A popular YouTuber has been heavily criticised for publishing a video showing the body of a suicide victim.

Logan Paul, who has more than 15 million YouTube subscribers, posted a vlog on December 31 called 'We found a dead body in the Japanese Suicide Forest'.

The video opens with a disclaimer about the importance of seeking help when grappling with depression, before Paul addresses the camera directly.

"This is the most real vlog I've ever posted on this channel," the 22-year-old said. "I think this definitely marks a moment in YouTube history."

In the video, Paul - who is American - visits Japan with several of his friends. They made a trip to Aokigahara, a forest at the base of Mt Fuji known for being a common suicide destination.

Before entering the forest, Paul and his friends joke in the car park, with Paul taking care to don his Gucci jacket before they go in. He also repeatedly mispronounces Mt Fuji as 'Fiji', and insists that popular bottled water brand Fiji Water is produced at the mountain.

After walking a short distance into the forest, the group discover a body hanging from a tree.

"I really hate to say this, I think there's someone hanging right there," Paul says to the camera. "I'm not even f***ing kidding."

Paul and his friends film themselves approaching the body, which was fully blurred out when seen from a distance. However there are several close-up shots of the body where only the person's face was blurred.

"Yo are you alive? Are you f***ing with us?" Paul can be heard asking. The person filming stood very close to the body, with Paul noting the man's "purple hands" and that his pockets were still full.