Long before grim video, officials fought suicide
AOKIGAHARA FOREST, Japan — Long before YouTube star Logan Paul brought renewed notoriety to this primeval forest at the foot of Mount Fuji by posting a video of a body hanging from a tree, local officials fought to reverse Aokigahara’s bleak reputation as one of Japan’s top suicide destinations.
The forest looms large in the national consciousness, emblematic of a persistent suicide problem in Japan, which has one of the highest suicide rates of developed countries despite improvements in recent years.
Paul apologized Monday, calling his posting of the video “misguided.”
At Aokigahara, signs at the foot of walking paths promote a suicide hotline.
“Life is a precious thing that your parents gave to you,” the signs read. Another offers a number for help with debt. Locals patrol the forest, talking to people who are alone or show signs of depression or suicidal plans.
Although officials believe such measures have helped to reduce the number of suicides committed in the forest to about 30 a year, down from 100 a decade ago, they worry that the fresh publicity could attract more of the hopeless.
Japan has long struggled to combat a high suicide rate. In 2016, according to statistics from the Health Ministry and the national police agency, close to 22,000 people committed suicide, a rate of 17.3 per 100,000 people. (The rate in the United States in 2014 was 13.5 per 100,000.)
Work and school pressures have long been blamed for the grim depression that can lead to suicide, as well as social isolation and the lack of mental health services. The Japanese are also culturally disinclined to seek out therapy, said Tadaichi Nemoto, deputy director of the Mental Health Institute of the Japan Productivity Center.