And so, back to my Tumblr blog. I've previously uploaded an image of this controversial book along with a movie made about this book:



This book is written by Wataru Tsurumi. First published on July 4 1993, this book provides explicit descriptions and analysis on a wide range of suicide methods such as overdosing, hanging, jumping, and carbon monoxide poisoning. But never anywhere in this book discourages its readers from attempting suicide.

And everyone probably thought that this would be the 1st and final volume ever published. However after much intense criticism and debate, the author subsequently published the second book, Our "Complete Manual of Suicide which includes fan letters and hate mail the author had received.

The reason why I thought this place where people actually go all the way just to commit suicice (a.k.a Aokigahara Forest / Sea of Trees) seemed really familiar is because I've previously watched this Hong Kong movie starring Ekin Cheng and Shu Qi (directed by one of the famous Pang brothers, Danny Pang). The movie title itself is called Forest of Death.



The summary of the plot/place is really reminiscent of Aokigahara. Incidentally, Aokigahara was never meant to be a place for suicides to go to just for the sake of committing suicide (You can pretty much only hang yourself if you really want to commit suicide in a forest, I suppose). What started it off is due to a 1960 novel written by Seichō Matsumoto, called Nami no Tō (波の塔). At the end of this novel, the 2 protagonists commited suicide in a forest called Aokigahara. And that is where it's reputation took off. However, surprise surprise, the history of suicide in Aokigahara predates the novel's publication, and the place itself has long been associated with death: ubasute may have been practiced there into the 19th century, and the forest is reputedly haunted by the ghosts of those left to die.

What is ubasute, you may wonder? Back in the old days, there is this custom where an infirm or elderly relative was carried to a mountain, or some other remote, desolate place, and left there to die, either by dehydration, starvation, or exposure. Presumably to save money on official funeral rites. Back in the old days, most common folk were not really rich to begin with and only rich folks like samurais, daimyos for example were probably the only people who can afford to have funerals, whether they are big or small. And what do the common folk with no money for burial do? They just simply carry their elderly, preferrably those who do not have long to live, or have been sick for so long they do not have a chance of recovery form their illness, deep all the way into the mountains and left them there to die.

But exaclty why did I feel that Aokigahara and Forest of Death have so much in common? There is just 1 simple reason for it.

If you ever go to Aokigahara in person or just simply watch a YouTube video, you probably would have noticed signages put up by people, volunteers telling suicidal people that "Your life is a precious gift to you by your parents. Treasure it" for example.



In the movie, Forest of Death and according to Amazon:

"In this mind-twisting thriller from the creators of "The Eye" and "Re-cycle," a dark forest known for causing mysterious deaths becomes the focus of a recent savage murder. A homicide detective, a botanist researching the paranormal, and his tabloid TV reporter girlfriend each embark on a treacherous journey to the heart of this "Forest of Death," where a chilling revelation awaits them all."

What I've watched from this movie is that, there is this old forest guard who constantly goes around making up handmade signs telling suicidal people that "Your life is precious", "Nothing is unsolvable in this world" and such signages to deter people from killing themselves. Ring a bell now? In the movie, this old forest guard's daughter comitted suicide in the "Forest of Death" due to a failed relationship and he believes the soul of his dead daughter still lingers in there, unable to cross over to the other side. Hence, he decided to stay within the forest and take up the selfless duty of erecting all those signages to deter people from killing themselves.

What makes Aokigahara such a scary, or maybe unique place? All these deaths and suicides, may they be intentional or not, creates some sort of warped atmosphere that makes the whole place take on a life by itself. What started as a beautiful forest transformed into a place that seems alive, eager to "trap" people who might not even have the initial intention to end their lives. It is a huge place, all 35 km2 of it. Even though there are actual paths for curious folks who dare go all the way there for some Look-see, it is fairly easy to lose your bearings and find yourself totally lost inside the forest itself. That's why I said that it has a life of it's own, bent on increasing more deaths than before.

People who buy a one-way ticket all the way to Aokigahara to commit suicide, there are maybe 2 types of them. The 1st are the ones who are insistent on ending their lives once and for all and they really do go all the way deep into the forest so as to prevent being found while in the midst of hanging themselves. As for the 2nd type, they are still hesistant. And this is why one can see ropes starting from one tree to another tree inside the forest. In the event these people decide against killing themselves, they can simply find their way out of the forest with the rope they wound around the trees or paths. Like a breadcrumb trail to safety.

Finally, as much as Hong Kong is good for making horror movies like these, at least they didn't come up with a chinese or cantonese version of the The Complete Manual of Suicide.

Phew!

Labels: Aokigahara, complete manual of suicide, forest of death