Kuze Family

The Kuze Family and their relations. The family is featured in Fatal Frame III: The Tormented.

       Unknown Man -~- Yashuu Kuze --------adopted--------                                 
                    |                                     |                                                                
Unknown Man -~- Kyouka Kuze(H?) -~- Akito Kashiwagi       |        Unnamed Father --- Unnamed Mother
             |                   |                        |                        |
           +-------------------------------+              |----+         +------------------+   
     Amane Kuze(H)                   Kaname Ototsuki      |    Reika Kuze(TP)        Unnamed Brother
                                                          |
                                                  +---------------+---------------+
                                           Hisame Kuze(H)  Shigure Kuze(H)  Minamo Kuze(H) 

---

• H - Handmaiden
• TP - Tattooed Priestess

Fatal Frame III

The Kuze family was split into two groups. The main family was Kuze by blood, but many girls and young women were adopted into the family to participate in the rituals.

Bloodline

Yashuu Kuze (久世 夜舟)

Yashuu Kuze was the head of the Kuze Family, and the acting Ceremony Master at the time of the Unleashing. She was also the mother of Kyouka and grandmother of both Amane and Kaname. She brought many men to the Kuze Shrine, to try to produce female heirs with Kyouka. After a folklorist named Akito Kashiwagi fell in love with Kyouka and asked to take her with him, Yashuu murdered him and hid his body from her daughter. Yashuu also "adopted" young girls from nearby villages, to serve as Handmaidens to the shrine's Tattooed Priestess. She murdered Kaname after she discovered Amane had sneaked him back to the shrine to see Reika, the Tattooed Priestess, thus causing the Unleashing. Yashuu's body became covered in the blue tattoo. She later ordered the Handmaidens to impale Amane at the bottom of the Abyss and called in Shrine Carpenters to seal the Kuze Shrine. After they failed to halt the spreading of the Rift, Yashuu ordered the Final Impalement to take place. Some time later, she finally succumbed to the Rift.

Kyouka Kuze (久世 鏡華)

Kyouka Kuze was the the only daughter of Yashuu Kuze. Her primary duty appears to have been producing female heirs with men brought to the shrine. At some point, a young folklorist named Akito Kashiwagi was allowed entry into the manor, his true purpose to produce a child with Kyouka. The two fell in love and longed to be together, but men were only permitted to stay in the Kuze house when the snow was on the ground. Akito left Kyouka, now pregnant, with a set of Echo Stone Earrings and promised to return for her. Unbeknownst to Kyouka, Akito was then murdered by Yashuu. This produced a forbidden son, Kaname, so Kyouka sent the child away to a nearby village. She gave him one of the earrings Akito had given her, believing that all three of them would eventually be reunited. Several years later Kyouka had a daughter, whom she named Amane, with an unnamed man. She told Amane about Kaname, but insisted that she never speak of it. Kyouka spent hours combing her hair, waiting for Akito to return to her. After the Rift was unleashed, she was locked in an upstairs room, still waiting for Akito until it consumed her.

Amane Kuze (久世 雨音)

Amane Kuze was Kyouka's daughter and the first Handmaiden appointed. She cared for Reika Kuze, the woman who was to be the next Tattooed Priestess. She and Reika talked a great deal during her preparation to become a priestess. At some point, unaware that Amane was Kaname's half-sister, Reika showed Amane the Echo Stone Earring. Amane recognized it, and wrote in her diary of her suspicion that Reika's friend was Kaname. Amane decided she wanted to help Reika and Kaname meet again and, on the day of the ceremony, she sneaked Kaname into the Chamber of Thorns to see Reika. Her deeds were discovered by Yashuu, who ordered the other Handmaidens to impale Amane at the bottom of the Abyss for breaking the Kuze Code.

