Aokigahara - The Sea of Trees

There is a forest in Japan called Aokiogahara which is famous as a popular suicide spot. This association has been attributed by some to 1960 novel Kuroi Jukai (Black Sea of Trees) by Seicho Matsumoto, though it is known to pre-date the novel.

The relationship between this particular forest and suicide is said to stem from Japanese mythology - it is said that demons haunt the forest, and the souls of all who die there have permeated the soil and the trees, creating paranormal activity and preventing people from leaving. There is suggestion that the practice of ubasute (literally translated as 'abandoning an old woman' - allegedly in the past elderly or infirm were taken to a remote or desolate place and abandoned) though this has never been confirmed. Japan have stopped publishing the number of suicides which occur there in order to stop publicising the area. 

There has been a short documentary made about the forest which looks at why people have chosen the forest to commit suicide in. The density of the trees causes the forest to be almost absent from wind and wildlife and it known for being exceptionally quiet. But do people choose to die there because it is peaceful, beautiful, because they want to be at one with nature? Or because it is a popular place, because other people have taken their lives there, which reinforces the idea of it being a good place to die?

For those who want to leave this world in the midst of nature, I can understand why this would be a choice place to do it. Although eerie, the forest is beautiful. There is something comfortingly familiar about walking through an old, dense forest such as this. There is an assumption that you will be connected with the surroundings of wherever you die. However, the way these people die is so unnatural that it raises questions as to whether or not they will actually be connected with it properly. (Of course all this depends on your belief system...) Personally, I don't think that where you die has as much impact on whatever happens to your 'soul', as how you die. Dying naturally is the best thing for you, when it is your time to go your mind, body and soul are ready to be separated. (Dying naturally can include in accidents - such as car crashes - it's just the universe saying it was your time.) Whereas you choosing when and how you die, that's changing everything. Nothing is prepared, nothing is ready. By taking their life in a natural setting, maybe people hope they can counteract this imbalance... 

By idealising Nature, these people believe that retreating into it to die will help them spiritually. Whether or not this is true is something we can never truly find out, but it is clearly a dangerous thought process which lead them there, highlighting the difficulties with idealising Nature. 

Here is the Vice documentary I referred to earlier: