The perfect place to die is … *

* (restored)
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… how Aokigahara was described in Wataru Tsurumui’s bestselling book The Complete Manual of Suicide. (1) A dense, dark forest bordering Mt. Fuji, Aokigahara is infamous throughout Japan as a popular spot for those taking their final journey. In 2002, 78 bodies were found within it, replacing the previous record of 73 in 1998. By May of 2006, at least 16 new suicides had already been found. (2) More than a few of them were even carrying copies of Tsurumui’s book. No one knows how many bodies go undiscovered. Signs emblazoned with messages such as “Please reconsider” and “Please consult the police before you decide to die!” are nailed to trees throughout the forest. However, the woods have such a reputation that these minor deterrents do little to stop the determined. Local residents say they can always tell who is going into the forest hunting after the macabre and who is planning never to return.

Part of the appeal is dying at the foot of the sacred Mt. Fuji. Part of it is the foreboding nature of Aokigahara, so dense and thick that from just a few kilometers inside it no sounds can be heard other than those produced by the forest itself. Aokigahara is considered the most haunted location in all of Japan, a purgatory for yurei, the unsettled ghosts of Japan who have been torn unnaturally soon from their lives and who howl their suffering on the winds. (3) Spiritualists say that the trees themselves are filled with a malevolent energy, accumulated from centuries of suicides. They don’t want you to go back out. (4)

Forestry workers rotate in and out of shifts at a station building in Aokigahara, and occasionally they will come upon unfortunate bodies in various states of decomposition, usually hanging from trees or partially eaten by animals. The bodies are brought down to the station, where a spare room is kept especially for such occasions. In this room are two beds: one for the corpse and one for someone to sleep next to it. It is thought that if the corpse is left alone, the lonely and unsettled yurei will scream the whole night through, and the body will move itself into the regular sleeping quarters. (5) — Zack Davisson, seekjapan, jp

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p.s. Hey. ** Dominik, Hi!!! There you are! Mm, we’ll either do Parc Asterix this week before we leave for London or immediately upon our return since it happily lasts until Nov. 8. Yep, religion’s inroads into people’s standards of acceptability is scary. The laziness of most people’s imaginations is a curse. I don’t know ‘The Make-Believe’, but I’ll see what it is. I like the title. Love wishing he had a donkey so he could pin a tail on it, G. ** Adem Berbic, Well, yeah, you’re right about the horror label, but, you know, it’s always nice to be wanted. Where exactly are you going on the East Coast again? There are parks, and I can steer you if you like. But, yes, Dollywood is quite far from the Coast. ‘Anatomy of Hell’, right, I wish I remembered it better. Your report is a nudge. Zac saw the ‘in the dark’ Autechre show last week. He said the first 20 or so minutes were great and then it got sort of predictable for a long time and then the last 20 or so minutes were great. Does that jibe? The protests were healthy but barely violent. Not a peep in my neighborhood. All the boarded ups, closed stores around here really jumped the gun. ** Steve Erickson, The protests in Paris were very well attended and largely ‘well behaved’. Less so in other parts of France. Fuck knows where it will lead. Right now the far-right seem to be successfully exploiting it for their bullshit evil cause, so that’s scary. The government itself says they’ll make changes, but we’ll see. ** Shea, Hey! Thanks so much on Darbz’s and my behalf. I’m waiting for the long ‘The Devils’ to get here with veritable bated breath. I did see the ‘Resident Evil’ movie. I kind of loved it. As I’ve said, it was like watching someone play the game, which was so satisfying. I love the game. I’ve played most of them. ‘#4’ and ‘Village’ are my favorites, I think. Oh, gosh, I don’t remember the PC game you’re referring to off the top of my head. I’ll have to have a think. Sorry. Nice to talk with you. What else is up? ** Carsten, Oh, I can’t promise there won’t be a Xmas sweater upcoming, but I can promise no Mariah Carey. Unless someone makes a guest-post with it on board. So nice about the blurb. Getting your work understood and appreciated by someone you respect is the absolute best. No on the pushback, but the people we’ve worked with are far from standard fare producers. Sometimes they assume the films are going to be shorter than they end up being, but that’s all. The protest in Paris was very well attended and mostly stuck to the plan apart from a little battle at the end thanks no thanks to the usual encroaching trouble makers, essentially far right guys wearing black hoods. ** _Black_Acrylic, I remember the ‘Omen’ films being pretty fun, or at least the first one, which is the only one I remember, which may or may not say something. ** HaRpEr //, I’m fully on board with Xmas too. But I am happy to live far away enough from my family not to have to suffer through a Xmas dinner. Although that also means I miss all the gift giving and taking and festive trees and present unwrapping, which is mighty sad. So awesome that the Mayer took hold so fully. ** laura w, Hi. Oh, right, the fear of bodily leftovers. Strange, no? Must be a religion based fear or whatever it is. Based on my minimal amount of keeping up, I think I’m pro Brewers too. Oh, god, ‘The Lighthouse’. That is my most hated film of recent years. It’s kind of the epitome of everything I despise about trendy current movies. The script is like a bad Sam Shepherd play written by some no talent taking a Screenplay Writing 101 college course. It’s completely uninterestingly directed and smothered to death with color saturation and EFX to disguise that. I practically had to stop myself from ripping the movie screen down while I was watching it. Sorry, that film is triggering to me, as they say. Haha. My weekend was not scary, I think, at all. No, I don’t remember even experiencing the slightest shudder. Was yours more season appropriate? ** Uday, Thanks for the good words to Darbz, pal. ** Okay. We’re in the final Halloween countdown. See you tomorrow.