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DISCLAIMER: This blog has brief descriptions of sensitive topics and may be disturbing to some of our audience. Reader’s discretion is advised.
Aokigahara forest has an infamously dark reputation. Books, television, and movies have portrayed it as a dark and foreboding place. A place where vengeful spirits roam amongst the shadowy, verdant landscape. A place where those disenfranchised with the world disappear into its silent depths, never to return. Signs and placards are scattered throughout the forest as final attempts to dissuade those who would seek to end their suffering. Ribbon trails can be found off the beaten path of those whose convictions weren’t shaken until the end. In fact, many visitors from outside Japan know it as the “Suicide Forest” due to the relatively high number of people who intentionally take their lives there. It was controversially claimed to be “the perfect place to die.” In spite of, or occasionally because of, this dark reputation, Aokigahara is still a popular destination with locals and tourists alike.
[img source: https://hauntheads.wordpress.com/2017/04/28/aokigahara-death-among-the-trees/]
Personally, I do not think that this is the legacy that Aokigahara should have. This was once a spiritually significant forest located at the foot of Japan’s most famously revered mountains, not meant for popular culture to twist into another horrific location. I want to look beyond the hyperbolically spooky representation and reveal why I think it is one of the most unique and breathtaking landscapes in the world.
[img source: https://www.verdict.co.uk/aokigahara-forest-japan-can-visit/]
Located in Yamanashi, Japan, Aokigahara grows on the northwestern side of Mt. Fuji, a dormant volcano and one of Japan’s most famous landmarks. The “sea of green trees,” as its name roughly translates, occupies around 30 square-kilometers and grows on the volcanic ground of Mt. Fuji’s last major eruption.
[img source: https://www.yamanashi-kankou.jp/kokuritsukoen/en/miryoku/hiking/course3.html]
Visiting Aokigahara can be a contradictory experience. The closeness of the trees can be claustrophobic. Walking off the path can be immediately confusing as you seemingly become engulfed by the forest itself. Conversely, this quiet and serene environment can be quite calming. A welcome change to the busy metropolitan centers nearby like Tokyo or Nagoya.
[img source: https://www.yamanashi-kankou.jp/kokuritsukoen/en/miryoku/aokigaharajukai.html]
Another unique feature of the local landscape’s volcanic heritage are the various lava tubes. Some which house spectacular destinations, like Narusawa ice cave. This volcanic ground also has a couple of very interesting characteristics, including segments of iron-rich ground. This ground can cause compasses to malfunction, and porous rocks that prevents sound from carrying very far. Characteristics like these could be the cause of claims of demon or spirit hauntings in the forest.
[img source: https://matcha-jp.com/en/2680]
In spite of Aokigahara’s macabre moniker, it is vibrantly alive with both flora and fauna. It is uniquely composed of both coniferous, needleleaf trees, like Japanese cypress, but also broadleaf trees as well, like Fuji cherry and Japanese maple. There are also various other shrubs, flowering plants, and mosses that adorn the forest floor. This environment makes for an ideal habitat for small woodland creatures, like mice and moles, as well as local and native birds and insects like ground beetles and butterflies which live there, although seldom seen.
[img source: https://www.yamanashi-kankou.jp/kokuritsukoen/en/ranger/doshokubutsu.html]
Whether called the Sea of Trees or the Suicide Forest, Aokigahara continues to capture the imaginations of the people that walk along its trails, see its wildlife, and take in its serene, yet forboding atmosphere. A place where life and death coexist in earnest, a perfect representation of nature itself. I was drawn to finding out more about this place due to the dark rumors that surrounded it, and was glad to find that there was more to Aokigahara than tragedy.
If you have any other interesting places that you would like to learn more about please leave us a comment. Thank you for reading and please follow the kodama for more blogs!
[kodama img source: https://professionalmoron.com/2019/01/25/kodama-tree-spirits/]
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