The sea of leaves

This is the 'infamous' forest close to Mt Fuji in the Fuji five lakes district covering a wide area of both the Shizuoka and Yamanashi prefectures. Its arboreal constitution is mainly of cedar, oak and Japanese hemlock. It is a dense and largely untouched forest region making for very hardious trekking. It is 'infamous' in the sense that it is nowadays (since the publishing of a popular novel depicting a romantic love suicide in the 1960's) associated with suicide. The local community police and fire brigade along with public associations and volunteers ogranize an annual 'sweep' of the forest, meaning that they form a human chain and comb the rugged, hostile terrain for remnants of the dead. It is also an occasion at which shinto priests perform an exorcism of the forest, driving out the evil spirits that are said to call the vulnerable to the forest. Legend has it that once you leave the lights and roads of civilization behind and penetrate deep enough into the forest there is little chance that you will return - lost forever in the sea of leaves.(photo by Ohyama Yukio all rights reserved.)