Day 17: My Paper on the Aokigahara Forest

Many Americans knew nothing about the Aokigahara “Suicide” Forest or “Sea of Trees” in Japan until a famous YouTuber stumbled in, which “may have tarnished Japanese/American relations.” It was all over the news. In fact, another YouTuber, Michael Sundman—who lived in Japan as an English teacher for many years and has a deep respect for the Japanese—made a video, “with a statement that Logan stands a good chance of being banned from Japan.”
With a cultural focus on honor and tradition, how does the suicide rate continue to climb, not only in Japan, but also around the globe? As one of the most technologically advanced countries, many may wonder why people feel the need to kill themselves. Many Japanese people are overworked, with one woman “[committing] suicide on Christmas Day in 2015 by jumping from a corporate dormitory. She had worked 100 hours of overtime the month before. She tweeted that year, ‘When you’re in the office 20 hours a day, you don’t understand what life you’re living for anymore.  It’s so pathetic … you come to laugh.’” The Japanese even have a word for suicide caused by overwork, karojisatsu. One of the Japanese ministers of finance reportedly hung himself on World Suicide Prevention Day.

Aokigahara Forest - India Times

In Japanese mythology, the Aokigahara forest is “considered to be one of the most haunted places in all of Japan,” and many believe it is the home of demons and spirits who had unnatural and/or violent deaths. This forest lies at the foot of Mount Fuji and “was honored as the sacred embodiment of the divine creativity that had thrust the land up from the sea.” In The Complete Manual Of Suicide (published 1993) by Wataru Tsurumi, the Aokigahara Forest is called, “the perfect place to die.”
           When nature is viewed with such reverence and a focus on the life force as a means of celebration in Shintoism, it creates an interesting conundrum. And for those who don’t believe in supernatural beings, GPS’s, phones, and compasses all act abnormally within the reaches of Aokigahara due to “rich deposits of magnetic irons created by volcanic soil in the region”

Suicide victim's shoes

           Aokigahara is rated among the top three places that people go to commit suicide. There are signs posted around the entrances to try to dissuade people from killing themselves. Unfortunately, the signs don’t usually do the trick, and volunteers will stumble upon dozens of bodies while cleaning up the forest, which is also a popular tourist area. “The bodies found by the volunteers are taken down from the forest to the local station, where they are placed in a room used specifically for suicide victims.  Following an ancient tradition, someone has to stay with the corpses during the night, as it is believed that if the bodies are left alone, it would be very bad for their spirits. It has been rumoured that the spirits of these victims would scream during the night, and that their bodies would move on their own.”
           Japanese suicide rates are high, around 30,000 deaths per year. Many areas globally have stopped publishing their suicide rates and information about when a victim is found because authorities don’t want to give ideas to those struggling and who want to kill themselves. Resources in every country have been put in place to help people but the problem is many people are afraid to reach out for help or don’t see the point in trying anymore. Original Shinto beliefs concerning death were dark and included the idea of a river separating the living from the dead, much like the Greek River Styx leading to the Underworld, realm of Hades. With Buddhist influence, death became more of something to meditate on and the Japanese taught that life should be celebrated and enjoyed and made meaningful by word and action. Traditions of mourning include only showing grief on one particular day and the rest of the time the Japanese are expected to be almost stoic in their regards to show honor to those who have passed on.
           Although in pop culture and in the news, we hear more and more about teen suicide rates, they are not the only ones faced with mental illnesses nor are they the only ones overworked. In fact, a rise in elderly suicides, especially in Japan, has become apparent. Although in the cases of the elderly, suicide is not usually due to overwork but loneliness. “The first time it drew national attention, the corpse of a 69-year-old man… had been lying on the floor for three years, without anyone noticing his absence. His monthly rent and utilities had been withdrawn automatically from his bank account. Finally, after his savings were depleted in 2000, the authorities came to the apartment and found his skeleton near the kitchen, its flesh picked clean by maggots and beetles, just a few feet away from his next-door neighbors.” In the old day in Japan, suicide was mainly known as a samurai’s act, as in Seppuku or hara-kiri.

           Suicide has become an epidemic. In the year 2016-17 in Japan the “…survey shows 250 elementary and high school age children took their own lives in that year for a variety of reasons including bullying, family issues and stress.”  The Japan Times says that in 2010 alone, more than 200 people attempted to commit suicide in the [Aokigahara] forest, with 54 succeeding.” A French sociologist “suggested more than a century ago that amid all the bright, prosperous developments of modernity there was yet a ‘morbid effervescence, the grievous repercussions of which each one of us feels.’ Unbridled will, infinite material possibility, isn't always liberating, he said.” In first world countries where “Likes” are all the rage, many people get caught up in popularity contests and people are more depressed without even realizing it. Multiple studies have concluded that spending time on social media can create feelings of depression in people that may not even be diagnosed with any kind of depression or depressive mood disorder. As all of your friends are posting about how they are “living their best life” you compare yourself and how you live—even just subconsciously—and it brings your brain down.

           The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 1-800-273-8255.
Please, if you or someone you know is suffering with depression or suicidal thoughts, get help before it is too late. In the words of Benedict Cumberbatch’s Sherlock Holmes, “Taking you own life. Interesting expression — taking it from who? Once it’s over, it’s not you who’ll miss it. Your own death is something that happens to everybody else. Your life is not your own. Keep your hands off it.”

