Posted on 04/10/2012 8:12:05 PM PDT by Morgana
The Aokigahara Forest is a lonely place to die.
So dense is the vegetation at the foot of Japan's Mount Fuji, it is all too easy to disappear among the evergreens and never be seen again.
Each year the authorities remove as many as 100 bodies found hanging at the country's suicide hotspot - but others can lie undiscovered for years.
Exactly why so many choose to end their lives in the forest remains something of a mystery, though it has been suggested that the first among them were inspired by a novel set there.
Azusa Hayano has studied and tended to the forest for more than 30 years. Even he cannot make sense of the trend.
Such is the nature of his work, he is often faced with the grim task of uncovering suicide victims, or stepping in when he finds those for whom it is not too late. He estimates that he alone has stumbled across more than 100 bodies in the past 20 years.
The middle-aged geologist took a film crew from Vice.com deep inside the site known as 'Jukai' - the sea of trees - to share what he has learned. Chilling: Boots and clothes remain intact on a skeleton found at the site of a suicide
Though Mr Hayano is unable to give any definitive answer as to why so many kill themselves at Aokigahara, he has gained great insight into the behaviour of those desperate enough to venture in with no intention of coming back.
In this haunting documentary he tells the film-makers how clues left among the trees can indicate what went through a person's mind in the moments before they took their own life - or, as is sometimes the case, had a change of heart and chose to live.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
If the turd gets reelected we’ll need a series of suicide forests in the US of A.
If you knew Fuji, like we know Fuji...
Thanks Morgana.
Japanese version of the hanging gardens of Babylon?
Not a pleasant thought, so would include my favorite views of Mt. Fuji
That was tremendously moving. All I could think of when I watched the film was how beautiful the forest was, and how could people go there and not see the beauty and feel some sort of optimism. I was surprised when he expressed the same feeling, how could people come in to such a beautiful forest to kill themselves.
He is a man to be admired, for sure.
Snow falling, full moon, smell of pines, the beautiful mountains, getting right with God because it looked like the final call.
If ya gotta go, may as well go that way, and not head first dumpster diving. Which may be likely for me as well.
/johnny
I have been there many times. It is a beautiful place, a refuge for a tortured soul, and I can readily understand the desire to die in that heaven rather than return to the hell of the city. If you’ve lived in Japan for enough time to understand what that place is, you get it. There’s no mystery.
And If I ever decide to off myself, I’m bringing at least 100 libtards along with me.
That is what happens when you live an empty Godless life. The Japanese have a horrible spiritual life.
Pray for America
I’ve heard of this one before.
It beats leaping from a school roof, but it’s so very rote when the authorities must enter to remove the bodies and notes.
I can see how you might apply your statement to the suicides.
But to apply it to all Japanese is just a tad bit excessive.
That would be a life well spent.
Wow! How were you saved? Except for the excruciating pain, that does sound pleasant, and after the endorphins kick in, even the pain would be gone. I’m glad that you survived.
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