( 日本のお化け歴史 )

Nihon no obake rekishi

(Haunted History of Japan)

Contents Page

Five Articles ______________________________ 1

Interview with Mr. Azusa Hazano _____________ 2

Five Advertisements ________________________ 3

Two Cartoons _____________________________ 4

Question and Answer _______________________ 5

Book Review ______________________________ 6

Letter to the Editor _________________________ 7

Five ArticlesAokigahara Suicide Forest

The Aokigahara Forest is the most popular site for suicides in Japan. After the novel Kuroi Jukai was published, in which a younger lover commits suicide in the forest, people started talking their own lives there at a rate of 50 to 100 deaths a year. The site holds so many bodies that the Yakuza pays homeless people to sneak into the forest and rob the corpses. The authorities sweep for bodies only on an annual basis, as the forest sits at the base for Mt. Fuji and is too dense to patrol more frequently.

Hiroshima

Hiroshima is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture, and the largest city in the Chugoku region of western Honshu, the largest island of Japan. The city’s name 広島, means “Wide Island in Japanese. Hiroshima gained city status on April 1st in 2889. On April 1st in 1980, Hiroshima became a designated city. In 2006 the city had an estimated population of 1,154,391. Kazumi Matsui has been the city’s mayor since April in 2011. Hiroshima is best known as the first city in history to be targeted by a nuclear weapon when the United States Army Air Forces, USAAF, dropped an atomic bomb on the city at 8:15 am on August 6th in 1945, which is near the end of World War Two.

Yotsuya Kaidan

Yotsuya Kaidan is a story of Oiwa and Tamiya lemon, which is about betrayal, murder and ghostly revenge. Arguably the most famous Japanese ghost story of all time, it has been adapted for film over 30 times and continues to be an influence on Japanese horror today. As the most – adapt ted Japanese ghost story, the details of Yotsuya Kaidan have been altered over time, often bearing little resemblance to the original kabuki play, and sometimes removing the ghostly element all together. However, the base story usually remains the same and recognizable.

The Haunted Doll of Hokkaido

The story of the so-called Okiku doll starts in 1918, when a 17 year old boy by the name of Eikichi Suzuki purchased a doll for his 2 year old sister, Okiku, as a souvenir while visiting Saporro, on the Japanese island of Hokkaido for a marine exhibition. The doll itself was around 40cm (16 inches) tall and clad in a traditional Japanese kimono. Its eyes are black beads set within the life-like porcelain white face, and the black hair is in a traditional style cut shoulder length. Eikichi immediately knew his sister would love it and bought it right away. The overjoyed little girl was smitten with the doll, and played with it every day, even going so far as to name it after herself, Okiku. The two were reportedly inseparable and went everywhere together until tragedy struck the following year and Okiku fell gravely ill. The girl soon died from complications of severe influenza and fever, and the mourning family placed her beloved doll in a family altar in memory of their daughter.

Fuji – Q Highland

In Japanese, the place is called the Ghost House (お化け屋敷). One of the biggest and scariest haunted houses in the world is located in Fuji-Q Highland Amusement park, the park is near the base of Mount Fuji. This Hospital themed Haunted House might be different from any other haunted house you have ever visited, the haunted house is a huge maze and you have to decide your own starting route there. The visitors are free to explore any part of the ghost house. The Ghost House designer also prepared many traps and pitfalls to provide you with a more realistic experience.

Interview with Mr. Azusa Hazano1) Why did you decide to go explore the Aokigahara Suicide Forest? (Me)

Azusa Hazano: “I was curious why people kill themselves in such a beautiful forest”

2) Why do so many people choose Aokigahara as a place to commit suicide? (Me)Azusa Hazano: “The forest is a popular place to commit suicide because they were having troubles in their lives, they couldn’t handle the stress, and thinking that they don’t deserve to live.

3) Since when did people commit suicide in the suicide forest? (Me)Azusa Hazano: “There has been at least 100 and more suicides in the forest since 1988. In 2003, 105 dead bodies were found in the forest, exceeding the previous record of 78 in 2002. In 2008, 32,249 people committed suicide in Japan.”

4) Is there another name for the forest? (Me)Azusa Hazano: “Apparently there is another name for the forest and that is called “The Black Sea of Trees”. It is called “The Black Sea of Trees” because when you enter the forest all you will see is a whole bunch and endless of trees and when people wanted to escape or get out of the forest, they cannot because a lot of people have gotten lost that they had to stay in the forest stuck until they die from dehydration and starvation.

Five Advertisements

Two cartoons, comics or manga items

Aokigahara

Haunted Doll of Hokkaido

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERSQUESTION:

What is the most popular method that people used in Aokigahara Suicide Forest to commit suicide?

ANSWER:The most popular method that people used in Aokigahara Suicide Forest to commit suicide is hanging from the rope.

QUESTION:

Can we visit these places? How do I get there?ANSWER:

We can get there if we are brave enough and arrive to those places by public transport.

QUESTION:Is it safe to stay in Hiroshima for a long period of time?ANSWER:Yes it is safe to stay in Hiroshima for a long period of time because the radioactive is long gone.

QUESTION:

What is the highest death rate in Japan?

ANSWER:

The highest death rate in Japan was 8.3 in 2005 and has decreased to 8.0 in 2013.

QUESTION:

What is the most common age rate to commit suicide in Japan?

ANSWER:

The most common age rate to commit suicide is at least one hundred and more per year.

Book ReviewSummary:

Just outside of Tokyo lies Aokigahara, a vast forest and one of the most beautiful wilderness areas in Japan...and also the most infamous spot to commit suicide in the

world. Legend has it that the spirits of those many suicides are still roaming, haunting deep in the ancient woods.

When bad weather prevents a group of friends from climbing neighbouring Mt. Fuji, they decide to spend the night camping in Aokigahara. But they get more than they bargained for when one of them is found hanged in the morning—and they realize there might be some truth to the legends after all.

I chose this novel because I wanted to know about Japan before I travel there. I also like this novel because it shows how scary that place is and also tells story about what happened in the past.

Letter to the EditorHi my name is Shizuki, and I would like to complain about the Haunted House that was being held as part as the school festival in Japan. The students thought that everything was going as planned, which was having all of the couples stuck together, they have organised everything according to plan but for those who have entered that Haunted House never came out when the school festival have ended.

Evenings, my name is Hotaru. I am complaining about the suicide forest which is called “Aokigahara”. I would like to say that the Government should have a border around the forest in order to prevent people entering just to commit suicide. And help anyone who are having trouble with their lives.

GOOD MORNING EVERYONE, MY NAME IS ICHIRO. I WOULD LIKE TO SAY THAT THE CITY OF HIROSHIMA SHOULD NOT BE ABANDONED BECAUSE IT IS TOO SPOOKY. PLUS THE CITY

IS SUPPOSED TO BE A PLACE TO LIVE IN NOT SUPPOSED TO BE FILLED WITH FILTH, SPOOKS AND CRUMBLING BUILDINGS. I SUGGEST THAT WE SHOULD REBUILD THE CITY.

Hi I would like to say that I want to remove the Haunted Doll of Hokkaido because when there are travellers coming to Japan, the very young kids would become very scared that they might want to stay inside their houses.