0:00

Music.

0:38

Welcome back to another episode of Fringe Beyond Limits. I am Frank.

0:44

I am Bree. And this is Lynette.

0:48

Well guys, thanks for coming back to another silly, fun, scary, sad... Dark and twisty.

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Twisty and dark episode.

1:00

So, how have you guys been this week? I've been great.

1:04

What made you so great? great

1:07

that it's today's friday so it's great it's

1:11

always a win yeah i really wish

1:14

you guys would stop saying what day it

1:17

is because people are going to know when we record that's okay

1:20

then they're going to like when i like come over and record

1:23

with us and i'm not sure our voices will

1:26

compliment anyone else's but our own and anyway

1:31

so i thought you said doors always open policy so

1:34

it shouldn't matter yeah doors always open if you're having a bad day

1:37

a bad week bad month yeah come on over if

1:40

you're having a great day a great week great month and we want to share don't

1:42

come over no don't fucking come over i don't i don't

1:46

want to see you no no there's nothing great and

1:49

awesome about any of this so anyway

1:54

we'll let you learn that i well since we

1:57

know it's friday i'm glad the week is over so yeah long week nothing really

2:02

crazy eventful no yeah oh all right so yeah my week has been the same just work

2:09

and silliness and work my wife has been sick all week.

2:15

And it's been kind of nice i wouldn't didn't have to really put up with her

2:18

that much so So, yeah, you know, she'd come home and go to bed and leave me to my own devices.

2:27

So you were single dog dad. Single dog dad, yeah. And I am not held responsible

2:33

for anything I've done while unsupervised.

2:37

So, anyway, we have a great article this week. Oh. So I am excited.

2:43

I don't know what it is. No, you guys don't because I find it on my own and

2:47

I don't tell you guys until. Hill i was looking at brie i was like do you know i was like his eyeballs

2:51

lit up i don't know yeah that's great you guys you guys are gonna be amazingly

2:55

shocked and surprised i'm kind of scared so the title of this article is some

3:02

alien abductees have reporting having very close encounters indeed so with that

3:10

what do you guys think it's about, Them having intimate relations with aliens? Well, no. That's kind of where my head went, too.

3:18

Yeah? Yeah. All right. Well, let's dive in and find out. Oh. Yeah.

3:22

So, most abduction stories tend to follow a similar narrative,

3:26

with the abductee being brought aboard an extraterrestrial vessel and subjected

3:30

to various procedures and tests. What kind of tests do you guys think they would receive?

3:35

Probes. Like where?

3:39

Orifices. Up the booty. Yeah. Yeah, no, I love butt stuff. I actually probe myself to see.

3:45

And yeah, I kind of cosplay by myself.

3:50

I have an old ET doll and I put a probe in his hand and then guide that up my

3:54

rectum. Do you ever find anything left up there?

3:57

Well, I once found a diamond. Oh. Yeah. I mean, but that was probably.

4:01

Piece of coal first. Yeah, years of coal. You're not supposed to eat your Christmas presents. Oh, no. But it looked.

4:09

But if it turned into a diamond, is that what's in Missy's ring? A butt diamond?

4:16

I think we've just coined a new term here, guys. Butt diamond. Butt diamonds.

4:22

If you have a butt diamond, please contact Frank at fringebeyondlimits.com.

4:27

Pictures already never happened. I want pictures. I want the whole video of

4:31

it being extracted. Like panning? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That would be awesome. Like you just see like someone shitting into

4:38

a panther thing and then just, you know, you know.

4:43

Do you want the actual video then? Yeah. Oh, 100%. Start to finish.

4:47

Yes. Okay. So again, if you have a video of you making a butt diamond,

4:51

please send them to frank at frenchbeyondlimits.com.

4:54

Please send it twice to make sure I get it. Yeah.

4:57

In case it goes to your spam folder because you get so many of those.

5:00

Oh, I mean, I'm usually sending them to myself.

5:04

All right. But there also exists a much more unusual and controversial type

5:11

of abduction experience that barely ever gets mentioned.

5:15

Those in which the abductee is forced to mate with some sort of alien entity.

5:22

All right, question for you guys. Tomorrow, UFO comes, lands, and some attractive alien walks out. Are you fucking him?

5:34

Do I get dinner? Yeah. And a drink. Oh, dinner and a drink. Yeah. Maybe.

5:39

Maybe. Yeah. As long as I have some like six pack, eight pack,

5:42

16 pack abs. Holy moly. I'm good with that.

5:46

So your husband is the furthest away.

5:51

He's got like a pony keg. No. Oh, yes, he does. He's getting rid of it.

5:59

Where? He's been doing good, getting rid of it the last few weeks. Okay. No, he has not.

6:08

So, anyway, if I had an opportunity to fuck an alien, 100% I would.

6:12

And number two, would that be considered cheating? If you're on the ship, you're outside of the zip code. Oh, is that a legitimate rule?

6:22

You're out of the Earth's atmosphere. so i mean

6:26

there's rules to where you women are pro cheating

6:29

and saying oh i mean you weren't even on this fucking planet that's okay well

6:34

if you never returned back to the planet then i guess kind of well i mean no

6:38

that's a different story yeah no i mean so cheating with an alien is okay i

6:43

don't know if it's even called cheating it's like hey babe i got a great story for you.

6:49

You know what from now on i'm gonna go on benders and i'm gonna come back and

6:54

i'm like yo Yo, babe, you can't get mad. It was an alien. I fuck, I swear to God. They were from Slovakia.

6:59

Like illegal aliens don't count. Oh, no?

7:03

All right. So back to the article.

7:06

In 1957, for example, Antonio Villas Boas, a farmer from Brazil,

7:12

reported that he had been hauled aboard an alien vessel and experimented on,

7:16

something typical to most abduction experiences.

7:20

Things took a rather strange turn, however, when he was introduced to a strangely

7:25

attractive female alien with platinum blonde hair who promptly seduced and slept with him.

7:31

Quote, some of the growls that came from her at certain times nearly spoiled

7:36

everything as they gave the disagreeable impression of lying with an animal, he recalled.

7:42

What do you think those sounds sounded like? Are they manly growls?

7:47

I don't know. I'm asking you. What do you think?

7:50

What do you think? If you had to picture this, if you had to write a scene for

7:52

a movie, what do you think it would sound like? Go ahead. I want you to mimic it.

