Dark Tourism in Japan - Rosa María B.

Aokigahara by Iloé C. Pardo

Dark tourism takes us on this blog post to Japan. Japan is known worldwide for having an effective government, one of the most advanced technologies in society and an exemplary culture, where organization and respect is everything. However, despite the fact that the word ‘Japan’ literally means "the origin of the sun", this place has more darkness than one could imagine and here we tell you why it is the ideal place for dark tourism.

First, we will talk about Aokigahara or better known as the Sea of Trees. Over the years, Aokigahara has earned the reputation of being called Suicide Park and has been partly because, according to Japanese mythology, it is home to the ghosts of death. It also became famous worldwide for the publishment in 1960 of the famous novel Tower of Waves by Seicho Matsumoto, where the protagonist, because of love, commits suicide in this forest. Suicides tend to increase during the month of March, which is when the fiscal year ends in Japan. It is believed that the reasons why Japan has the highest rates of suicide is due to the family and cultural pressure demanded by Japanese society.

Left shoes by Rob Gilhooly

Another place that attracts the attention of dark tourists is Hashima Island, which between 1887 and 1974, had a population of more than 5000 people in a length of only 480m. The island counted on a undersea coal mine in which the majority of the inhabitants worked and when it closed, one by one the inhabitants left and the island was completely abandoned, since it was not possible to sustain itself economically. Now it is better known as the ‘Ghost Island’ and its most notable features are the abandoned buildings filled with just memories.

Hashima Island by Chris Luckhardt, flickr.