Aokigahara Forest is known for two things in Japan: breathtaking views of Mount Fuji and suicides. Also called the Sea of Trees, this destination for the desperate is a place where the suicidal disappear, often never to be found in the dense forest.

The area is home to the highest number of suicides in the entire country.

Japan's suicide rate, already one of the world's highest, has increased with the recent economic downturn.

There were 2,645 suicides recorded in January 2009, a 15 percent increase from the 2,305 for January 2008, according to the Japanese government.

The Japanese government plans to improve suicide awareness in schools and workplaces.

Yoshida and his fellow volunteer, Norio Sawaguchi, posted signs in Aokigahara Forest urging suicidal visitors to call their organization, a credit counseling service. Both men say Japanese society too often turns a cold shoulder to the unemployed and bankrupt, and breeds a culture where suicide is still seen as an honorable option.

Local authorities, saying they are the last resort to stop people from killing themselves in the forest, have posted security cameras at the entrances of the forest.

The goal, said Imasa Watanabe of the Yamanashi Prefectural Government is to track the people who walk into the forest.

"Especially in March, the end of the fiscal year, more suicidal people will come here because of the bad economy," he said. "It's my dream to stop suicides in this forest, but to be honest, it would be difficult to prevent all the cases here."

Suicide forest - Japan

Roll out of bed and up to your computer. There, that’s your commute. Sound good to you?

1. Web Software Engineer
Designing and building computer applications can be done entirely from home with web access and a fast workstation. Many software companies operate entirely through telecommuting, which saves on office overhead and expands their employee pool globally.

2. Public Relations Specialist
Most public relations duties are handled primarily over the phone and through email. Writing press releases and managing media contacts can easily be done from home. Some PR firms allow associates to telecommute, or you can open your own freelance PR business in your home.

3. Sales Executive
Companies are always looking for sales people to make cold calls and generate new sales leads. Some training is usually provided.

4. Computer Systems Analyst
Designing and maintaining office computer systems can be done remotely using virtual private network (VPN) and virtual desktops. Outsourcing IT to home-based specialists is gaining popularity.

5. Database Manager
All you need to maintain a database is a computer and an Internet connection. Database managers can be salaried employees or work as freelancers.

6. Web Design Pro
Designing and building web sites from home has been done since the advent of the Internet. A web designer with a solid portfolio can work as a freelancer or contract with a web design firm.

7. Graphic Designer
Graphic designers use a combination of visual creativity and computer publishing tools to provide both print and online communication solutions. These can be staff or freelance positions.

8. Paralegal (Legal Assistant)
Paralegals assist law firms by researching cases and delivering other legal services. Telecommuting paralegals are becoming more popular as they provide cost savings for firms. Demand for paralegals is expected to grow faster than average over the next five years.

9. Medical Transcriptionist and Medical Claims Processor
Two very different jobs, both transcriptionists and claims processors require specialized training. Transcriptionists convert dictated material into text form. Claims processors encode and coordinate patient health care information to get claims paid by insurance carriers.

10. Travel Agent
Making travel arrangements for customers can easily be done from home. Home-based travel agents can freelance or sign up with an agency.

1. Bathing with crocodiles
Where: The Gambia, West Africa

Folklore has it that the waters of a small, luminous green pool in the Gambia called Kachikally aid fertility. Bathing in them reputedly boosts the chances of conception, and if the number of local children called Kachikally is anything to go by, conventional medicine may have something to learn.

The only snag is that the pool is full of hundreds of enormous Nile crocodiles. Astonishingly, though, none of those crocs has ever been reported to have attacked a human – something again attributed to magical qualities of the water. One of the monsters, Charley, even allows people to go up and stroke him.

2. The padlocked bridges
Where: Keila Joa, Estonia

In a charming little spot by a waterfall in Estonia, separated by a forest from the sea, lie a couple of rather unusual bridges.

