Life rekindled, or a silent passing
The Science of a healthy life
To the far east of the world, in the land of the rising sun, in the presence of Mount Fujis captivating beauty quite a few travel from stressful city lives amongst sky high buildings and stone paved streets to meet the beauty of nature on equal footing. Most, of course only have one purpose with such a trip, to rekindle their own appreciation for all things life. To find peace of mind, moments of solemn beauty and perhaps, a rekindled surge of energy for the soul in the slumbering whispers of Mt Fujis leafy forest and snowy crest. But for others, that solitary forest and proud mountain where the wind ruffles branches and leafs in a softly spoken voice might instead be the chosen way too walk into their own eternal night surrounded by all the things they felt that life in the city never seemed capable of providing.
Photography by Mike Koontz
music of the day while you are reading our article
Absense of truth by Hour of Penance
Sometimes people never come back out from the forest called Aokigahara
Every year in modern times at least, up to 100 people step inside the "sea of trees" beneath Mt. Fuji, never again to be heard of alive. Not due to a forest-dwelling movie monster, or predatory species that lurk beneath the canopy. Instead, some choose to visit this solemn, and beautiful place, not to rekindle their appetite for life, but to willingly meet the end of it far away from the sounds and lights, demands and artificial existence of the big Japanese cities. So, before we continue, let´s agree that unless you are burdened by a terminal and untreatable illness, choosing to meet life daily, and choosing to live life in a way that makes it fulfilling for you, that is what requires real strength.
Calling it quits is not a show of strength, it´s simply quitting and giving up.
Yes, far too many are burdened by a life that is neither kind or fulfilling.
Be it a partner that sucks all the joy away or selfish people and crappy unfulfilling jobs and daily tasks that in no way makes your life more. But the solution is not to cease to breathe and do life, the solution, the real one, is always for you to start doing life the way that makes it fulfilling for you.
Everything and anything in life can be changed, by you.
No one else can choose to change life for you, but you can. We all can choose to do life in the way(s) which we enjoy instead of simply stumble through a dark, unfulfilling and meaningless journey towards our final night.
Whatever your situation is, you always have all the tools and right to change it, just by being you, and it really is your fucking responsibility and right to do so. Life is your art to do and to enjoy for your own fulfilling sake, not to waste away against your own needs, and that is something no one can change.
Nor do anyone else have the right to deny you a fulfilling life lived by your own choices and according to your own needs.
Japan
[ almost
30 people
per
100,000 people
end their
own life ]
In Japan almost 30 people out of every 100 000 do choose to end their own life. The by far, highest suicide rate out of all the developed nations.
There are of course many reasons why so many end their own life in Japan compared to other equally developed nations, one of the least talked about reasons might be that in Japan suicide was historically speaking rarely looked down upon the same way as it is in most of the world. It was rarely thought of as illegal by the legal system or a cowardly thing to do.
Throughout history, suicide have at times even been looked upon as a way to keep your honor, from the yesteryears Samurai that committed seppuku when they or others had for one or another reason disgraced themselves in everyday life or by loosing a battle, to today's overworked Japanese workers that often work so much that at the end of the work day they cant even go home at night but instead sleep over in small hotel rooms near their workplace.
And in that daily environment of demands by others, be it people or corporations, suicide is still by some thought of as a romantic way to end a life that has gone wrong instead of simply choosing to change what is wrong.
That un-relentless work pace is of course all by itself a big contributor, people are emotional beings, not only do we thrive in nature's beauty, but we thrive when we are living life and all it´s aspects the way we enjoy it. And very few honestly enjoy working even 8 hours per day.
To make over working worse, things such as love, sex and fulfilling and romantic relations also go out the door when you work more than you live, or when you live a life that really is not what you would enjoy actually living.
Sexless lives that lack both relationship and passion and romance are thus, as expected other common aspects of modern day life in Japan. Sex and passion do not only suffer due to people working too much, but Japan is not a society where sexual fulfillment, love, pleasure, and passion thrive as openly and commonly between adults as they are thought of as essential parts of a fulfilling life in developed western nations. For instance, did you know that more than 80% in Japan have never uttered the phrase "I love you" to another adult.
A volatile economy and few workers/people rights in life and society to demand a fulfilling life all contribute for the world leading (amongst developed nations) suicide rate of Japan. Add to that how densely populated life is in cities like Tokyo and how little wildlife and nature there is in your daily life on the streets of such cities.
Small apartments, little nature, high paced life on concrete roads and millions of people inside your personal space 24/7.
All that combined is why some choose to visit Mt. Fuji and it´s whispering sea of trees to bite hard into that fresh apple that is life without that artificial dome that is modern-day Japanese life.
Most visitors of course go there to rejuvenate in the silence and peace of mind of that mountain, to hike and enjoy the grandness of the area, to sip upon life´s fruits.
While others sadly go there to simply never return, not intent on receiving that jolt of rekindled energy that make us all pumped for another day of life´s daily battle.
Instead they came in search for a decision, and every year up to 100 people manages to make such a logical tumble that they stay behind in the forest, they lay as empty fossilized shells with no more tomorrows scattered in the moss and roots, waiting in silence for someone to find them.

Photography by Nasa, The Blue Sky of Pluto - “Who would have expected a blue sky in the Kuiper Belt? It’s gorgeous,” said Alan Stern, New Horizons principal investigator from Southwest Research Institute (SwRI), Boulder, Colorado.
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