8:07

That would be a mood killer i am scared of what else comes out of your mouth,

8:15

you asked i am sorry i did all right can you top that well i was picturing more

8:21

of a banshee type of scream but i don't want to blow out the microphone no you're fine go ahead,

8:28

That was more of like a fucking Velociraptor.

8:31

I was holding her back because Missy's probably trying to sleep or something.

8:34

She's fine. But that sounded like a Velociraptor.

8:37

I'll work on my band. She's screaming. I'll get back to you.

8:40

And Frank, what was your impression? This is what I think it would sound like, right? It was something like.

8:50

What the? That was my Donald Duck impression.

8:56

So. Oh, my. like so can you imagine that

8:59

like like all right so you know we're you know we're on

9:01

different ends of the spectrum when

9:04

it comes to sex so if i'm

9:07

plowing someone and all of a sudden they're like i would

9:12

not so fast i would start laughing

9:16

i couldn't even like i think the mood would be done with after that

9:18

i couldn't i'm just saying like if you want

9:21

me to nut faster just do donald duck because that's you

9:24

know that's all that's all i get missy if you're

9:27

listening make sure you put that in notes so you

9:30

know for next time frank deterrent it's not deterrent it's just a finisher oh

9:34

it's like a finishing move you know all right back to the article oh god okay

9:40

afterwards he was dismissed as though no longer needed having served his purpose

9:45

boas remained adamant for the rest of

9:48

his life that his story was true another similar though much more terrifying okay this is not working.

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What the fuck? Sorry. It's not scrolling.

10:02

All right. So another similar, though much more terrifying case occurred in

10:05

1973 when Gabriella Vrasaki, whose car inexplicably went dead one evening in

10:12

Somerset, England, was accosted by some sort of robotic entity and lost consciousness.

10:17

When she awoke, she was strapped to a table inside a strange circular room.

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Things went from bad to worse when a peculiar, peculiar, I can't talk tonight. Peculiar. Thank you.

10:29

Male humanoid reportedly devoid. I feel like Brianna right now.

10:35

Male humanoid reportedly devoid of all emotion suddenly appeared and proceeded to rape her.

10:41

She later took a pregnancy test, but it came back negative.

10:44

According to author Nigel Watson, experiences such as these might stem from our own subconscious.

10:50

Either the aliens have been

10:52

conducting their beastly experiments for millennia or

10:56

such stories meet deep-seated socio-psychological needs

10:59

he told mail online until any

11:02

solid medical evidence is obtained or any hybrid

11:05

children turn up the latter hypothesis seems more likely so yeah that article

11:10

kind of took a nice little dive off a fucking cliff which i not being a woman

11:17

i i i I can't even imagine what that would be like being just forcibly.

11:24

Yeah, that's just horrible.

11:27

So I'm happy I was able to kind of put a nice little fun twist on this fucking episode already.

11:33

But what are we talking about tonight, guys? Talking about the suicide forest in Japan.

11:40

Suicide forest. Before we get into it, what do you guys know about the suicide

11:45

forest? forest well it's a forest yeah.

11:50

Obviously. Sorry. Basically,

11:53

it's known for people that tend to go there and commit suicide,

11:57

whether the Japanese either think it's people actually just they think it's

12:02

the best place to commit suicide or they think it's there's like some like something

12:06

spiritual or something that's dragging these people here and making them do that.

12:11

That's what, from what I remember from the documentaries and the stories I read

12:16

about it. Yeah, I hadn't heard of that theory of being drawn there.

12:21

I only know a little bit about it as people leave like strings or something. I don't know.

12:27

I don't want to go into too much detail. No, go ahead.

12:31

I just remember hearing something like people leave threads so that they can be found later.

12:36

Later yeah right so so yeah

12:40

all that is true so little disclaimer before

12:43

we jump into it the episode does

12:46

contain content regarding suicide awareness and other

12:50

material that may be difficult for some listeners listener discretion is advised

12:53

also if you guys know someone who is in crisis and needs immediate help or if

13:04

you're thinking about harming yourself or attempting suicide,

13:06

tell someone who can help right away. Call 911 or emergency services.

13:12

Go to the nearest hospital emergency room. Call or text 988 to connect with

13:16

a 988 Suicide Crisis Lifeline.

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The lifeline provides 24-hour confidential support to anyone in suicidal crisis or emotional distress.

13:26

Support is available via live chat as well.

13:30

And also if anything else we hope

13:34

that you guys stick around for as long as possible

13:37

if you guys need to you guys can reach out

13:40

to us we have emails we have social media we'd

13:44

like you to stick around so with that being said we're

13:47

going to jump in so the ayoki

13:51

kahara yokai also known

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as a suicide forest in english is a dense forest at

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the base of mount fuji in japan that is

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the leading suicide site in the country it has been associated with suicide

14:05

since at least the 1960s with around 30 people committing suicide there each

14:10

year the forest has a reputation as a home to yurei or ghosts of the dead in

14:16

japanese mythology so have you guys has ever heard,

14:21

of the U.R.A.? I've heard the term, but are they considered good? Bad?

14:27

You know, I would say bad. I would say maybe.

14:36

Spirits of unrest that guide people to their doom, you know,

14:42

or try to get them to do things like, you know, taking their life and stuff like that,

14:48

which is, it's scary as all hell.

14:53

I mean, can you imagine, I mean, what if maybe in Japanese mythology,

14:57

that was what they thought of schizophrenia,

15:02

you know, these voices in their heads telling them

15:05

to do these awful things to themselves and they

15:08

just thought they were just these misled ghosts of

15:11

the dead doing it you know what do

15:14

you guys think i really don't know much

15:17

when it comes to this side of of like of their culture and whatnot so i'm not

15:22

sure what i like what it would be considered like good evil and whatnot but

15:29

okay i don't know too much to be honest all right well as we move

15:34

on in the year 864 mount fuji

15:38

experienced a violent six-month eruption that buried

15:41

entire villages and left behind a massive field

15:44

of hardened lava over the past thousand years a tangled forest grew on that

15:48

lava field or forest floor in the shadow of a snow-capped volcano its official

15:54

name is ayokigahara but most japanese call it jukai which means sea of trees.

16:02

Ayokigahara is a popular hiking destination just a couple of hours from Tokyo

16:07

in the rural Yamanishi Prefecture, but not everybody comes here for the fresh air and sweeping views.

