Timeline (FF4)

This timeline covers the events of Fatal Frame IV and the history of Rogetsu Isle. Very few specific dates are mentioned in the game itself, but it is possible to make approximate guesses based on hints from the story and information gleaned from the rest of the Fatal Frame series.

For a general overview of major events in the series, see Series Timeline.

Early History

Precise dates unknown; into the Edo period (1603-1867).

Long before the visit of Dr. Kunihiko Asou, Rogetsu Isle becomes "feared as the island nearest to the underworld" and gains a reputation for being an "insular place that shuns visitors". The moon becomes an object of faith in the island's culture. As life in the physical world is primarily influenced by the sun, the moon becomes associated with spirituality and the Other World. The culture develops an association between the moon and spirits, and traditions involving a great variety of masks and rituals which serve as connections to the moon and the dead.

Soan Yomotsuki establishes the Yomotsuki Family of master mask-makers, and breaks with tradition by carving masks in which the dead reside, rather than masks in the form of kami or legendary characters.

In the seventh generation, Soetsu Yomotsuki develops the craft further, and is invited to the capital to present his work to the Emperor.

The First Day Without Suffering

Precise dates unknown. One of Dr. Asou's notes from his visit during the Meiji Period mentions that the Day of Tranquility took place long ago.

• Soetsu Yomotsuki creates the Mask of the Lunar Eclipse.
• The Rite of Descent is performed, and the Vessel falls into a deep sleep.
• After a long time, the Vessel awakens and blossoms, and her Resonance causes many others to blossom as well.
• Some islanders retreat to the Primeval Passage to pray. They are the only survivors.
• Soetsu Yomotsuki disappears, and most of his work is destroyed. Only the preliminary studies he made for the Mask are preserved beneath the Shugen Temple.

Two generations later

• Sogen Yomotsuki resurrects the family mask-making tradition.

1909

• Dr. Kunihiko Asou visits Rogetsu Isle.
• During his visit, he studies the island's famous masks, and attempts to learn more about the Mask of the Lunar Eclipse.

September 17

• Dr. Asou attends the Rogetsu Kagura, chaperoned by Guardian maidens.

Later

• After developing a prototype Camera Obscura which has the potential to capture lingering thoughts and emotions, Dr. Asou pens a document dedicating it to his descendants, memorializing it as the landmark "first great stride beyond his predecessors"

20th Century

• Rogetsu Hall, a luxurious sanatorium, is constructed on the site of the old inn where Dr. Asou stayed. Nearby shrines are also torn down to make room.
• Dr. Asou's room is preserved as a museum.

30 years before the failed Rite of Descent

• The Rogetsu Kagura is opened to tourists.

1960s-70s

Approximate; exact dates and order of events unknown.

• Shigeto Haibara's wife takes her own life after suffering for a long time with Moonlight Syndrome.
• Ayako is born.
• Ruka Yomotsuki, Misaki Asou, Madoka Tsukimori, Marie Shinomiya and Tomoe Nanamura are born.
• Sakuya Haibara begins to suffer from Moonlight Syndrome. Shigeto redoubles his efforts to find a cure. In time, Sakuya is hospitalised in a special ward in Rogetsu Hall.
• Yo Haibara leaves Rogetsu Isle to run Haibara Clinic on the mainland. Like his father, he conducts unethical experiments, resulting in the deaths of some of his patients.
• Shigeto decides to resurrect the old Rite of Descent on the night of the approaching lunar eclipse.

Year of the Failed Rite

Most likely 1979. See Timeline Translation Error.

• Shigeto Haibara shows Soya Yomotsuki a photograph, purportedly taken by Dr. Asou, which shows Soetsu's lost Mask of the Lunar Eclipse. Soya becomes obsessed with trying to recreate the mask, spending hours in his workshop every day and neglecting his family. He tests some of his masks on Ruka, causing her to bud.
• Tsubaki Tono is chosen as the Vessel in the Rogetsu Kagura.

April 6

• Kazuto Amaki becomes fixated on a mask from the Dining Room, believing it contains a part of his ego. He enters into a cycle of taking it back to his room, and having it taken from his room by the nursing staff.

Summer

July

An investigation into Yo Haibara is opened by mainland police. Haibara returns to Rogetsu Isle.

By the end of July, Ayako, Ruka, Misaki and Madoka have all been hospitalised in Rogetsu Hall.

August

• August 9

Madoka Tsukimori writes in her diary about her illness and Ayako.

