How Cultural Practices of Suicide Became Glorified in Popular Culture

Trigger Warning: The following content may be upsetting to some people. If you, or a relative of you, struggle with suicidal thoughts, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline under 1-800-273-8255 or text HELLO to the Crisis Text Line under 741-741

Aokigahara, also called Jukai Sea of Trees, is a perfect remote place to escape the hustle of our everyday lives.

In this ancient forest, the branches of trees twine and wreathe stubbornly above old magma streams to say, “This is our place!”

While this forest may seem etheral and peaceful, the silence may attract other ideas to visitors.

Declared as the “perfect place to die” in a book, Aokigahara has two faces.

The first being what unknown visitors see: the landscape north of Japan’s Mount Fuji filled with endless generations of trees.

The other is what unknown visitors may not see: empty tents outside the roads, old bottles, and plastic tape to mark ways into the dense forest –– the belongings of people who came here to kill themselves.

Aokigahara is notorious for its suicide history. Dozens of people come here to kill themselves each year.

Recent official numbers as to how many people died by suicide here are unknown; officials stopped publicizing the numbers to prevent spreading Aokigahara’s image of death.

And yet there are the signs along the roads of the forest warning people with different intentions to stay alive, seek help, and not try to die.

Japan is known for its high suicide rate. That has a cultural relation, where death plays its role.

For a long time, the stigma around suicide in Japan kept suicidal people from talking about their thoughts.

Like the roots of a tree in Aokigahara, suicide is so deeply interwined in Japanese culture that it barely seems visible, further contributing to the stigma around it.

Honorable death has always played a role, the so-called seppuku. This was especially concentrated among samurais, where suicide would ensure one’s honor.

However, seppuku was also a kind of punishment. Tsubaki flowers (Camellias) had another significance for seppuku, since they stood for honorable death.

Dying by suicide would mean to not disgrace the family of a person. Due to that belief, many fear their actions could harm their families and see suicide as an option to free themselves of critics.

To get back to Aokigahara forest, some people believe the forest is haunted. Whatever you, my reader, believe, the ones who say this believe Ubasute is a factor to possible hauntings of the forest.

Generally, Ubasute is a legend originating in Japan. According to the legend, poor families used to bring vulnerable family members to remote regions, like Aokigahara, and leave them there to die slowly.

The cultural connection of suicide in Japan may have a drill to people from other countries who are unfamiliar with it.

In Western countries, the stigma around suicide begins to be beaten.

But the problem is that suicide is also often glorified there in popular culture.

In countries with exceeding Christianity, suicide is said to be a sin. Since death can be so mysterious, it often ends up being glorified.

In popular culture, graphic and detailed descriptions of suicide, like in 13 Reasons Why or A Star is Born, are often topic of debate.

Especially since the beginning of this new era of social media, suicide rates are rising.

I wrote an article about how social media affects our mental health. Check it out if you’re interested.

The question remains: is it simple glorification just to talk about suicide?

In regard to responsible reporting of suicide, it is generally recommended to journalists to mention suicide as little as possible.

But by beating old stigmas and talking about it, wouldn’t that contribute to suicide prevention? Just a thought.

Suicide is one of the leading causes of death among youth. Educational programs on suicide prevention are therefore necessary.

However, since suicide can be the result of so many factors, mental health needs to be more in our focus, as well as supporting children in need.

Not all problems are visible at first glance –– that’s why easy and open access to help for people in crisis should be more widespread.

How can I identify if a person contemplates suicide?

• The person could talk about being a burden, wanting to die, and talking about ways how to die.
• The person could use substances such as alcohol, isolate themselves, and sleep too little or too much.
• How can I help a person who contemplates suicide?
• Remove any dangerous objects that could be used for the act.
• Don’t leave the person alone and seek professional help.

This article is an opinion piece. The author is open for different opinions and ideas.