16:15

For decades, Ayokigahara has served as a darker kind of destination for lost

16:20

souls who see no other way out.

16:23

Ayokigahara is also known as a suicide forest. According to the Yamanishi government,

16:29

there were more than 100 suicides committed in Aokohara forest between 2013 and 2015 alone.

16:37

CNN reported the victims whose remains were found deep in the sea of trees often

16:43

travel from afar to join countless others who have ended their lives in these mist-shrouded woods.

16:50

The Japanese government no longer gives statistics on suicides in Aokohara in

16:54

an effort to deter people from coming there to do it.

16:57

So, question popped is why this place?

17:04

Than anywhere else, like what, before we keep going, what do you guys think draws people,

17:12

to this specific, and I know I think we briefly talked that there are other

17:16

forests known as suicide forests around the world, but being this one more famous than others.

17:27

Do you think there's something wrong with the land? Do you think it's energy

17:30

coming maybe maybe from volcanic activity, from tectonic plates. I don't know.

17:36

What are some of your guys' opinions?

17:41

I'm thinking it probably has to do with energy from the eruption of Mount Fuji.

17:47

Some type of energy came from that creating the spiritual element at the forest.

17:56

Sorry, I was just trying to see if it maybe falls on some sort of ley lines.

18:00

I was, I can't find something that quick while trying to talk through it, but I was just,

18:06

yeah, I mean, I have some stuff pulled up, but I'm just curious if, yeah,

18:11

if there's some sort of increased vibration or magnetic sort of draw to that

18:18

area that maybe acts as a black hole on earth, if you will, pulling in sad,

18:25

dark, lonely, depressed energy. Maybe.

18:30

That's interesting. So let's, we'll keep going here.

18:33

But how did the scenic and street forest at the base of Mount Fuji become so

18:37

intimately associated with suicide? We reached out to Lindsay Nelson, a political science professor at Meiha University

18:45

in Tokyo, who writes about Japanese horror films, including a chapter on the

18:49

suicide forest in her book, Circulating Fear, Japanese Horror, Fractured Realities, and New Media.

18:57

There are conflicting stories as to when Aokihara's association with suicide began, says Nelson.

19:03

But one of them dates back centuries to a macabre practice by certain sects of Buddhist monks.

19:10

Mount Fuji, like other mountains in Japan, is considered a sacred space,

19:14

as are the forests that surround them.

19:17

For more than a thousand years, ascetic Buddhist monks have retreated to forests

19:24

to practice extreme forms of self-denial and meditation that ended in death.

19:30

I've never understood these different practices that one would push themselves

19:39

through to the point of death.

19:42

Death like i always thought

19:44

of and you know this is also maybe my ignorance

19:47

but i've always thought of buddhist monks as wanting to

19:51

live and have a righteous life and and i

19:55

and i understand that japan has a different view on suicide and but i i just

20:01

always i don't know i just always felt as though that was just really weird

20:04

that they would have these extreme practices that usually end up leading to

20:09

death do you think someone went into meditation and just died accidentally,

20:15

and then it became a a sacred space

20:18

because of that somebody moved on and i i'm just wondering if it's like someone

20:25

like it's like extreme practices of whatever that they're doing that if they

20:31

are able to get through it and not die they i'm trying to think of like the term like they just,

20:38

become better for themselves enlightened or something exactly something like that like,

20:43

whatever it is if you end in death then you weren't meant to be enlightened or be above,

20:51

or I just can't think of the term that I'm trying to think of but not where

20:54

you're going with that yeah I think I know what you're saying.

20:58

But it just still just kind of, Confuses me. And, you know, again, maybe it's just because I just don't know

21:05

enough about Buddhism and Buddhist monks.

21:09

But going on here, according to one tradition, monks would meditate in the forest

21:14

for a thousand days. Oh, my goodness.

21:17

Subsisting. Subsisting. Subsisting. I was making sure that I was reading that right.

21:22

On nothing more than leaves and bark.

21:24

Then they would be buried alive to continue meditating in an underground crypt.

21:29

The ultimate goal was to transform the body, while still alive,

21:33

into a Soku Shintibutsu, a type of mummy.

21:38

The remains of 18 of these self-mummified monks are still displayed in parts

21:43

of Japan, although scientists believe they actually were mummified after their deaths.

21:48

That's just strange to me. Like, like, again, maybe we just need to do like,

21:53

like a whole deep dive into Buddhism

21:56

and, you know, maybe that'd be enlightening to this in the future.

22:01

But it just, I just don't understand, like, like what is there to gain even spiritually, you know?

22:09

I mean, the only thing I can really come close to is that suffering,

22:14

like life is meant to suffer. And, you know, by doing this, I mean, they are definitely suffering and going

22:21

through this thousand days of self-mummification.

22:25

They're just so weird. I don't know how they do it. I've been fascinated by the concept, but I agree.

22:32

Maybe we should do a little more education on Buddhist practices and understanding

22:39

where that comes from. Yeah. It doesn't sound enjoyable. No, is the Dalai Lama a Buddhist monk,

22:47

or is that a different sect altogether?

22:52

That's a good question. I think it is. I think he is, I think that is the Buddhist religion.

22:58

And that's fascinating in itself, the Dalai Lama.

23:02

I'm just getting confirmation now that it is by the power of Google.

23:08

From our resident Googler. Resident Googler. They have blessed this podcast with righteous.

23:15

But there's, so, do you think there's a Google religion?

23:19

Oh, there has to be. There's the Spaghetti Monster religion.

23:22

What? You've never heard of this? Spaghetti Monster?

23:26

Yeah, there is. It's the Roz. Yeah, Google it, you guys.

23:29

I mean, I'm surprised you guys haven't ever heard of this. Now we're going to

23:32

have to go on our little, yeah, it's like the.

23:35

You type in spaghetti and the second one that pops up is, First one is religion.

23:40

Second one is monster. Yeah. I think my computer's just listening to you. They are always listening.

23:47

No, there's a spaghetti monster religion. Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster. Yeah.

23:55

Pastafarianism. Yes. What? Pasta. Like Rastafarian?

23:58

Yeah. I like the picture of the flying spaghetti monsters. Yeah.

24:03

We'll post that. We'll post that for sure.

24:07

But yeah. Yeah, I mean, so that was created to kind of...