Day 16: Leaving a Mark

       As I have been sitting here, contemplating just about everything, my thoughts have turned to the idea of "leaving a mark." When you leave a mark, it comes down to the idea of permanence. Will your mark be more of a footprint in the sand, mud on the sidewalk? Or will it amount to something more?
       I don't know what kind of marks I have left behind me. I am sure I caused a few scars, due to thoughtless actions, most of which I would prefer to fix but don't know how. I also have no clue as to what kind of marks lie ahead of me.
       When you think about it, people can remember you for anything. Rosa Parks is remembered for defiance in a simple way because she was tired and just wanted to sit down. The people trying to make her give up her seat? Today they are viewed as racist and also in a way, tyrannical. Hitler is seen as antisemitic and cruel. His actions are generally viewed with disdain. In every situation we encounter, a mark is made. Maybe you're the person who smiled, the person who stopped to pick up loose papers, maybe you're the person who kept walking, maybe you stayed home.

       We all should stop to consider the effect we have on others, on the world. We are all a part of something much larger. We can help each other or we can hold each other back. Recently a friend shared a quote with me by Bob Moawad that I would like to now share with you:

“You can't make footprints in the sands of time if you're sitting on your butt. And who wants to make buttprints in the sands of time?”

       Is it possible to know what kind of prints you will make if you don't know what or who you are? For me it is a struggle to see what I might become. Growing up I wanted to be an author. Sure, I can write a few pretty sentences, but who will pay for that? Next my dream was to be a lawyer because I loved the thought that went behind supporting my arguments and proving to others what I knew, but I could never go to more than one or two debate meetings so how could I progress? After that, I moved towards self-expression in art. I love drawing but not nearly as much as my discovered love of painting--specifically with oils. But that takes time and dedication and when you don't have the motivation, you won't go anywhere.
       So now what?
So now, I go to college. I work on my Gen. Ed. even though I am not sure if it will even help me. I work at a part-time job that pays a little more than minimum-wage and save for all it's worth. I may not have a plan, and I may not know what kind of mark I am making, but I will make sure that I wasn't wasting my time sitting around waiting for someone else to tell me how to live.
       The tallies or footprints or buttprints or what-have-you are in the making and there isn't anything you can do to stop them (okay obviously yes there is actually a way but please never resort to that).

What marks are you leaving behind?

Day 15: Is Ignorance Really Bliss?

       In a world shrouded with misinformation and controversy, is ignorance really bliss? Should we not be informed in the goings on around us to make the best choices not only for ourselves, but those around us and those who will succeed us.
      As many may know, there are a lot of movements on gun control especially after the tragedy of Marjory Stoneman Douglas on February 14, 2018. Mr. Andrew Pollack who lost a daughter in the shooting said, "9/11 happened once, and they fixed everything. How many schools, how many children have to get shot? It stops here, with this administration and me." If you can't take a water bottle through an airport but can get a gun to school, what does that say about our society? Lorenzo Prado, a surviving student from MSD said, “Nikolas Cruz was able to purchase an assault rifle before he was able to buy a beer."
       Now this post isn't going to be about gun control. This is about our right and privilege to access information and to form our opinions about issues that affect our lives. No matter what your opinion on gun control, you are allowed to have that opinion because we live in a world where silence is ludicrous and ignorance is insanity. Because of our freedoms, high school students can confront their legislators and representatives and scream in their faces "BS!" We can call out "Never again!" 
      As much as our rights give us, we need to realize that not using them to their full potential is dangerous. With controversy comes multiple view points and perspectives. When researching topics we have to listen to all sides of a story and all the solutions or advice given from those we don't agree with because sometimes, guess what? They might say something that either a) you can refute or b) you might actually agree with! And that is what so many people have a hard time coming to terms with is the idea that someone else might have a better idea than you and although you may not agree with them, their opinion is just as valid as your own. The way to keep your opinion valid is to stay informed. 
     As I am sitting here typing this I can hear people discussing this very problem. An "out of sight, out of mind" attitude will no longer propel our country, our world, in the direction towards progress. I myself with gun control have watched hours of videos from both sides including Wayne LaPierre and Dana Loesch at CPAC who both represent the NRA and then the CNN Town Hall with Marc Rubio and other Florida law-makers answering the albeit brutal justifiable questions stemming from hurt, anger, fear, and a range of other emotions many of us will never understand because we have not lived through what they have lived through. 
     So maybe at this point it is safe to say I lied, and this did end up being about gun control. You probably can tell which side I am on, although my opinions are not radical. Originally, when I began with the idea of going against ignorance as bliss, there were other things going on in the world but it has been a year since this post began and the first paragraph sat in cyberspace, a blinking "I" beam waiting to move across the screen to capture the words of a girl who wants the world to be a better place. As many of my generation have said, this is not about left or right, Democrats and Republicans. This is about making a change in our world together. 
     What would you do if the world you grew up in was as dangerous as this? All those words from the many books we have been filling our minds with are coming true. The world is collapsing. Chaos is ensuing. What are YOU going to do?
     Stop the ignorance. Do your research. Stay informed. Make the world a better place.

Thank you.