Moon Mausoleum
An online magazine about the paranormal, haunted and macabre. We collect the ghost stories from all around the world as well as review horror and gothic media.
Perhaps best known for being Japan’s suicide forest, the haunted Aokigahara forest has had a long story of monsters and ghost hiding underneath the thick tree roof on the foot […]
Perhaps best known for being Japan’s suicide forest, the haunted Aokigahara forest has had a long story of monsters and ghost hiding underneath the thick tree roof on the foot of Mount Fuji. Is there really something ancient and mythological lingering within the trees, or is it only the modern tragedy that has taken its toll on the forest that is said to have more nooses than branches?
In the shadows of Mount Fuji, Aokigahara Forest in Japan has earned a reputation as one of the world’s most haunted places. Some haunted places are mostly known for their dark and scary reputation, however, the haunted Aokigahara forest is perhaps more known for its tragic and sad history and often dubbed the suicide forest in media. Revered for its serene beauty and dense foliage, the forest’s ominous history has cast a dark and haunting shadow over its tranquility.
Read More: Check of all stories from Haunted Forests
Aokigahara (青木ヶ原), also known as the Sea of Trees, is a place where eerie tales of despair, lost souls, and supernatural encounters intertwine with the rustling leaves, creating an enigmatic and chilling narrative that beckons exploration into the unknown.
The 30 square forest grows on hardened lava from the last eruption of Mount Fuji in 864 and houses Asian Black Bear, deers, hawks and foxes among many animals. Although it’s not the biggest forest around, part of the forest is very dense, creating a sense of solitude and there are many stories about it being a place where magnetic compasses don’t work, or electronic devices stop working. How true these stories are though, is uncertain. Especially since the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force has had navigation courses here since the 50s, it seems unlikely they would have chosen somewhere unsuitable to have their courses.
Although the haunted Aokigahara forest has especially since the 60s been known as a suicide spot, its ghostly story stretches further back than so. So let us first have a look at the paranormal rumors of this haunted forest.
The forest has since its birth been associated with yokai’s and yūrei’s, japanese monsters and ghosts from mythology and has so for centuries. Some Japanese spiritualists claim that even the trees have soaked up the evil energy that has been around the forest over the centuries. You could find stories of monsters in the ice caves and ghost stories about spirits from among the thick forest the sun didn’t reach in places.
Japanese folklore tells of yūrei, restless spirits unable to find peace in the afterlife. Aokigahara, with its macabre history and association with tragedy, is believed by some to be populated by these wandering souls. Reports of inexplicable noises, disembodied voices, and spectral apparitions add to the forest’s mystique, leaving visitors with an eerie sense of being watched by unseen eyes.
In addition to the forest itself, there is a car road through the sea of forest, and according to legend, there is a story about a woman falling on the front window of your var as you pass it at night. Who she is or where she came from, even if the ghost has a connection to the haunted forest is unknown.
Venturing into Aokigahara, the stillness is palpable—a silence that hangs heavy in the air, broken only by the rustling leaves and the distant murmur of the wind. Some believe that the quiet lament of the wind through the trees carries with it the whispers of the forest’s tormented history, amplifying the haunting atmosphere that pervades Aokigahara forest.
The forest has long strings and history with death. Along with the honorable samurai death of seppuku from Japan’s feudal era, Ubasute is a practice where sick or elderly people are carried to a mountain, forest or other remote place to die, and is also connected to the forest.
This practice of Ubasute, mostly came to life during hard times of famine and disease. Many cultures have similar practices and it seems that this tradition carried into the 19th century in this forest, although many claim it was more of a folklore story rather than an actual tradition.
Who is to say when people voluntarily decided that the haunted Aokigahara forest was the place to end their life in. Many claim that the forest is haunted by the spirits that were left there to die.
Aokigahara is infamous for a more modern and unsettling reason—it has become a destination for those seeking solace in the finality of their own despair. The forest’s quiet beauty belies a darker reality as it has gained notoriety as a site for suicides. The gnarled roots and twisted branches seem to echo the silent cries of those who have sought refuge within its depths, turning the once-tranquil woods into a haunting labyrinth of sorrow.
The highest number of deaths was in 2003 when 105 bodies were found in the forest, although it was most likely higher in the years following the financial crisis in 2008. It is said that there are especially many attempts in March, the end of the fiscal year in Japan when financial reports are due.
Read more: Check out all ghost stories from Japan
The forest is a testament to a dark spot in Japanese culture, especially its working culture. Although the suicide rates have gone down the last decade, in 2022 over 21.8 thousand people in Japan died by suicide, that is almost one every 15th minute.
Today the police have stopped to publicize the exact number of deaths and method in an attempt to steer the association with the forest away from suicide. But there are still warning signs trying to deter people from taking their lives as well as annual search parties from volunteers since the 1970s have gone into the forest to collect the souls that ended their life inside of the dark forest.
If they find a body in the forest, it is brought to a room next to the forest where a guard will watch over the body to prevent the yūrei from screaming and acting out.
As Aokigahara forest captures the imagination with its tales of the supernatural, it also raises ethical questions about the responsibility of those who explore its haunted trails as well as those that post its haunted reputations and remind people of its history. How could it ever be right? While the allure of mystery beckons many to tread the forest paths, there is a delicate balance between curiosity and respect for the lives that have been lost within its depths.
Could posting about its past ever become something more than an advertisement, or could it actually bring people down from their fairytale story about death and their way to do it?
One of the things that are said to have made the haunted Aokigahara forest a popular place to die is Seichō Matsumoto’s 1961 novel Nami no Tō (Tower of Waves), about two lovers of a married woman and her younger actor lover who take their lives inside of the forest. It was also a best selling book called The Complete Suicide Manual by Wataru Tsurumi that claims that the forest is the best place to die. These two books have been found next to more than one of the dead people within the forest. Is the cure to this trend really to be quite about its past, or is it to give it an alternative storyline?
As in a global recognition, there was in 2015 made a film that took place there. Also the 2016 horror movie The Forest made people outside of Japan take notice of the forest. In 2017 the Logan Paul Controversy really solidified the forest on the map as he showed a victim of suicide on his Youtube channel and it really sparked a debate about dark tourism and the fine lines of exploitation of people and death as well.
The haunted Aokigahara forest prompts a thoughtful reflection on the impact of sensationalism and the importance of fostering an understanding of mental health. Perhaps this very article is just one of the many instances of this?
Aokigahara – The Haunted Forest