24:12

Point out the ridiculousness of just religions in general so

24:15

it's a real religion they were able to they created a

24:18

whole belief system and rules and dogma

24:21

behind the flying spaghetti monster and their

24:24

symbol is a little crab pasta crab

24:27

then what i think it's supposed to look like they're

24:31

just flying spaghetti monster but it's

24:34

a crap they have

24:37

a website i know they have they i'm hoping

24:40

they have a church nearby because i would love they do parades oh

24:44

do you think do you think

24:47

they just kind of just like throw spaghetti and meatballs at people in

24:50

the parade we might have to post this picture because there's just a lot going

24:54

on there that's 100 done because i am that is amazing so it's a guy driving

25:02

with a with i can't you guys are gonna You guys are going to have to go to our

25:08

socials. I can't even fucking describe that. That's amazing. All right.

25:12

Can we add that to one of our religion conversations?

25:16

Yeah. Yeah, we can definitely do it. Pasta farianism. Yeah.

25:20

This will be in our future episodes, so stay tuned. Yeah.

25:24

Pasta farianism. If you are part of the Spaghetti Monster Pasta religion,

25:28

please email me at frank at fringebeyondlimits.com. I'd love to hear from you

25:33

and kind of go into what your daily rituals and prayers are, you know.

25:39

So, all right, back on topic with the suicide forms. Oh, my goodness.

25:44

All right. So perhaps this ancient form of ritual suicide provided a model for

25:48

Japanese people looking to escape their modern lives by disappearing into the woods.

25:52

Or perhaps there's a more direct connection between Aoyogahara and suicide.

25:58

As the tales go, folks at various points in ancient and medieval Japan practice

26:03

Ubusuti, the act of depositing an elderly, burdensome family member at some

26:09

remote place and leaving them to die.

26:12

Aokohara is one such location. As the New Zealand Herald describes, I just lost my place.

26:20

Described, this might have happened because the elderly person was ill or too

26:24

infirm to contribute to a household. Such a case happened as recently as 2011.

26:31

As history and policy states, an elderly family member may have voluntarily

26:36

offered to die in this way, especially in times of famine or drought.

26:40

Such practices have been a part of Japanese folklore for centuries and depicted

26:44

in modern media as early as the 1925 black and white short film,

26:49

Keioki Senga, Ubasuti Yama, per IMDb.

26:53

So is this more of, hey, I know I'm a burden and God hasn't taken me yet.

27:02

So instead of me bringing down the rest of the family, I'm going to sacrifice

27:06

myself for the better of my family?

27:10

I mean, I guess that's a good place to do it. It's not at home where your family

27:15

is going to find you. I don't know.

27:17

It's kind of morose to think, but I think that's just also Western kind of culture

27:22

of not thinking of an honorable death as choosing to make that decision for yourself.

27:28

Yeah it just again like i you know

27:31

i'm starting to understand a little bit as to why but it's just like i don't

27:38

know it's just so i mean i guess what's the difference you know when you're

27:42

old and you're a burden and you can't really do anything to to assist in any capacity capacity,

27:51

and then just going off and killing yourself, other than jumping in front of

27:58

a bullet for a family member, or jumping on a grenade as a soldier,

28:02

you know, you're sacrificing yourself for the better of everyone else.

28:06

I mean, I guess I kind of get that. That's also been a practice for thousands of years in lots of different cultures.

28:13

Like, I'm pretty sure there was Nordic cultures who would throw themselves off

28:19

of a cliff, or, you know, just go leave the family because their clan,

28:25

their tribe, their commune, I don't know, whatever classification of their family,

28:30

they just can't contribute. And they're taking up resources from eating and drinking and housing and stuff.

28:37

So it's just... Yeah, it's just still weird to me. Like you're voluntarily...

28:44

I mean, I guess it's because you're... You know, I guess...

28:50

Action of jumping in front of a bullet or diving onto a grenade is a split second

28:55

decision that's only going to last for that one second, I guess.

28:58

When you're making this kind of decision, this is thought out and intentful.

29:03

And then once you leave your family, you still have to go ahead and complete the action.

29:11

And so I guess that's the part where is really confusing to me,

29:15

you know because i mean i get it you know sniper you

29:19

know or grenade you know what yeah i it

29:22

just it's a reaction that's what you're trained to do and but

29:25

this is this takes it to a brand new level you know all right so needless to

29:30

say for reasons such as these ayokahara is a hotbed for stories of yoroi tormented

29:37

spirit to the dead they permeate the forest and give it its eerie unsettling feeling.

29:43

They seek to lure visitors off trails and to their deaths, whether they entered

29:47

the forest intending to commit suicide or not.

29:51

So you might just be going for a hike and people have had encounters where they

29:57

get lost and that's what they're saying there? Yeah, I guess. I guess.

30:03

But they didn't just get lost by accident, that they were lured.

30:06

Right. Which is very dialogical.

30:10

But again, that, you know, to me that speaks more of a mental health crisis.

30:15

Like, you know, I'm schizophrenic. I'm having, you know, these delusions,

30:21

these voices in my head that usually doesn't lead to it.

30:27

But now that I'm in this space by myself and it's eerie and freaky.

30:32

Because, I mean, they say that once you're in there, it's a cloud of trees.

30:37

Like, there's no sunlight breaks through at all. So, imagine, like, how.

30:41

So, you kind of start going mentally crazy in some sort of way.

30:45

It's like being trapped in, like you said, like a room with no windows for a period of time.

30:50

You start going crazy because you don't know what's going on.

30:53

Yeah. Like you said, there's no light. You don't see the outside. Right.

30:58

And this tree is palm tree to palm tree. Everything starts looking the same.

31:01

You start some kind of going psychotic yeah i mean it's very possible so i mean,

31:07

so is it really a ghost or a spirit that's luring you in or is it just you being

31:16

disoriented and then just going mad i mean our minds are such delicate things

31:23

you know there's been plenty of

31:26

experiments that show that within a flip of a switch, we go from sane to insane.

31:35

So I don't know. It's just really weird.

31:38

Isn't there like a type of, maybe I'm thinking of a movie or something,

31:42

but isn't there a type of ghost that just enjoys collecting souls?

31:46

Maybe it's not a ghost. Maybe it's a demon. I mean, no, it's not a demon. It's semen. They like to collect semen.

