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Aokigahara Forest and Toshimbo Cliffs

Page history last edited by John Pearce 14 years, 1 month ago

 

The Taboo Problem

 

The Jappanese, like many people of developed countries, suffer from social illness that plague idustrialized and urbanized nations. Such problems include: alienation, alcoholism, drug abuse, crime, and sucide. However, while in the United States the murder rate is higher than the suicide rate, it is quite the contrary in Japan. Suicide is an epidemic, currently having almost the same suicide rate as the United States with nearly half the U.S.'s populace. The World Health Organiztation keeps records of the top suicidal nations. To date Japan has the third highest suicide rate in the world following behind Finland and Hungary. There are many reported causes for the abnormally high rate of suicide in Japan, the most common being depression, closely followed by economic reason. In the late 90's Japan's economy fell into recession and the suicide rate jumped significantly. Unable to pay off their debts, many Japanesse men will commit suicide to protect their families. The life insurance their families collect can help pay off the debt owed. This is an acceptable practice in Japan. In fact, suicide itself is not often considered shameful or pitiful and Japan has a long history of ritual suicide to regain honor or escape dishonor.

 

WHO suicide rate (2003)

 

A Beautifully Macabre Event

 

Ritual suicide has been in Japan since the 12th century. Known as Seppuku (or Harakiri), this form of suicide was deemed a better way to die for the Japanesse warior caste. If defeated, embarrassed, ostracized, or in any other way dishonored, this ritual suicide was the means by which the warrior could regain his spiritual honor by leaving his tainted body behind. This ritual became standard practice and dicated both battlefield and even judical practices. It became the form of Capital punishment for the social elite, much like suicide was treated by the Ancient Greeks and most notably the death of Socrates. Suicide quickly emersed into the strict and rigid moral code of Japanesse, Bushido. The are was perfected and the ritual could be as elaborate as any tea ceremony. Seppuku as a capital punishment endured until the 19th century, being abolished in 1873. While Bushido has been considered to have never truly left the Japanesse culture, warfare in Japan and the Samurai caste and their code died down somewhere between 1600-1900. Even in the contemporary world, on rare occasion, the ritual of Seppuku will be performed. In 1970, a famous Japanesse author, Yukio Mishimo, attempted and failed a coup in Japan, deciding to end his life in the old ways as a form of protest.

 

Yukio Mishimo

 

The Modern Ritual

 

When some one in Japan wants to end their life, their are two places where it happens the most. One being the Aokigahara forest and the other being the Toshimbo Cliffs. These two places are the most famous and most common place where people end their lives in Japan. There are many ways in which people commit suicide in Japan there is even a book devoted to the subject called "The Complete Manual of Suicide" by Wataru Tsurumui. The most common ways that people in Japan kill them selves is by asphixiation and hanging. There is no elaborate rituals or public events envovled. While the underlying reason for suicide remains ingrained, the Japanesse now feal compeled to isolate themselves in these two iconic regians. These two sites have a historical and spiritual significance, a spiritual history which may seem dark in the United States but triggers mixed feelings in Japan.

 

The Aokigahara Forest   

 

 

 

"A perfect place to die," that is how author Wataru Tsurumui described this forest. The Aokigahara Forest is located at the base of Mount Fuji. This large forest is one of the few lush and virgin forests in Japan and has survived the thousands of years of Mount Fuji's volcanic activity.  The forest is treated very much like the mountain itself, a very old and reveared part of Japanesse culture and heritage. The locals who live near the forest believe it to be filled with many spirits and demons. The sprits draw people to the forest to die, this is what some believe. Yet there are others that believe two books are to blame. Writer Seicho Matsumoto kills his main character in the famous woods of Aokigahara and the novel is then turned into a famous television show,The Pagoda of the Waves. More recently, the famous suicide manual is cause for spectulation. But all believe that a large part of the problem is economic hardship. Whatever the reason, this forest truly is the perfect place to die. It is dark, even durring the mid-day sun. The forest is filled with caverns and thick patches of dense, tall trees. The ground is full of volcanic, magnetised rock which forbids the use of compasses. Many who decide to enter the forest will decide to get lost within, and those who don't make sure to bring a gps or mark the trail with rope and bright colored tags.

 

Each year as many as 60 people go to die within the forest, it is the second most popular place to commit suiced in the world, just behind the Golden Gate Bridge. In the 1970's the governement first started to combat the suicide issue in Aokigahara. In the 1970's as many as 20 bodies a year were descobver. In 1997 that number jumped from 20 bodies a year to 57 and then peaked to 78 in 2003 and is steadyily growing from then. Police and volunteers search the forest in hopes of preventing futher attempts and signs are posted all over the forest asking that people rethink their decision and seek proffesional help. 

 

http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/03/19/suicide.forrest.japan/index.html#cnnSTCVideo

 

 

The Toshimbo Cliffs

 

 

The Toshimbo Cliffs have a important historical significance in Japan. When the United States ocupied the Island of okinowa and with the death of their emperor, many Japanesse decided that it was better to give up ones life than to surrender to the "barbaric" Americans. many Japanesse soldiers and even whole families were reported to have jumped off the cliffs. Ever since then people have come to the misty mountain to jump of the cliff into the treachurous, rocky coast. Today, about 25 people commit suicide each year at the cliffs. However, retired police chief Yukio Shige, has made it his final life's work to traverse the beautiful cliffs in search of people who might be thinking about suicide. He has saved as many as 128 people from attempting to jump off the cliff.

 

 

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 Resources

 

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/japans-harvest-of-death-635356.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aokigahara

http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/03/19/suicide.forrest.japan/index.html#cnnSTCVideo

http://www.who.int/mental_health/prevention/suicide/suiciderates/en/

http://www.youtube.com/user/france24english

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/member/member.html?nn20030207b1.htm

 

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