compasses are useless inside Aokigahara. Many say the compasses don’t work due to the high iron content in the lava, and only become useless if you set them directly on the ground, but will work fine if you use them as you would normally.  Others think the compasses don’t work because the interference is more of a paranormal nature.

Still, to be safe the hikers and campers have taken to marking their trail with tape to be able to find their way out of the dense forest.

But even though they have come for peace of mind and some solitude, they sometimes get too much of it, thanks to the yurei.  Hikers and campers who have emerged after being lost have claimed that their markings were torn or gone.  

Was it the yurei? Or perhaps an animal? Or could it have been that they simply got turned around and became lost, looking to avoid shame and blame the faint souls that allegedly inhabit the forest? No one knows.

But it is safe to say despite some of the natural attractions that entice outdoor enthusiasts to the forest, it may be more prudent to enjoy Mother Nature and what she has to offer in a sunnier, perhaps less yurei-ish area.