31:55

I want to say like the sailors, like C-E-A. Sure.

31:59

Sure. Yeah. We'll go with that. All right. All right.

32:02

So, but yeah, I think there's a lot of different lures that have that kind of

32:09

story where there's a spirit that just is a soul collector, you know?

32:14

Yeah. Yeah, so possibly. Currently, the Japanese government has implemented a measure meant to curb the

32:21

number of suicides in Aokigahara.

32:23

Aside from the aforementioned, there's pleading signs at the forest entryway.

32:28

Officials have blocked off certain areas and raise guardrails on bridges to

32:32

make it more difficult to jump off. As Japan Inside continues, volunteers searching for bodies tie tape to trees to mark their path.

32:42

Sometimes visitors do the same, especially if they're not sure if they want

32:45

to end their life and need it to easily backtrack out of the forest.

32:51

Camping is frowned on and likely to grab the attention of park officials because

32:55

it's believed that people considering suicide often stay overnight to mull it over.

33:00

And yes, there are dedicated cleanup teams that consistently prowl Aokohara

33:04

and remove bodies, as suicidecleanup.com says.

33:09

But even amidst such grim and horrific facts, there's hope.

33:13

77-year-old Yukio Shij may have found the best answer to saving the lives of

33:19

those who venture into Aokohara with suicidal intentions.

33:22

An answer so simple and human that it might go unconsidered.

33:29

As the Union of Catholic Asian News says, Sheej is a former police officer and

33:35

head of suicide prevention NGO. He literally wanders Ayokahara saying hello to people.

33:42

That's it. The tiny gesture of reaching out, perhaps following up with some

33:47

basic conversation, has been enough for him to prevent the suicides of 721 people

33:52

as of February 3rd, 2022.

33:55

Such a lesson is, and basic kindness bears nothing by everyone. So that brings a lot of creed

34:03

to people just saying, hello and a smile walking down the street goes a long way.

34:07

We just never know what kind of day that person walking by is having.

34:12

And that might be just what they need to pull them out.

34:16

Yeah, or like the signs that people will have, say free hugs,

34:21

all those dogs that have this sign that says free hugs on there.

34:23

Just seeing it just makes, put that smile on your face.

34:26

It's kind of hard not to when you see a dog that says free hugs.

34:31

I agree. I mean, there's a very small population out there that doesn't like dogs.

34:36

I mean, and those people, I don't even. They can bugger off.

34:40

Bugger off? Mm-hmm. I think she's English.

34:43

That's my persona today. Your persona's English? Cheerio.

34:50

I swear to God. If you don't like dogs, I don't want to be your friend.

34:54

I get it. But they can bugger off. They can bugger off.

34:58

With a cheerio cheerio book

35:01

it off you bastards i'm a banshee you're

35:04

you're you're banned all right oh yeah is that

35:08

your jiminy christmas jesus christ

35:11

you know what i think i might go to the

35:14

iokahara right now just to get away from

35:17

you too all right take pictures would you

35:21

try and camp there i you know what i so i

35:25

i am not a camper i i'm not i'm not i i don't like outside sleeping i don't

35:33

like outside i love outside but you know for a certain amount of time like i'll

35:38

go fishing i love fishing i'll go on a nice little hike with the dogs you know

35:43

but when it comes to sleeping i would like a shelter around me a mattress tent cot that none of that none

35:51

of that is that is not i didn't hear at first i heard something else yes i heard

35:57

i mean yeah i mean i do i do need a good cock to fall asleep but as long as

36:02

it sounds like donald duck. So because you may want to go fast in case you have to do stuff you know well

36:10

i mean yeah i mean You kind of have to do fast because, you know, when I'm doing it.

36:15

It's already fast, apparently. I'm on a schedule. Okay. I have shit to do besides you.

36:22

So. Really? Yeah. So. Someone's kind enough to give you their time.

36:26

You should be. Yeah. I'm trying.

36:29

No. No. No. I am. I am on a schedule. If you can't keep up with my schedule, that's on you.

36:37

All right i've made other people finish maybe you're broken i don't know,

36:41

at least i've probably been lied to that's probably what it is very certain

36:47

listen you know we took a poll oh did you yeah can i can i survey said you know

36:56

what's funny is that is that when i finish that's what i hear.

37:11

So all right so back to i

37:14

mean you can sit outside that forest and just tell

37:17

jokes all day or just flash

37:20

people that would cheer them up no that might scare them no that

37:23

would cheer sure i'm up like holy shit i have something to live for

37:26

yeah exactly that is true i thought

37:29

i was the smallest no gotcha you know

37:33

but if i did that i i guess that the uh what you want

37:36

to call it the rangers would be like listen dude you're okay so oh god all right

37:44

so let's see so the next thing uh the complete suicide manual is exactly what

37:49

it sounds like written by waturo surumi and published in Japanese-only in 1993.

37:56

This 198-page book is a matter-of-fact guide to ending one's life.

38:01

Sorumi discusses the merits and drawbacks of every form of suicide,

38:07

hanging, jumping, carbon monoxide, sleeping pills, etc., and how to ensure a successful outcome.

38:14

Obviously, the book is very controversial, says Nelson, and it includes a section

38:17

on Ayogahara Forest, describing it as the perfect place to die.

38:23

The suicide manual paints a romantic picture of Aokohara forest as an ideal

38:27

place to simply disappear. No loved one has to discover your body. You just go on a trip and never come home.

38:36

Tsurumi included detailed instructions about which bus route to take and how

38:40

to avoid drawing suspicion from nosy park workers.

38:44

They say that a lot of bodies have been found with copies of the manual, says Nelson.

38:49

The other thing that cemented the forest's reputation outside of Japan was a

38:53

video by a YouTube named Logan Paul, which showed a body hanging from a tree

38:59

in the forest and was widely condemned for its insensitivity.

39:03

Most of the suicides in the forest are by hanging.

39:08

Now, go ahead, sorry. How did a book like that get published in the first place?

39:12

Well, I mean, you know, it's freedom of press, you know. Do they have freedom of press in Japan?

39:17

Yeah, I think so. So I think after World War II, after the empire kind of fell and they kind of.

39:24

Re-grew and re-did its laws and whatnot. I mean, I don't know.

39:30

I'm not political. That just seems insane. I mean, obviously we covered,

39:36

they have a different perspective on this, but that just seems ridiculous.

