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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...

Tokyo (CNN) -- Japan's Mount Shinmoe erupted again on Wednesday, spewing more lava, smoke and ash through the area, the country's meteorological agency said. The volcano erupted twice on Wednesday, at 5:25 a.m. and 10:47 a.m., Japan's Meteorological Agency said. Since January 26 when it broke its decades-long slumber, the volcano has erupted seven times, the agency said. For many outside Japan, Mount Shinmoe is known for its role in the 1967 James Bond movie "You Only Live Twice," where it served as the lair for the villain, Ernst Blofeld. In the nearby town of Takaharu, ash blanketed cars, houses...