(function(){
	"use strict";
	var ignore = [Boolean, Date, Number, RegExp, String];
	function primitive(item){
		if (typeof item === 'object'){
			if (item === null) { return true; }
			for (var i=0; i<ignore.length; i++){
				if (item instanceof ignore[i]) { return true; }
			}
			return false;
		} else {
			return true;
		}
	}
	function infant(value){
		return Array.isArray(value) ? [] : {};
	}
	JSON.decycleIntoForest = function decycleIntoForest(object, replacer) {
		if (typeof replacer !== 'function'){
			replacer = function(x){ return x; }
		}
		object = replacer(object);
		if (primitive(object)) return object;
		var objects = [object];
		var forest  = [infant(object)];
		var bucket  = new WeakMap(); // bucket = inverse of objects 
		bucket.set(object, 0);       // i.e., map object to index in array
		function addToBucket(obj){
			var result = objects.length;
			objects.push(obj);
			bucket.set(obj, result);
			return result;
		}
		function isInBucket(obj){
			return bucket.has(obj);
			// objects[bucket.get(obj)] === obj, iff true is returned
		}
		function processNode(source, target){
			Object.keys(source).forEach(function(key){
				var value = replacer(source[key]);
				if (primitive(value)){
					target[key] = {value: value};
				} else {
					var ptr;
					if (isInBucket(value)){
						ptr = bucket.get(value);
					} else {
						ptr = addToBucket(value);
						var newTree = infant(value);
						forest.push(newTree);
						processNode(value, newTree);
					}
					target[key] = {pointer: ptr};
				}
			});
		}
		processNode(object, forest[0]);
		return forest;
	};
})();
the = document.getElementById('the');
function consoleLog(toBeLogged){
  the.textContent = the.textContent + '\n' + toBeLogged;
}
function show(root){
	var cycleFree = JSON.decycleIntoForest(root);
	var shown = cycleFree.map(function(tree, idx){ return false; });
	var indentIncrement = 4;
	function showItem(nodeSlot, indent, label){
	  leadingSpaces = ' '.repeat(indent);
      leadingSpacesPlus = ' '.repeat(indent + indentIncrement);
	  if (shown[nodeSlot]){
	  consoleLog(leadingSpaces + label + ' ... see above (object #' + nodeSlot + ')');
        } else {
		  consoleLog(leadingSpaces + label + ' object#' + nodeSlot);
		  var tree = cycleFree[nodeSlot];
		  shown[nodeSlot] = true;
		  Object.keys(tree).forEach(function(key){
			var entry = tree[key];
			if ('value' in entry){
			  consoleLog(leadingSpacesPlus + key + ": " + entry.value);
                } else {
					if ('pointer' in entry){
						showItem(entry.pointer, indent+indentIncrement, key);
                    }
                }
			});
        }
    }
	showItem(0, 0, 'root');
}
cities4d = {
	Europe:{
		north:[
			{name:"Stockholm", population:1000000, temp:6},
			{name:"Helsinki", population:650000, temp:7.6}
		],
		south:[
			{name:"Madrid", population:3200000, temp:15},
			{name:"Rome", population:4300000, temp:15}
		]
	},
	America:{
		north:[
			{name:"San Francisco", population:900000, temp:14},
			{name:"Quebec", population:530000, temp:4}
		],
		south:[
			{name:"Rio de Janeiro", population:7500000, temp:24},
			{name:"Santiago", population:6300000, temp:14}
		]
	},
	Asia:{
		north:[
			{name:"Moscow", population:13200000, temp:6}
		]
	}
};
cities4d.Europe.north[0].alsoStartsWithS = cities4d.America.north[0];
cities4d.Europe.north[0].smaller = cities4d.Europe.north[1];
cities4d.Europe.south[1].sameLanguage = cities4d.America.south[1];
cities4d.Asia.ptrToRoot = cities4d;
show(cities4d)
<pre id="the"></pre>