39:41

I agree. But at the same time, I personally, I believe in,

39:50

in in a freedom of press and speech and as long as it's not inciting violence which this is,

40:01

it's borderline i agree but i i you know at the same time i don't agree,

40:09

how do you know someone can't twist that around use that book and go commit

40:13

murder It's kind of like 100% but I mean at the same time you can google that

40:19

too, but We also have that show right now on Netflix is how to be a cult leader,

40:25

Like what's it's kind of like the same thing so people can take that out of

40:28

context and be like oh Netflix is saying that I can become a cult leader and

40:32

he's what I need to do I do have these characteristics. Listen one of the scariest times in my life was when I used to I.

40:40

Pop up on my wife and be like oh what are you watching and she's like snapped and

40:43

i sat down and i watched an episode of snapped once

40:46

they tell you step by step how

40:50

to do a murder and then they would say she would have gotten away if only she

40:55

would have and i'm like are you fucking kidding me i'm like i mean everybody

40:59

has that thought in the back of their head when they're watching you know but

41:03

this show is telling you exactly what they did and why they got caught oh so if i don't do A,

41:08

I'll be fine. I can murder every fucking body.

41:11

You watch enough episodes, you string do's and don'ts together.

41:15

My goodness. I've never seen it. The show. They also don't watch TV.

41:19

JT, if she starts watching the show, I would be very, very cautious. Get a lawyer.

41:27

Just run, man. My husband told everybody if anything happens,

41:31

because I tend to watch a lot of those shows, too.

41:33

When I first met JT, he had a cooler that you

41:36

can fit like three people in there so i maybe he

41:39

watches he probably watches it because i remember telling my

41:42

sister when we were dating i was like if i go

41:45

missing look in the dead body cooler because i'm

41:48

pretty sure i'm gonna be in his closet in the cooler it's as big as this table

41:53

so let me get this straight when you were dating you had these thoughts and

41:57

you just figured let me blow them anyway i keep my family heads up where am

42:03

i being no yeah but you know what instead of being like Like, bye,

42:06

sucka. You're like, hi, sucka.

42:09

He might be a serial killer, but you know what?

42:13

Maybe if I blow him enough, he won't kill me. No, that's great.

42:15

That's great fucking philosophy. It's genius. No, it's not. Don't murder the mouth that blows you.

42:23

Don't stop blowing is really...

42:27

Jesus Christ. Where have I gone wrong in your guys' teachings?

42:32

So anyway, can we talk more about blowjobs? Thank you.

42:37

All right, so how suicide is viewed in Japan. So, I mean, I guess this is really

42:41

where we kind of want to dive into.

42:44

It says, Westerners have a skewed perception of suicide in Japan.

42:47

They tend to think of stoic samurai performing ritual seppuku to save their

42:53

honor or of World War II kamikaze pilots crashing their planes into enemy ships.

42:58

While there isn't a religious stigma around suicide as there are in Judeo-Christian

43:04

culture like the United States, says Nelson,

43:07

suicide in Japan is still treated as a tragedy and people are still horrified

43:12

by suicides in the Yokohara. Still, Japan has one of the highest suicide rates in the world.

43:18

Suicides rose sharply in 1998 with more than 32,000 deaths that year from suicide.

43:25

The skyrocketing suicide rates of the 90s were blamed on the country's economic

43:30

woes and peaked in 2003 with 34,427 deaths attributed to suicide.

43:37

Since then, says Nelson, suicide rates have tended to rise and fall in step

43:42

with the economy. For a long time, Japanese society viewed suicide as a personal

43:47

problem, not a public health issue, but that's changed.

43:50

The Japanese government has invested in public service messaging about suicide

43:55

prevention and crisis hotlines. The Yamanishi Prefecture has trained employees and volunteers to spot the signs

44:03

of troubled visitors in Aokohara, And there are secretly,

44:07

I'm sorry, security cameras and prominent messages posted in the entrance to the park.

44:13

The signs read in Japanese, your life is a precious gift from your parents.

44:17

Please think about your parents, siblings, and children.

44:20

Don't keep it to yourself. Talk about your troubles.

44:25

So, I mean, I do agree with that, is that a lot of our stigma over suicide comes

44:32

from our religious background. That's where it's kind of preached on the most.

44:37

You know, that it is a, I mean, we're all raised Christian here, right?

44:41

Yeah. Yeah, so that it is a mortal sin and you can never repent against it and

44:48

it's immediate trip down south, right?

44:53

But then taking a look at it as though more of a, what did they say?

44:58

Of a personal problem and a public health issue is kind of interesting because

45:02

they're putting it out of a, social issue into a personal issue like their

45:09

finances which is which makes sense because as the economy

45:12

dips and rises you see

45:16

that suicide rate do the same right and i'm wondering what covid did to everybody

45:21

that's just concerning oh i'm sure it was i'm sure they were probably on a trend

45:28

to lesser suicides and then with covid it probably spiked yeah there's probably a 2020

45:34

-2021 spike there but you know i'm kind of thinking maybe some west or maybe there's some,

45:40

christian catholic priests who are becoming more open

45:45

because i i lost an uncle to suicide and i just remember going to the priest

45:52

and just sobbing and being pissed off and you know talking about it and i was

45:57

like well you told me he's going to hell and i'm never gonna you know he's He's damned forever.

46:02

And the priest pulled me aside and was like, no.

46:08

Did he do that matter of fact? I just looked at you with a smirk.

46:11

He was genuinely kind and considerate, but he was just like, no, trust me.

46:18

It was just interesting that I'd never heard a priest be like, so matter of fact.

46:23

And I don't know, maybe it was just because I was a hot mess,

46:26

so I'm not really sure. but it seems quite progressive in the Catholic faith

46:31

to take a stance like that.

46:34

And it's the same priest that I talked to about doing ghost hunting and stuff,

46:38

and he didn't think I was communing with the devil or anything either.

46:41

So maybe it was just a good priest. I don't know. Yeah, I mean...

46:46

The one thing I don't like about certain belief systems is that it's all up

46:56

to the interpretation of the person preaching it.

47:00

So I feel it's almost like a place of brainwashing.

47:05

If I have a congregation that truly believes that I am the voice of God and

47:12

only I can interpret these teachings

47:17

a certain way or the way that they're supposed to be interpreted,

47:20

then I can connect any dots I want to have a following praise me like a God.

