Forests ordinarily inspire awe or maybe reverence for the majesty of nature, but not Aokigahara. This dense, dark forest bordering Mt. Fuji is infamous throughout Japan for inspiring suicide.

In fact, 2002 saw the discovery of 78 bodies within it. By May 2006, at least 16 new suicides had been found; no one knows how many bodies go undiscovered. Despairing signs, presumably written by the depressed, are nailed to trees throughout the forest.

No sounds can be heard other than those produced by the forest itself. Aokigahara is considered to be the most haunted location in all of Japan. Spiritualists say that the trees themselves are filled with a malevolent energy, accumulated from centuries of suicides.