Aokigahara is a place that has been arousing great attention concerning the high frequency of suicides that take place inside.
This great attention has shown in a large number of videos uploaded to the Internet. The unfortunate publication of a video uploaded by the vlogger Logan Paul, which had to withdraw it due to the number of protests generated.
Within a large number of videos, we highlight two documentaries that approach the reality of the Forest of Suicides with seriousness and from two different points of view.
“Aokigahara Suicide Forest” (2009)
This documentary was produced by VBS TV (owned by VICE) in 2009. It is a 21-minute live documentary. Original audio: Japanese. VOS: English.
The point of view offered is that of a forest guard. Mr. Azusa Hayano, geologist and guardian of the place. He takes us in his car to the Suicide Forest and, along the way, he tells us about personal aspects of his relationship with the environment and the mission entrusted to him.
Once arrived at the place, it places us in the context of Aokigahara, giving us reason for the formation of the forest and the names it has received and its meaning.
When the walk through the forest begins, he’s narrating different situations that, out of respect for the documentary, I will not disclose to avoid making a “spoiler”.
The attitude of respect and sensitivity of Mr. Azusa Hayano draws attention throughout the different moments.
We recommend his viewing.
“El Bosque de los Suicidios” (2016)
This documentary is part of the Cuarto Milenio program of the Spanish television network Cuatro, directed by Iker Jiménez. The duration is 33 minutes. Spanish Language. Date of issue: February 28, 2016.
This report is made taking into account the paranormal point of view. It contains situations and their corresponding attempts to give a vision a step beyond reality, focusing a little more on the mysterious aspect of the place.This documentary on Aokigahara is more dramatized and interspersed images taken on the spot with comments from the filmmakers on the television set.
Other documentaries about Aokigahara
The appearance in movie theaters of a film about the place has aroused great interest in the Suicide Forest. The profusion of videos on the subject has been immense.
Videos of all kinds have been produced, from tourist content to paranormal content, including the morbid. The vast majority of them are of questionable quality.
When conducting the search on the Internet, it is striking that if we search for “Aokigahara documentary”, in the video section, 2,400 results appear; whereas if we look for “Suicide Forest documentary” we obtain 50,700 results. Perhaps, a more explicitly morbid semantics is more striking.
Of all these results, the vast majority are more or less long fragments of the documentary by Vice (2009), “Aokigahara Suicide Forest”.