47:27

I think you're using this as your platform. form if you

47:31

need a good brainwashing please email

47:35

me at frank at fringe beyond limits.com

47:39

with a photo of a bikini picture just like hanging on a hanger yes okay bikini

47:52

on your dog yeah if you could put a bikini on your dog i would love to see those pictures.

47:58

That would make me smile.

48:03

Again, I wanted to apologize for

48:06

kind of laughing at making these silly jokes, but this is such deep and.

48:14

Just sad material that i you know we kind of

48:17

have to bring a little bit of lightheartedness to it i'm not you know i know

48:21

you just said that you've been affected i've lost yeah people then i would like

48:25

to count me as well yeah me as well what about you brie have you ever had a

48:30

loss due to a suicide yeah yeah yeah so i i think for the majority i think it's.

48:37

People don't like to admit it or talk about it

48:40

and i understand that but i think one of the best ways to

48:43

at least start the healing process is to kind

48:46

of talk about it and get it out there i mean it's not definitely not something

48:49

for around the water cooler at work right you know but i mean i think it's healthy

48:53

to to talk about that stuff and if i can just backtrack here a little bit here

48:58

the whole logan paul thing fuck you i mean what kind of asshole goes and youtubes,

49:05

the suicide forest and then puts it up for his own fucking personal gain i mean that's,

49:11

That's pretty, yeah. Yeah, I remember when that happened.

49:15

Oh, you, yeah? Yeah, I'd never followed the guy, but it was like such big news.

49:20

And I was just, so I didn't even go back to watch the video because I didn't

49:25

want to give him any extra views or anything. But like, it was just, it's just fucking disgusting. I go, that's someone's person.

49:31

That's someone's child, someone's uncle, you know? And that's so fucking disrespectful.

49:37

So I kind of hope. Did he go out there just looking for that?

49:40

Well, they went out there, if I remember the story correctly.

49:43

In fact, he still posted it. Sorry, keep going. No, like him and his group of friends went there.

49:49

I think it was more behind the whole haunting of the forest,

49:53

the reason they went there. But you know what you're going to potentially run across, and with as many.

49:59

Suicides that happened in that forest more times than not you probably are

50:02

going to run across something if you go deep enough right you know

50:05

and then you had a choice after the fact to

50:09

post it or not to post it and for your

50:11

greedy fucking views bullshit you

50:15

know fuck you dude you know i i you

50:18

know i i i would get canceled

50:22

no oh is this before cancel culture yeah

50:25

no all right no i mean isn't

50:28

he like like boxing now or some shit like isn't he up as wrestling and yeah

50:32

yeah yeah you know he's a fucking piece of garbage anyway mullet does he have

50:38

a mullet oh that's awesome how would you waste your 20s on wearing a mullet

50:43

i don't get it what yes he's only 29,

50:48

he's born in 1995 oh fuck and he has a mullet 1995 you know how old i was in 1995.

50:57

You were probably drinking in bars. I was. That's ridiculous.

51:01

And I wasn't even 21 yet. No, that's what I'm saying.

51:03

Allegedly. Allegedly. Can't prove it. There's no photographic evidence from

51:07

back then. Oh, it's so awesome. Of the dark ages. It was. I loved every... Dude, I'm going to tell you something.

51:13

Not only would I be canceled, I would be buried somewhere. Probably. Oh, fuck.

51:18

All right. So, yeah. So, we don't have too much more here.

51:20

So nelson visited iokahara forest a

51:23

few years ago while researching her book on japanese horror

51:26

movies which frequently used this suicide forest as a dark and foreboding setting

51:31

most recent example is the 2021 horror film suicide forest village from the

51:37

makers of the grudge nelson had also seen plenty of youtube videos that depicted

51:42

iokahara as a haunted forest full of abandoned possessions,

51:46

and dead bodies behind every tree.

51:48

It was just beautiful, says Nelson. When you read about Aokohari in English-language

51:53

blogs or media, they play up how creepy it is, abandoned cars,

51:58

and warning signs, etc., but it's just really a scenic hiking spot.

52:02

Indeed, the forest has several hiking and walking trails as well as two deep

52:07

lava caves, the Wind Cave and the Ice Cave, that visitors like to explore.

52:13

Yeah so another notorious destination

52:16

for suicides in japan is the tojinbo cliffs towering seaside cliff walls where

52:23

countless people have leapt to their death 2017 there was a sudden drop in suicides

52:28

at the cliffs which some credited to the popularity of pokemon go What?

52:34

So, I have people that I know that play Pokemon Go. I love Pokemon Go.

52:41

Oh, so go ahead. I haven't played it in like three years, but...

52:44

But you have a better understanding than I do, so please explain what that is. So, basically...

52:50

Have like the it's an app on your phone that you can get and

52:53

you pick what team you're on red blue yellow

52:56

and then you go around and you like certain like

53:00

areas let's say like a park that's well known will be considered

53:03

like a pokemon area you put your phone up you can see the little character on

53:07

there with your phone and then you try to capture them and then you can also

53:12

battle other people it's pretty cool so so it's kind of like an ar game yeah

53:18

right augmented reality yes with With your phone. With your phone. So how do you go about capturing?

53:24

Well, once you see one, you click on it, click on the Pokemon,

53:29

and then you can basically battle the Pokemon with your own Pokemon to try to capture it.

53:34

So once you collect them, they're part of your posse, and then you can use your

53:39

posse to get more gang members.

53:41

And you can do battles with other people, and it's pretty fun.

53:46

So it feels like you're actually in the cartoon Pokemon and doing everything

53:51

that the anime does. Here's the crazy thing.

53:54

So when I was in Australia, they had different Pokemon in Australia than they did here in the U.S.

54:00

A lot of people, when they go travel, they'll play because you'll get different

54:03

everywhere you go, which I think is pretty cool.

54:07

So does this game give folks a reason to live?

54:11

Maybe not a reason to live. Weren't people like accidentally walking into traffic

54:14

and stuff like that because they were chasing Pokemon? People were potentially

54:18

almost getting shot by walking in someone's backyard at fucking 11 o'clock at

54:22

night. Oh, jeez. You know? So, yeah. So, it says that there's a sudden drop due to the population. So...

