On this episode of the world famous Sofa King Podcast, we look at a unique and chilling place called Aokigahara—the Suicide Forest. It started as a way to have an episode about a haunted place, but this forest is so wild it took on a life of its own. The Suicide Forest is Japan, in the shadow of Mt. Fuji, and it is internationally famous as a place to go to end one’s life. As a result, it is considered one of the most haunted places on earth, but the macabre and disturbing facts about those who enter the woods alive trump the tales of those who are lingering around as undead.

Though the exact number of deaths isn’t known in this forest, the last census was over 100 in one year; that was the year the Japanese government quite publishing the numbers since it just encouraged more people to go. These woods are not like normal woods. For one thing, the ground is volcanic rock from an eruption of Mt. Fuji in the 9th Century. This results in trees with roots bulging from the ground, looking like limbs in a Tim Burton film or a haunted forest in a cartoon. The ground is black, the sky can’t be seen, and the trees are twisted. On top of that, there are no birds, and the porous lava rock absorbs sound. It is eerily silent. Oh, and for some reason, compasses don’t work, GPS takes a dump, and you can’t get a cell signal.

One disturbing fact of the woods is the ribbons. There are strings and ribbons all over the place. These are for people to mark their own resting places, so families can find the bodies. A walk through the Suicide Forest will have you find discarded shoes, empty tents, bottles of poison, nooses hanging from trees, and of course dead bodies.

But the problem comes from the ghostly side. Japanese spirits called Yurei are angry and perturbed. They disturb the woods and are even though to possess people and make them angry, despondent, and suicidal. When a worker finds a body in the woods, they bring them back to the morgue, and there a guard has to sit with them all night to make sure the Yurei finds peace. Yeah, that’s pretty gnarly. So, what is the number one method of suicide in these troubling woods? What happened to the YouTuber who found a body while filming his vlog? Did Japanese elderly used to wander to these woods to die? What types of hauntings happen here? What do the signs say in order to get people not to take their own life? How does the Japanese mindset about suicide play into the popularity of this horrible destination? Listen, laugh, learn,

Visit our Sources:

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/photography/proof/2017/02/aokigahara-jukai-suicide-forest/

http://www.aokigaharaforest.com/

https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/aokigahara-suicide-forest

https://www.theverge.com/2018/1/2/16840176/logan-paul-suicide-video-apology-aokigahara-forest

http://www.aokigaharaforest.com/Aokigahara-the-haunted-forest.html

https://itsyourjapan.com/haunted-forest-in-japan/

http://mentalfloss.com/article/73288/15-eerie-things-about-japans-suicide-forest

https://allthatsinteresting.com/suicide-forest-aokigahara

https://mysteriousuniverse.org/2019/04/paranormal-encounters-at-japans-haunted-suicide-forest/