Aokigahara Suicide Forest
Storyboard Text
- Aokigahara, most famously know as the "suicide forest". It is grows on 12 square miles of hardened lava that had erupted from Mt Fuji. Located in Japan about 2 hours west of Tokyo and northwest of Mt Fuji.
- Even before the forest became well known for its suicide rates, an old tradition in Japan named "ubasute" or "abandoning the old women", where during times of famine, family members would lead elderly relatives to their death in remote locations in order to reduce the amount of mouths to feed. Didn't kill them, but rather left them to die.
- There would be usual searches around the forest for bodies, during these searches it can be seen that there are lots of abandoned camps, signifying the presence of people who have gone to forest to contemplate suicide.
- Japan has one of the highest suicide rates in the world. It is theorized that these concerning rates are caused by the overwhelming pressure Japan's culture sets onto the people. People have a lot of honor that may make things such as losing jobs or letting your family down extremely hard to cope with.
- The most common method of suicide in the forest has been by hanging. It has been common for people walking around to encounter a hanging body.
- A walk through the forest has been described to be eerily quiet, devoid of wind, to the point where you can hear yourself breathing. A sense of community is likely what attracts people, in the sense that you are not alone, or to find someone else thinking about suicide.
Over 30 Million Storyboards Created