54:31

Maybe the little critters, the little guys gave. Listen, I'm happy that it dropped

54:35

100%, but at the same time, it's a little dark humorous amusing that Pokemon

54:43

goes, you know what? I'm going to play it. You're not even saying it right.

54:46

What? Pokemon. Yeah, it's Pokemon. Not Pokemon.

54:51

It's M-O-N. Is it not like the Ho Chi Minh Trail? No. Oh. I thought you were

54:55

just getting excited to say poke some men. I don't know. Well, yes.

54:59

That's what I thought the game was all about. you poke some men and go

55:02

i mean i mean that i think

55:05

you have your own app oh i've had it for a while so

55:10

can we go poke some men now okay wow you you have fun with it so okay so let

55:16

me get this straight then so lynette is pro pegging and brianna is anti-pegging

55:22

i never said i was anti it just you you didn't want to you guys go have fun

55:26

yeah exactly you didn't you know want to jump

55:29

in on this so i mean i would think you'd

55:32

be pro pegging i'd just be very picky and who the pegging your husband unless

55:38

he's my husband she has to peg him yeah so so if so if you go home tonight and

55:44

and and he goes brie goes here have a seat i want to talk to you about something,

55:50

i've been thinking that i you know i just shoved my finger up my ass a couple

55:56

times but i really That really isn't doing the trick.

55:59

I don't think I'm getting deep enough. I have these stubby fingers.

56:03

I really want to know what it feels like to be just fully taken.

56:09

I bought you this strap-on. I want you to peg me.

56:17

I can't. And I want you... I don't want you to hold back.

56:22

I want you just to ferociously give it to me. just like.

56:29

And this would make me almost as happy as I was on my wedding day. What would you say?

56:37

First, I would start laughing because I wouldn't be able to take him seriously.

56:41

Second, I would be like, hell no, because I ain't getting near that ass with

56:44

things that come out of it. Hell no. Yeah, but this time you'll know what will be coming out of it.

56:50

Nah, I still don't want to get near it. The 12-inch strap-on he bought you to

56:53

wear. I still don't want to get near it. All right so would you judge him if he

56:59

bought like a black strap on over a white one

57:02

i think at first probably yeah yeah

57:05

because how do you not judge someone with a strap on well i'm just saying the

57:09

color of it like oh the color yeah like like like like instead like like no

57:13

like would there would be there be a different thought about it if he bought

57:16

a black one or if he bought a white one no no it would just still be the same

57:20

dude what the fuck are you talking about pretty Pretty much, yeah.

57:23

The color was like pink and glittery versus like... Rainbow?

57:27

Yeah. I mean, do they make those? I have no idea. Probably.

57:32

The world is your oyster when it comes to that kind of thing.

57:35

Is it? Yeah. You can even get it on Amazon or Walgreens.com.

57:38

You can get a dildo on Walgreens.com? Mm-hmm. I mean, obviously, you've looked. Yeah. I mean. Because somebody told me. I was like, no way.

57:45

I'm sure somebody told you. Somebody, yeah. Yeah. Just because I have,

57:49

like, auto refill orders. Yeah, right.

57:53

Is it like a one-time use kind of thing?

57:56

They wear out. Do they? I don't know. You guys would.

58:01

I've seen your guys' husbands. I'm not the one getting bagged.

58:04

Well, I mean, you could also use it on yourself, I guess.

58:08

You just have to, like, Clorox bleach that motherfucker. the fucker tied

58:11

to a post yeah they

58:14

had they had ones that suction cup to the wall or just the regular wall yeah

58:20

yeah this is this is great i love this i don't know how we got here me neither

58:25

i don't either i'm like i actually was like wait a minute we're still like recording

58:30

this no we're not filming and i just i just i caught myself before i finished So,

58:34

no joke, nobody wants to see me.

58:38

But people have been clamoring to see both of you.

58:42

Just a reaction cam. Yeah, they want to see our reactions. Yeah, no.

58:46

So, I really think that you guys should probably do like a bikini shoot and put it out there.

58:53

Put a bikini on my dogs. I will put a bikini on Cyclone. Okay.

58:57

Let's do that and we'll put that up on our socials. Okay. And I will name them Lynette and Brianna.

59:04

My two black wieners. I have two. I can't discriminate. I just have one big one.

59:11

Lies. No, my 23andMe came back and said that I am 30. They lumped this category together.

59:19

So they said I'm 30% North African slash Western Asian.

59:25

Region so that makes me 30 percent non-white and that's usually in the crotchal

59:34

reason region crotchal yeah i feel like you've been telling everyone the opposite.

59:40

What's the opposite? The crotchal? The armpit? The ass region?

59:44

Oh, yeah, yeah. The ass crack? The antithesis?

59:49

All right. All right. We've totally gone off the fucking rails now.

59:54

All right. Well, again, guys, thank you for listening. I hope you enjoyed our

1:00:00

venture down the suicide forest as much as we did.

1:00:04

If you guys want to get in contact with us, we have Facebook.

1:00:08

We have Instagram. Just search for Fringe Beyond Limits.

1:00:12

Post on there, comment. You can email us.

1:00:17

I'm frank at fringebeyondlimits.com.

1:00:21

I'm Brianna at fringebeyondlimits.com. And I'm Lynette at fringebeyondlimits.com.

1:00:27

And if you have a fantasy of being pegged, please email me. I'd love to hear it.

1:00:32

Or any other kind of fantasies. I would like pictures of what you look like as well.

1:00:37

Maybe some dick pics. That'd be great. like dick

1:00:40

cheney dick cheney is one of them yep dick van dyke dick van dude dick van you

1:00:46

know he has to have like a hog on him he's like 98 years old and so like dancing

1:00:52

oh yeah i mean that's awesome yeah that just means he's got he's still fucking

1:00:57

he's laying pipe left and right,

1:01:00

so i forgot would you guys fucking alien yeah yeah okay well if you would fucking

1:01:07

alien please please let me know, right? Frank at fringibeyondlimits.com.

1:01:11

Thank you again for listening, guys. Review us. We would love to get that first review. I will read it on air.

1:01:19

Is it on air or, I mean, what's the term for a podcast?

1:01:23

On the web? On pod. On pod.

1:01:27

We'll make up the term, on pod. On pod. Yeah, I'll read it. I'll give you guys a shout out.

1:01:32

So, yeah, thank you very much. I hope you guys have a great time. Love you guys. Love you.

1:01:41

Music.