Traversing a river, they are absolutely covered in padlocks of every shape and size. Close inspection of the locks, moreover, reveals that they all have two names written on them – and a date.

The custom belongs to the area’s Russian community. Newly-wed couples engrave their names on a padlock and then throw the key into the river. The tradition is supposed to symbolise that the pair’s bond will never be broken, and it’s rather touching to see how many people have come to the bridges to seal their union over the years.

3. Giant penises on parade
Where: the city of Komaki

Forget Valentine’s Day, on February 14, if flowers and chocolates leave you romantically cold. Try March 15, instead, if you think carrying a four-metre phallus through the streets is a more meaningful way to celebrate passion. Hounen Matsuri is an ancient Japanese fertility rite involving a group of 42-year-old men (42 is thought to be an unlucky age in Japan, one needing this kind of ceremonial reinforcement) carrying a comically oversized penis towards a shrine.

Backing up the chaps is a group of ladies carrying smaller versions of the big bruiser. It is considered lucky for members of the crowd to touch the traditional todgers as they progress through the streets.

People who are out of reach – or just a little shy – may have to settle for all manner of genitalia regalia sold in shops and souvenir stalls on the day.

4. Love spoons
Where: Llangollen, Wales

It is, of course, vital for a father to know that any prospective son-in-law is able to sustain himself and his family. And what better way to prove it than getting him to carve a spoon?

So, supposedly, did the Welsh tradition of love spoons come about. The premise was that an amorous young buck would give the spoon to the apple of his eye, the delicacy of the carving being an indication both of his craftsmanship and the degree of his devotion. If she accepted the spoon, they were officially courting. Well, it’s better than, “Get your coat, darl, you’ve pulled,” isn’t it?

Nowadays, young Welshmen generally prefer flowers, chocolates or alcohol for the same purpose, but a small cottage industry has built up selling kitsch love spoon souvenirs to tourists. Picturesque Llangollen is the capital of the trade – you can hardly move for supposedly romantic cutlery.

5. The Trevi fountain
Where: Rome, Italy

A giant piece of baroque ostentation, the Trevi fountain is one of the many highlights of Rome (if you can fight past all the men trying to sell you handbags and toy commandos to reach it, that is). But for all the architecture, leaping water and mood lighting, the main attraction for many people is a silly superstition.

It has long been held that if you throw a coin into the fountain, you are bound to return to Rome. It is what happens afterwards, however, that is of main interest to lovers.

Some versions of the legend insist that throwing two coins into the fountain will lead to marriage, but that three coins promise divorce. Others say that the marriage part comes from throwing three coins in with the right hand, over the left shoulder. Hmm, try your luck ...

6. Four-leaf clovers
Where: Ireland

The four-leaf clover is a well-known lucky charm, but many people fail to realise that it also forms part of a love ritual. In some parts of Ireland, it is still believed that if a woman consumes a four-leaf clover while thinking about a particular gentleman, he will eventually be hers.

And if that doesn’t work, why not soak him in Guinness and then pounce on him, anyway?

In a country where a street address is key to getting a job, an Internet cafe near Tokyo is offering the unemployed and homeless more than just a virtual, email address.

In addition to the usual Internet services, comic books and unlimited beverages offered by most Japanese Internet cafes, Cyber @ Cafe offers its residents long-term lodging and an official registered address.

This simple service is vital for the 50 semi-permanent residents of the cafe, many of whom have taken refuge here after being laid off abruptly during the current recession.

Takemitsu Karitachi, a contract worker at a nearby factory, is one of the many people who have been sleeping at the cafe every night for the past two months since he lost his office job and his apartment.

Karitachi, who used to roam the streets and hopped between various Internet cafes for months, says he is now relieved to have found a more permanent home -- even if it’s a cubicle just slightly bigger than the back seat of a car.

“Before I came here, I would sit around on chairs in front of places like supermarkets and eat rice balls during the day. But when I really didn’t have any money or work, I had to sleep on park benches at night,” Karitachi said.