Adopted

Reika Kuze (雪代 零華 / 久世零華)

Reika Yukishiro was the last Tattooed Priestess before the Unleashing occurred. She took on the surname Kuze after she was adopted into the Kuze family by Yashuu. She grew up in a village near the Kuze Shrine, the same village where Kaname was smuggled out to as a baby. It was here that the two met and fell in love, Kaname later leaving and giving her an Echo Stone Earring. After he left, Reika's whole family were killed in a disaster and she volunteered at the Kuze Shrine, hoping to diminish the pain of others like her. As a priestess, before the rituals, Reika spent her days in the Hanging Prison, where she was cared for by Amane Kuze. In preparation for the Piercing of the Soul ritual, Reika etched her grief into the Mirror of Loss; during the Ritual, Reika's body was etched with tattoos. Once the tattoos covered her body, Reika was required to break the Mirror of Loss and cast her love away. At some point after being tattooed, Reika wrote of a dream she had of Kaname, her love for him still existing inside her. She was then impaled in the Chamber of Thorns. Her dreams of him, however, called him back to the shrine. Amane sneaked him inside, and he woke Reika. He was then murdered by Yashuu in front of her eyes, and Reika was so distraught that she allowed the tattoos to enter her eyes, causing the Unleashing. Reika then began to wander the Manor, everywhere she wandered engulfed in the Rift. Despite the efforts of Yashuu Kuze to contain the Rift, Reika's pain continued to spread and spill into the dreams of those who had lost loved ones.

Hisame Kuze (久世冰雨)

One of the four Handmaidens, she took on the Kuze name after being adopted into the family while she worked at the shrine. Hisame resided in Doll Altar North and was the oldest and most dutiful of the Handmaidens, and was chosen by Yashuu to impale the others before presumably killing herself. She was the last left in the Manor after the Unleashing occurred. It is unknown how Hisame died, since it was only described in her diary that she would "sleep forever".

Shigure Kuze (久世 時雨)

One of the four Handmaidens, she took on the Kuze name after being adopted into the family while she worked at the shrine. Shigure resided in Doll Altar West, and took care of Kyouka after she was locked in a room after the Unleashing occurred. Unlike Hisame and Minamo, Shigure had a compassionate and sympathetic side, especially toward Amane, pleading with her not to break the Kuze Code. After following orders from Yashuu Kuze to impale Amane, Shigure is the only Handmaiden to express any guilt at what she has done. She is later impaled in the Enclosed Room by Hisame, by Yashuu's orders to attempt to halt the spreading of the Rift.

Minamo Kuze (久世 水面)

One of the four Handmaidens, she took on the Kuze name after being adopted into the family while she worked at the shrine. Minamo was the youngest of the Handmaidens, residing in Doll Altar East. She fantasized about impaling others, and could not wait to impale the Tattooed Priestess, wondering how it would feel to be impaled in her diary. After Amane Kuze disobeys the Kuze Code by bringing her half-brother Kaname into the shrine, Minamo follows the orders of Yashuu Kuze and helps impale Amane at the bottom of the Abyss. She is later impaled in the Enclosed Room by Hisame, by Yashuu's orders to attempt to halt the spreading of the Rift.

Zero III Comic Anthology

In the Zero Shisei no Koe Comic Anthology, there is a chapter which involves a nurse, who is a distant relative of the Kuze family.

Haruka Kuze (久世遙)
Haruka Kuze is a nurse at Murayama General Hospital (Katsuragi Hospital in FF3) who begins to dream about the Manor of Sleep.

Haruka's Parents
Haruka's father died before she was born, and Haruka never even saw a picture of him. Her mother raised her alone, and also died. When Haruka dreams of the Manor of Sleep, her father's spirit guides and protects her.

Haruka's Ancestors
Haruka's ancestors belonged to a minor branch of the Kuze Family, and she dreams of them throughout her story. They visited the Kuze Shrine around the time of the Unleashing. The young girl (who, like Haruka, had never known her father) began to suffer from dreams of the Rift, but her mother saved her by waking her up before she could go too deep into the Manor of Sleep.