Ryozo Munakata

Ryozo Munakata
"It was a mistake to live in this mansion."
Japanese	宗方 良蔵 むなかた りょうぞう
Age	Unknown - 16? (FF2) Adult - 46? (FF1)
Family	Yae Kurosawa (wife) Mikoto Munakata (daughter)
Occupation	Folklorist's Assistant (FF2) Folklorist (FF1)
Cause of Death	Spirited Away into the Demon Mouth
Encounter	Buddha Room and Demon Mouth
Games	Fatal Frame Fatal Frame II Fatal Frame III (mentioned) Deep Crimson Butterfly
Other Appearances	Zero Novel
Notes	Green Diary Research Scrap Old Diary The Rope Priestess
Japanese Voice Actor	Unknown
English Voice Actor	Unknown

Ryozo Munakata is a secondary character in the games Fatal Frame and Fatal Frame II, and is also mentioned in Fatal Frame III. He was an apprentice to the folklorist Seijiro Makabe who was a close friend of Dr. Kunihiko Asou, the creator of the Camera Obscura. He later became a famous folklorist himself, and wrote a book concerning the rituals of the Himuro Mansion.

Youth (Events from Fatal Frame II)

When Ryozo was a child, he visited Minakami Village while travelling the country with his father, a travelling merchant, on at least one occasion. It was his experiences in Minakami Village as a boy that made him want to become a folklorist. While visiting, he became friends with Itsuki and Mutsuki Tachibana. They became so close during their time together that they kept in touch through letters over the next ten years. Itsuki confided to Ryozo that he feared a secret ceremony that took place in the village.

As time passed, Ryozo pursued his desire by becoming apprentice of the travelling folklorist Seijiro Makabe. One day, Ryozo received a letter from Itsuki asking him to come to the village to retrieve Yae and Sae on the day of the ritual. This was to be the last letter he ever received from Itsuki. Ryozo was concerned about his friends' wellbeing, but had no resources of his own to make a journey, so he spoke to Makabe about it. The two discussed the village in detail, and Makabe became interested in the ceremony involving twins, and the legend of the gate to hell. They set off for Minakami Village together.

When they arrived, they were greeted warmly by Ryokan Kurosawa and his twin daughters, Yae and Sae, and invited to stay as guests in the village. While Seijiro studied the folklore of the region, Ryozo concentrated on searching for Itsuki. The villagers said that both he and Mutsuki had died of an illness, but Ryozo doubted the truth of these stories and continued his investigation anyway. He found some of Itsuki's diaries, and from these he learned that Itsuki had been secretly looking for a way to escape the village. He came across Itsuki's little sister, Chitose, in one of the corridors of the Tachibana House, but Chitose was too frightened to say anything, and ran away to hide. Ryozo had the impression she wanted to pass on a message from Itsuki, but never managed to discover what it was.

Shortly afterwards, Ryozo received a letter from Seijiro telling him to leave the village early. The Kurosawa Twins brought him the letter, and Ryozo promised Yae that he would return for her on the night of the festival. He also wrote a final letter for Itsuki, promising to come back for and take care of the Kurosawa twins once they escaped the village.

When the day of the ceremony came, Ryozo returned as he had promised. What he found upon his arrival was Yae alone and sobbing in front of the Torii gate that marked the entrance to Minakami Village. The village was nowhere to be found, and Yae had no recollection of what had occurred. All that remained of Makabe were some notes, which he addressed to Ryozo.

At first Yae had a lot of nightmares, but Ryozo cared for her and gradually she recovered, although her memories never returned. Ryozo and Yae eventually married, and had a daughter whom they named Mikoto. Ryozo continued his studies, edited and published Makabe's last work, and became a folklorist in his own right.

Adulthood (Events from Fatal Frame)

Sometime after Mikoto's birth, Ryozo began to research legends in the Himuro Mountain area. A visit to the Five Gods Shrines uncovered an old manuscript about the Hell Gate rituals, which made him determined to visit Himuro Mansion, the epicenter from which all of the legends seemed to originate. However, he didn't wish to be too far from Yae, who had fallen into poor health. He decided that it would be in his family's best interest to take up residence in the mansion itself. That way he could do research on the rituals performed there and remain close to Yae. After some effort convincing the local officials to let them live there, the Munakata family moved into Himuro Mansion.

Soon after settling in, Ryozo's research progressed far faster than he could have hoped. He spent most of his days exploring the mansion, gathering information, and trying to figure out what really happened in the Himuro Family rituals. During his research, he studied particular areas like the Moon Shrine and the Demon Mouth.

One day, while playing Demon Tag, Mikoto found a strange camera in the mansion. She brought it to her father, but would not say exactly where she found it, only that a girl in a white kimono had given it to her. Ryozo examined the camera and concluded that there wasn't anything remarkable about it. The next day, Ryozo and his family took a walk in the mountains around the mansion. Yae took the camera Mikoto found and spent most of the day taking pictures with it.

Afterwards, Yae spent more and more time obsessively taking pictures with Mikoto's camera, muttering, "I can see them." Four days later, she was so ill she had to stay in bed.

Nine days after the walk, Mikoto and her friends went missing while playing Demon Tag in the mansion. Yae and Ryozo searched the mansion, but could find no trace of them. Three days after Mikoto's disappearance, Yae hung herself in the Cherry Atrium while Ryozo wasn't around. He discovered her lifeless body hanging from the tree. The game does not mention what he did after discovering her body.

Ryozo blamed the camera for Yae's death and the mansion for Mikoto's disappearance. He came to the conclusion that something horribly wrong was happening in the mansion and he had to figure out how to fix it. He obtained the Mask of Reflection and then the Blinding Mask. After that, he made his way down to the Demon Mouth with a piece of the Holy Mirror in hand. As he opened up the door inside of the Demon Mouth (which led to the Banned Path) with the Blinding Mask, he was pulled inside by Kirie. The doors slammed shut behind him. Ryozo likely died instantly, as his corpse shows him still clutching the piece of the Holy Mirror.

Misc Info

• Ryozo Munakata is one of the few secondary characters to appear in the Fatal Frame Series twice.
• When he escaped from All God's Village, Ryozo took with him the writings of Seijiro Makabe. These 'writings' are found in the Zero Akai Chou Complete Official Capture Book.
• According to Mio's notes, Ryozo recorded the legends of Minakami Village in his writings.
• Ryozo is Miku and Mafuyu's great-grandfather.
• Ryozo's final moments are captured in an unused game file.

See Also

• For other members of the Munakata Family, see Munakata Family.
• For other folklorists in the Fatal Frame Series, see Folklorist.
• For information on other spirited aways, see Spirited Aways.
• For images related to Ryozo Munakata, see Images of Ryozo Munakata.