Aokigahara

May 9

Aokigahara, also known as the Sea of Trees, is a forest on the northwestern flank of Mount Fuji on the island of Honshu in Japan, thriving on 30 square kilometers of hardened lava laid down by the last major eruption of Mount Fuji in 864 CE.

The Case for the Supernatural

The forest is said to be haunted. It is said to contain evil spirits. That is a hard thing to prove but I can tell you that I felt something when I was in there. Not at first but as I got deeper in the forest I got the chills and something was happening in there.

Getting to the Forest

It isn’t easy and the highway system in Japan will charge you for the privilege with multiple tolls on the roads. When we turned off at our exit and headed toward the forest, the eeriness began. It was dark, grey and and the fog crept in just above the lake. Snow started to fall, in fact it wasn’t even snow it was somewhere between snow and hail and it came down slowly in the form of small round pebbles similar to styrofoam pellets.

Stay on the Path

You will get lost and it will get scary in a hurry. It is thick and lush with little light shining in from above and if you're not on the path it all begins to look the same even steps away.

Into the Forest

Caves of The Forest

Three of the caves are open to the public to explore: the Bat Cave, Ice Cave and Wind Cave.

All three caves are located in Aokigahara, a forest growing on top of a layer of lava that was the result of a major eruption of Mount Fuji in 864 – the same eruption that formed the caves.