Kuroi Jukai - Black Sea of Trees

It was a beautiful October morning. The spectacular view of Mt. Fuji and the vibrant canopies of trees from the hotel room made me feel an indescribable joy. After having our breakfast, me and my husband decided to go for a trek into the famous Aokigahara forest situated in the lap of Mt. Fuji.

Aokigahara or even the sea of trees is a dense forest growing on lava that had flown in the time of past Mt. Fuji eruption approximately three hundred years back. In reality, you will find trees in the woods dating back to this moment. At the start of the walk, we can hear the chirping of birds, however as we entered deeper into the forest it was so strangely silent that even the sound of our footsteps looked like noise. It was small strange to see a sign board at the beginning of trail saying" Your life is a precious gift from your parents. Please think about your parents, siblings and children. Don't keep it to yourself. Talk about your troubles."

Because it was autumn, the entire forest had become a koyo place. There were Japanese red pines and colourful maples disperse around. The forest floor was irregular and rocky upon which put a thin layer of lava soil. From under the blanket of dried leaves and moss came out the origins of these trees giving the appearance of skeleton limbs. This imagination of mine isn't entirely wild as this blossom is notorious for being a frequent suicide site. Alyne Pustanio mentioned in her site on May 2013 there was hundreds of suicides each year and also the most dreadful part is that the body searches are conducted annually leaving a high prospect of individuals detecting human skeletons and even dead bodies during their increase. Sometimes stepping onto the soft roots of these trees scared the hell out of me. Since that which was written in Japanese, we couldn't much understand the signboards. The maps were somewhat helpful but not clear enough as to that course led to that place. In our confusionwe entered a specially long trail of 3 kilometres and have been having a good time in the calm ambience of the woods. But soon the sunlight started waning. The inside of the forest became dim although everything was visible. All kinds of thoughts were crossing my mind. According to legend, in the eighteenth and nineteenth century, the custom of"Ubasute" was conducted from the depths of the forest. Old and infirm people were abandoned in the forests to die out of starvation and dehydration mainly at the times of famines. Local folklore claims that the forest remains haunted by the angry souls or"yurei" of the abandoned people. It is said that the spirits scream through the nighttime and their decomposed bodies proceed on their own if the corpse is left unattended. Spiritualists believe that there has been so much death in Aokigahara that the souls of the deceased have permeated the trees and also prevent people who go into the forest from escaping.

We had been walking as fast as possible in the dark melancholy. The trail did not appear to end. There were dark lava caves and caverns along the road. The inside of the caves were cold and had a very creepy look. I'd read accounts of hikers who said that there was a inclination to get lost and move in circles within the woods as if being compelled from the forlorn spirits trapped in the gnarled trees. Even the compasses and the mobile phones also don't work correctly in the insides due to the big depositions of magnetic materials in the volcanic soil and stones. The locals say the unhappy spirits beckon the travellers and adventurers to join them and share the curse. In fact, forest rangers have reported sounds of wailing and crying while hunting and retrieving dead bodies from the depths of the woods.

While I was lost in my universe of dread and anxiety, a ray of light fell on my head. My husband both looked at each other at the exact same moment with a relieved grin on the face. I asked my husband if he understood Aokigahara is recognized to be"the perfect place to die". He said"no" but seemed disturbed. He said "there was something very unpleasant in there, its kind of depressing inside." The saintly appearance of Mt. Fuji with white clouds forming the very long beard and the moustache seemed like independence from the evil grasp of the haunted trees.