Series Timeline

A general overview of major events in the Fatal Frame Series as a whole. Where dates are not given in the games, they have been roughly inferred from the lives of recurring characters. For more detailed information, see the timelines for each game.

Spirit Camera: The Cursed Memoir, Fatal Frame: A Curse Affecting Only Girls and Fatal Frame: Shadow Priestess are not included in the timeline, as there is not enough information about when the events they depict took place.

1837

The Calamity occurs at Himuro Mansion.

Lifetime of Kunihiko Asou

Late Edo period (1603-1868); see note

Unknown year

As a child, Kunihiko Asou spends time on Mount Kagiroi, where he meets Shiragiku, and participates in the ritual in which she becomes a pillar.

10-15 years later

Now a young man, Asou visits Mount Hikami to take a picture of Ose Kurosawa before she becomes a pillar.

Ose's ritual fails, and the black water overflows. Asou witnesses the disaster from nearby, and realises he can never return.

Unknown years

As an adult, Asou establishes himself as a mystical scientist and inventor. One of his Camera Obscuras ends up in the hands of Akito Kashiwagi, though the circumstances are unknown.

At the very end of the Edo period, Asou meets with Kaname Ototsuki. The Echo Stone Earring Kaname leaves behind inspires Asou to create the Spirit Stone Radio.

The Unleashing occurs at the Kuze Shrine.

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Meiji period (1868-1912)

1868 Meiji government policy attempts to enforce the separation of Shinto and Buddhism (Shinbutsu bunri). This separation fails by 1873.

1874

Twin Law declares firstborn twin the eldest.

Unknown year, not long after the Twin Law

Asou gives Seijiro Makabe a Camera Obscura and Spirit Stone Radio to test.

The Repentance occurs in Minakami Village.

1909

Asou visits Rogetsu Isle and attends the Rogetsu Kagura.

Unknown Year

Asou sets out for Himuro Mansion, hoping the Holy Mirror will help him perfect the Camera Obscura. He vanishes, leaving the completed camera behind in the mansion.

20th Century

Unknown year, about 30 years after the Repentance

The Munakata Family moves into Himuro Mansion. Within two months, Ryozo and Yae have disappeared, and Mikoto is taken in by a family friend.

Taisho Era (1912-1926)

A rash of mysterious disappearances are recorded in the mountainous region around Myojin Village.

1940s

The Rogetsu Kagura is revived and opened to the public.

1960s

An urban legend known as the "Manor of Sleep" is picked up in occult magazines.

1979

The last Rogetsu Kagura is performed on Rogetsu Isle during the lunar eclipse. The Vessel dies during the performance.

The Rite of Descent is performed secretly at the same time.

Two years later

The Day of Tranquility occurs on Rogetsu Isle.

1980s

Early 80s

An ambulance from Kurosawa General Hospital, near Himuro Mansion, goes missing.

1986

Events of Fatal Frame

1987

Koto Kurosawa meets Miku Hinasaki and investigates Himuro Mansion.

July 1988

Events of Fatal Frame II

September 1988

Events of Fatal Frame III

1989

Miu Hinasaki is born.

Events of Fatal Frame IV

1990s

1992

Miku Hinasaki disappears.

21st Century

2006

Events of Fatal Frame V

Note on Rogetsu Isle Reminiscences chronology

Rogetsu Isle Reminiscences contains a chronology of the life of Dr Asou (unofficial translation available here), which states that Asou visited Rogetsu Isle early in his research (the book states 1911, while the in-game information board says 1909) and completed the first working Camera Obscura there, followed by the creation of the cameras used in Fatal Frame II, Fatal Frame III, Fatal Frame V. Finally, after a long career, he perfected the Camera Obscura used in Fatal Frame. This places Asou's career, along with the Repentance and Unleashing, firmly in the 20th century, and contradicts other information presented in the series and even in the chronology itself, all stating that Asou was active from the late Edo period (1603-1868) and into the Meiji era (1868-1912), generally translated as "in the late 19th and early 20th centuries" in English translations.

It is also difficult to reconcile this chronology with the date given at the beginning of Fatal Frame. If Asou's career began with his visit to Rogetsu Isle around 1910 and ended decades later with the creation of Miku's Camera, abandoned in Himuro Mansion before the Munakatas arrived, the timeline of the Hinasaki Family is compressed beyond plausibility; put simply, there is not enough time for Mikoto Munakata to have an adult daughter and two grandchildren aged 17 and 21 by 1986, especially factoring in the amount of time needed for Yae and Ryozo Munakata to grow from the teenagers they were at the time of the Repentance to adults approaching middle age when they moved into Himuro Mansion with the seven-year-old Mikoto.

One date from official material does potentially corroborate the Rogetsu Isle Reminiscences chronology: the note at the beginning of Tamashizume, which states that Seijiro Makabe lived from 1885-1946. However, it is currently impossible to integrate this conflicting information into a single timeline. Without further material to clarify or resolve the discrepancies, Zero Wiki will continue to use the timeline derived from earlier in-game information, while noting the alternative version presented in Rogetsu Isle Reminiscences and Tamashizume.