Aokigahara (Suicide Forest)

This past weekend, I had the opportunity to go to Aokigahara, which is at the base of Mt. Fuji. This particular forest is famous, not for its caves, or for its sea of trees, but for the numerous amount of suicides that happen here each year (around 100). Most gaijin would stick to the temples and towering buildings of Tokyo, however we’re a bit different. Saturday morning we set out on our long journey at 7:10 a.m. We then took about a 2 in a half hour train ride (so many transfers!!) out to the base of Mt. Fuji. Even though it was a long commute, we were still able to see the beautiful scenery of Japan outside of the big city.

Once we arrived, we took another bus that took us all the way out to the forest. After taking the bus, we decided to check out the bat cave. It ended up being really dissapointing since we had to pay 500¥ and didn’t see any bats. Before doing anything too dangerous, we decided to hike to the “kaze hora”, or “wind cave”. However, since the hike lasted a long time we decided to get something to eat at the only place we could. After eating lunch, we entered the cave. Again, we weren’t too impressed. It was still fun to venture around a deep cavern with friends though!

Now, is where the curiosity struck us. We ended up venturing off of the path into an area marked as forbidden. They claim it’s because it’s easy to get lost if you go down that way, however we all know it’s probably because they don’t want you to stumble across a dead body. As we ventured further and further down this path, we sadly found nothing. We decided to give it a break and go to the ice cave instead. The ice cave ended up being the most fun out of all the caves. You went down deep into the cave and have to crawl through spaces that you’re nearly on your stomach for. Once getting to the bottom, you find ice. There’s also a sign that explained how they got ice from the cave back in the Edo Period (I’m assuming).

After the cave, we decided to muster up the courage (and energy!) to go back into a forbidden area. We walked around for 5 minutes, and turned the corner to find a noose hanging on a tree with an umbrella next to it. The body wasn’t there, but it was still eery. What I was looking at was someone’s grave. Apparently there was a note close by it too, but I sadly did not see it. Before we could venture even more in, we had to hike back to catch our bus. It was nice to end the day on a scary, yet exciting note.

After catching our bus to the station, we ended up buying tickets for a bus to take us to Tokyo Station. Less transfers, cheaper, and I get to sleep! It was a lot better than on the way over. We got back to our university around 9:45 p.m. Needless to say, I had a long, eventful day. Even though it was long, it was still nice to get out of the city and go on an adventure that usually tourists wouldn’t have taken.