National May 9, 2012

'Suicide forest' skews Yamanashi's statistics

Suicides nationwide topped 30,000 last year for the 14th consecutive year, but by prefecture Yamanashi has had the worst rate for the past five years, according to statistics by the National Police Agency. Yamanashi had 36.1 suicides per 100,000 people in 2011, compared with 23.7 ...

General Jun 26, 2011

Inside Japan's 'Suicide Forest'

by Rob Gilhooly

I am walking through Aokigahara Jukai forest, the light rapidly fading on a mid-winter afternoon, when I am stopped dead in my tracks by a blood-curdling scream. The natural reaction would be to run, but the forest floor is a maze of roots and ...