end-of-life
In 2003 a confirmed total of 105 people crossed Aokigahara’s boundary to die by suicide, up from the previous year’s tally by twenty-seven. It hasn’t always been this way. Historically, the forest’s darkest secret was its occasional use by local communities as a site for the practice of ubasute – a form of euthanasia, where the infirm, especially the extremely old, were left to starve in the cool serenity of its branches. It took a popular 1960s novel called Tower of Waves by Matsumoto Seicho to romanticise Jukai as a spot to see out your last days, its depiction of a lover’s death in the forest written with poetic beauty.
I was surprised to learn when I visited Japan in 2010 that suicide was still a polarising topic in such a proud, rich nation. A delayed train, translated as ‘human accident’ – hinted at something darker one morning. These events are so common, I was told by my host, that Japan Rail reportedly has a policy of charging the ‘offender’s’ family 150 million yen (roughly US$1.3 million) for reparations. Not all families can pay, but the threat of leaving behind such a debt is thought to serve as a disincentive.
