Aokigahara: an ancient full of life forest that does not deserve to be associated with death

@ElentirENG ES 1·28·2023 · 23:32 0

There are places that have a very bad reputation, and perhaps the Aokigahara forest is one of the most famous in the world, and not only because of its legends.

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Aokigahara is a very old forest located on the north side of the famous Mount Fuji, in Japan. It is a very old forest: it is more than 1,000 years old, almost as many as the legends that circulate about it and that describe it as a cursed place. Japanese society has an ancient belief in ghosts and that explains many of the myths about this forest, but some have a sadder and more real foundation: the one that explains why this place is known as Suicide Forest for many years now.

In the last 70 years, some 500 corpses of people who have entered this forest to commit suicide have appeared there. The problem is so serious that the authorities have had to put up notices in several languages in different parts of the forest to encourage potential suicide bombers to ask for help before committing the barbarity of taking their own life. This fact has given the place a very bad name and has forced workers to constantly go through it, in order to remove the bodies of those who have managed to commit suicide.

Some say that the Aokigahara Forest disorients those who enter it, but these are nothing more than myths. The reality is that it is a very lush forest, something common in a forest so old, and Due to this, there are places where sunlight does not reach. So, it's easy to get lost if you don't know the place and even more so if it's at night, and that contributes to increasing a bad reputation that is like a snowball. But this difficulty in finding one's way is something common in any leafy forest and that is unknown. Enough of promoting absurd legends and even more so when they contribute to bringing death and pain to such a beautiful place.

For this reason, I would like to break a spear in favor of this forest: it is a beautiful and ancient place that is full of life, and that should not be more than a place to go to enjoy nature. Never go to a place like this with the idea of taking your life. If you are thinking about committing suicide, ask your family or public services for help. Life is something precious and there is no problem that is serious enough to make you think of killing yourself, a way out that also only serves to sow pain and impotence among your loved ones.

If you want to get to know this forest without sensationalism or nonsense (I'm sorry to say it, but there are plenty of videos on that topic on YouTube), I encourage you to watch this video posted last year by TrulyJourneys and showing Aokigahara for what it really is: a very beautiful and ancient place.

You can see here some captures of this video. Here we see an image that gives an idea of the lushness of this forest.

Life making its way through the soil of Aokigahara. Such a place should no longer be the subject of such sinister legends.

A few small caves in the forest floor. Aokigahara was formed by the eruption of the Jōgan volcano, which is why it has such a peculiar appearance.

One of the signs put up by the authorities. It reads as follows: "Life is a precious gift given to us by our parents. Don't worry alone, contact us first. Contact Fujiyoshida Police Station Suicide Prevention Liaison Committee. 0555-22-0110".