Like Karitachi, many of people who frequent cyber cafes are unemployed and homeless who are looking for shelter, but unlike the residents of Cyber @ Cafe, they can’t call these places home. “Human resources agencies used to hire contract workers like me without an official address, but that has changed,” Karitachi said. “Now you need an official address and a guarantor.”

Paying 1,400 to 2,400 yen ($12-$20/£6-10/EU8.8-14.7)) for a night in a central Internet cafe, each cubicle provides a reclining seat or sofa, a blanket, computer and clothes hanger. Free soft drinks, TV, comics and Internet access are included -- and prices are cheaper than those of Japan's famous "capsule hotels," where guests sleep in plastic cells.

Younger lodgers in their mid-to-late-twenties tend to stay for a couple of months before finding a home and a job, but older and poorer residents, with little chance of finding work, are almost permanent fixtures.

Precarious workers and the cyber-homeless - Mayday march in Japan

Japan cyber cafe offers residential address to unemployed, homeless

1. His kids had dolls made in their likeness as part of the TyGirlz collection.
The company denied that they were modeled after the Obama girls -- despite the names, Malia and Sasha, and the incredible similarities. The names were later changed.

2. The whole country is helping him pick a dog.
When the Obamas announced they were in the market for a new dog, the public went crazy with suggestions. The media could not get enough coverage of their choice. The Portuguese Water Dog grew in popularity after Michelle Obama mentioned this might be the breed the family chooses, but the first family is still in the hunt for a first dog.

3. He has an entourage that would give their lives for him.
Being president means you have Secret Service around you at all times, and they would give up their lives to save his. That should make him feel pretty secure.

4. He gets his own airplane, helicopter and fleet of vehicles.
The presidential transportation isn't too shabby. Catching a cab, waiting in traffic and cleaning your own car is a thing of the past if you are the president. Who waits in traffic when you can have your own helicopter drop you off wherever you need to be?

5. Ben & Jerry's Ice cream named after him.
Stephen Colbert and President Obama both have their own Ben & Jerry's ice cream flavors -- Americone Dream and Yes, Pecan (hint for Southerners: It rhymes with "Yes, We Can!" So they don't pronounce "pecan" correctly in Vermont). Being immortalized in ice cream is pretty cool.

6. Grammy award winner
Obama won for the audio version of his book "The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream." He won another spoken word Grammy in 2005 for his book "Dreams from My Father."

7. His address is 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
How cool is it to live in such a famous house? Every President since John Adams has gotten to live there. The White House is an iconic landmark that many great people have had the opportunity to call "home."

8. Obamiconme.com
Obamiconme.com allows people to create their own images and posters inspired by Shepard Fairey's campaign poster for Obama. You can upload your own picture and have it changed into the red, white and blue theme like the picture or use a picture of somebody else.

9. Beyonce herself sings for just for you and your wife.
For the first dance after his inauguration, the Obamas danced to Etta James' classic tune "At Last," performed by Beyonce. Beyonce sang a soulful rendition of the song while the Obamas danced and smiled.

10. Loved by Oprah.
It is good to be on Oprah's list of favorites. She is one of the most powerful women in media and has people tuning into her show just about every day to hear what she has to say. Having the divine Miss "O" on your side is a huge boost.

W. Neil Berret presented his boss a resignation letter in a form of a cake. The letter was written in frosting on a full sheet size cake. The cake was delicious and it was well received.

"Dear Mr. Bowers,

During the past three years, my tenure at the Hunters Point Naval Shipyard has been nothing short of pure excitement, joy and whim.

However, I have decided to spend more time with my family and attend to health issues that have recently arisen. I am proud to have been part of such an outstanding team and I wish this organization only the finest in future endeavors.

Please accept this cake as notification that I am leaving my position with NWT on March 27.

Sincerely, W. Neil berrett"