==JAPAN: KM== [Adventure]

Side by side at regular intervals, we advanced deep into Aokigahara, a sea of trees, and if someone found something, he was supposed to blow the whistle. However, it was not easy to walk through the trees nor to find new caves which we were looking for, because the ground made of lava is rugged and a new cave large enough for a man to enter is rare. While we were searching for new caves, several members whistled but what each found was not what we called a cave but a mere hole which only a few persons could enter. After a while, one of our members whistled again. He whistled loudly over and over again and we gathered in expectation of a new cave. He said, "It's not a new cave. It's a dead... dead body!" "Dead body?!" We were unable to continue speaking.
When I was a high school student, I belonged to the exploration party at the school. This club's activities are spelunking, hiking through a swamp and mountain climbing, etc. A stay in Aokigahara, the sea of trees, was the main activity in a year. There are a lot of discovered and undiscovered caves in those woods. These caves are made of the lava of Mt. Fuji and their sizes are various. We went into the forest to explore the caves and seek for new ones.
Contrary to general belief, there is a path which is narrow and rough in the woods. But if we set foot inside the trees, the thick forest spreads out and sun- light hardly reaches the earth and inside the sea of trees is dim and muggy. And it is said that a person can never get out of there again if once he loses his way. It is also said that the sea of trees is famous as a place for suicide. So, we may be able to say that the forest is a dangerous place and couldn't know what would happen to us.
We had found an unexpected thing, that is, a dead body, which had nearly turned into a skeleton. A rope which was used for the suicide hung over the bough of a tree. We were all nonplussed at the scene, but before anything else, we left the forest and informed the police. They came before long and took the corpse away.
We spent so much time on this unexpected happening, so we had to resume the search in a hurry. We changed the place and began to walk with anxiety. "Can we truly discover a new cave? We may discover bones again." Indifferent to our worries, one of our members whistled and we assembled. When we proceeded to investigate the discovered hole, the scale of the inside was unexpectedly large and it led deep into an inner part. "We did it! This is a new cave!!" At last we succeeded in accomplish- ing our purpose, that is, finding a new cave and all of us were overjoyed.
Fortunately, 30 minutes after resumption of our search we attained our aim. We began to make our return after we investigated the general state of the cave. We retraced the first half of the course with satisfaction and confidence, but even though we had walked for more than an hour, the path didn't come into view at all. When we looked back casually, already we did not know even the course which we had just taken because of the thick forest. We had a map and compass, but it is said that compasses don't work accurately in Aokigahara. Suddenly we were attacked by an inexplicable disquiet. In short, we had lost our way in that jungle.
We were at a loss what to do. "Can we ever escape from this spooky place?" Heartlessly, it was growing dark, but the lingering glow of the sunset could be seen through a small opening between the trees. "Hey! The setting sun!! That direction is West!" We managed to get out of the thicket in such a way. Today, the cave which we found is named "Saikofuuketsu No.8" and is now listed on the map.

COMMENT I read this story with a beating heart. When I was a child, I would go on adven- tures on a small scale, but this adventure was a very rare and big one. I was fascinated by this adventure. I knew the sea of trees in Aokigahara a little, but I never dreamed that my classmate had found a dead body and a new cave there. I think everybody has an adventurous spirit, but few people actually act as he did. This story awakened my curiosity and gave me the feeling to go on a wonderful adventure.

Kimihito Usui