Random Haunting Facts About Japan's Suicide Forest (15 items)

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  (#14) Aokigahara Scavenging Is a Thing

  Buoyed by the presence of dozens of corpses, scavengers have begun to set upon the forest to look for dropped valuables, left behind by people who killed themselves. Even worse, they'd often loot the corpses before the forest workers had a chance to find them. Talk about something that will make the yurei angry...
  
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  (#6) It's the Place With The Second Most Suicides in the World

  While Aokighara is known for its trees and ice caves, it's infamous for its suicides. It's estimated that this forest is the site for more people taking their own lives than anywhere else, second only to the Golden Gate Bridge. Estimates of how many people have killed themselves there vary, but it's likely to be at least 500, and quite likely many more.
  
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  (#11) Legends of Old People Being Left In the Forest Are Centuries Old

   

  It's a widely-held legend in Japan that in ancient times, families would abandon people (usually women) to die in Aokigahara during periods of famine or drought, when there wasn't enough food. Those abandoned in the forest would slowly starve to death, and their souls are said to haunt the trees, gliding around in the deep canopy.

  It's not known how common this practice, known as ubasute, actually was.

   
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  (#8) Spirits Called Yurei Are Said to Haunt the Forest

  In Japanese folklore, spirits known as yurei are said to haunt the forest. They usually take the form of pale women in white gowns with long, black hair. They concentrate in Aokigahara because tradition says that those who take their own lives can't join the spirits of their ancestors. 

  Yurei are still considered, even in modern times - as evidenced by the ritual of the forest worker sleeping with the corpse of a suicide, so their spirit doesn't become angry.
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  (#2) The Trees Are Incredibly Thick

  The foliage in Aokigahara is so dense that it's virtually impossible to see above it, or past about ten feet. The trees are high and crooked, meaning the sun can be virtually blocked out. Japanese officials caution hikers not to wander off beaten paths, and people often use colored tape to mark the trail they've gone on.
  
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  (#7) Nobody Knows How Many Suicides Have Taken Place There

  Like the Golden Gate Bridge, Japanese authorities don't publish the exact numbers of suicides that take place in Aokigahara, in order to stop it from becoming even more popular. But unlike Golden Gate Bridge, and other popular suicide sites, the true number isn't actually known by anyone.

  While forest workers find about 70 corpses every year, it's thought that many others are simply gone, swallowed up by the thick vegetation on the ground.

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