Жапониядағы Аокигахара орманы: Өлім теңізінің құпиясы

Forest in Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan

Aokigahara (青木ヶ原), also known as the Sea of Trees (樹海), is a forest on the northwestern flank of Mount Fuji on the island of Honshu in Japan, thriving on of hardened lava laid down by the last major eruption of Mount Fuji in 864 CE. The western edge of Aokigahara, where there are several caves that fill with ice in winter, is a popular destination for tourists and school trips. Parts of Aokigahara are very dense, and the porous lava rock absorbs sound, contributing to a sense of solitude that some visitors attribute to the forest. The forest has a historical reputation as a home to yūrei: ghosts of the dead in Japanese mythology. At least since the 1960s, Aokigahara has become associated with suicide, eventually becoming known in English by the nickname "Suicide Forest" and gaining a reputation as one of the world's most used suicide sites. Because of this, signs at the head of some trails urge suicidal visitors to think of their families and contact a suicide prevention association.

The forest floor mostly consists of volcanic rock. Designated trails lead to several tourist attractions such as the Narusawa Ice Cave, Fugaku Wind Cave and Lake Sai Bat Cave which are three larger lava caves near Mount Fuji, the ice cave being frozen year round. Aokigahara has been falsely portrayed as a place where navigational compasses go haywire. Needles of magnetic compasses will move if placed directly on the lava, aligning with the rock's natural magnetism, which varies in iron content and strength by location. However, a compass behaves as expected when held at a normal height.

Aokigahara is sometimes referred to as the most popular site for suicide in Japan. In 2003, 105 bodies were found in the forest, exceeding the previous record of 78 in 2002. In 2010, the police recorded 54 confirmed suicides out of more than 200 attempts. Suicides are said to increase during March, the end of the fiscal year in Japan. The site's popularity has been attributed to Seichō Matsumoto's 1961 novel Nami no Tō (Tower of Waves). However, the history of suicide in Aokigahara predates the novel's publication, and the place has long been associated with death; ubasute may have been practiced there into the nineteenth century, and the forest is reputedly haunted by the yūrei of those left to die.

Aokigahara has been referred to in several media, including anime and manga, films, literature, music, and video games. The 2015 film The Sea of Trees takes place there, as does the 2016 horror film The Forest. In late 2017, American YouTuber Logan Paul uploaded a video in which he visited the Aokigahara forest and showed the body of a suicide victim, shocking many and causing widespread condemnation. It was the subject of a BBC Radio 4 production (first broadcast 10 September 2018) in which four poets traveled to Aokigahara to write and record poetry in the forest. The poets Arai Takako, Jordan A. Y. Smith, Osaki Sayaka, and Yotsumoto Yasuhiro co authored a bilingual (Japanese/English) anthology of the poems and short writings on Aokigahara, titled Sea of Trees: Poetic Gateways to Aokigahara (ToPoJo Excursions, 2019). American playwright Kristine Haruna Lee wrote and staged a play, Suicide Forest in March 2019. It addressed suicide in the United States and Japan, referencing the Aokigahara Forest. The Australian psychedelic rock band King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard was originally named Sea Of Trees after the Aokigahara forest. Although this name didn't stick, they would release a song with the same name on their debut album 12 Bar Bruise.