Unknown dates

Misaki meets Sakuya and begins visiting her regularly. Sakuya gives Misaki a doll, Miya, to help her maintain her sense of self. The nurses make an effort to keep them apart, noting their conditions seem to have an effect on each other which could be dangerous.

A nurse kills herself in front of Sakuya.

Shigeto Haibara instructs his assistant, Shoji Katagiri, to help in preparing for the Rite of Descent.

Yo Haibara is also working to reconstruct the Moonsong. He even asks Ayako for help in selecting the five Organs.

Soya writes to Shigeto to tell him the Mask of the Lunar Eclipse is complete.

Yuko Magaki has a vision of the Day of Tranquility, and begins to create paintings of a woman in red.

Takashi Aiba arrives on the island with his sister. He writes letters to his friend Choshiro Kirishima, whom he has heard will also be arriving soon for work.

Autumn

September

• Unknown date

As the festival approaches, Sakuya is removed from her room and taken to the Director's Office. Misaki witnesses Sakuya being taken away, and clings all the more tightly to Miya.

• September 16

Ruka writes in her diary about the festival.

Choshiro Kirishima arrives on the island, in search of Yo Haibara.

• September 17

The tourist Rogetsu Kagura takes place in the Temple of the Lunar Eclipse. Islanders gather at Yomotsuki Residence for a meal before making their way to the stage. Attendees are to gather by 10pm, and the performance begins at midnight; while it is ongoing, all the doors are to be locked.

Yo Haibara kidnaps five girls from the stage and takes them to the Temple of Tsukiyomi. Wearing the masks he gives them, they perform as Organs in the Rite of Descent, which takes place directly beneath the Rogetsu Stage at the same time as the Kagura.

At the height of the dancing, the Mask of the Lunar Eclipse cracks. Sakuya Haibara and the kidnapped girls collapse. The girls lose their memories, and Sakuya falls into a coma.

Above ground, at the same moment, the performers in the tourist Kagura also collapse, and Tsubaki Tono dies.

Choshiro examines Tsubaki Tono's body, but discovers her face is unrecognisable.

• Between September 17 and September 25

Sakuya is moved to the Court of the Unhallowed, where she continues to sleep.

The five kidnapped girls are moved to the Moonbeam Well to recover.

Sayaka Minazuki approaches Choshiro Kirishima for help.

• September 25

With Sayaka's help, Choshiro gains access to Rogetsu Hall and attempts to interview some of the patients.

• Before September 29

Shoji Katagiri hears voices from the well outside Haibara Infirmary, and phones in a tip-off.

• September 29

Choshiro searches the hospital again, and finds the five kidnapped girls in the Moonglow Cavern. They are taken to Amanoura Police Department.

• Between September 29 and October 9

Sayaka asks Choshiro to show her where the girls were found. Realising she was wrong to trust Shigeto Haibara, and Soya is beyond saving, she decides to leave the island.

Shie Sonosaki takes on Tsubaki Tono's duties on the third floor. She is also assigned to watch over Sakuya, who has been moved to the Court of the Unhallowed.

• October 9

Choshiro hears that Sayaka plans to leave.

After the Failed Rite

Unknown dates

• A construction worker is found dead by apparent suicide. In his suicide note he confesses to kidnapping the five girls.
• Yo Haibara visits the Gallery often to view the painting of Sakuya, seeing it as a sign that she will wake up one day.
• Shie Sonosaki feels a growing dread that Sakuya will wake up.
• Choshiro quits his job as a detective and becomes a private investigator.

Day of Tranquility

Two years after the Rite of Descent, and eight years before the events of Fatal Frame IV. Likely 1981 (see Timeline Translation Error).

• September 17

The anniversary of the Kagura. A partial lunar eclipse is expected to take place.

In the Court of the Unhallowed, Sakuya wakes up and blossoms. She begins to wander the island, and her Resonance causes everyone who looks at her face to blossom as well.

Having received a tip about Yo Haibara, Choshiro arrives at Rogetsu Isle. He sees Sakuya emerging from the basement, but manages to escape. Catching sight of Haibara, he pursues him to the rooftop of the hospital. There, Haibara stabs him, and the two fall to their deaths.

Soya goes to the caves beneath the Shugen Temple to await the end.

• After September 17

The ship Oboro-maru arrives at Rogetsu Isle port to find that many of the islanders have died and many more are missing.

After two weeks, investigators are unable to determine the cause of death, and none of the missing have been found.

• Six months later (around March)

Ayako, the last survivor, dies in hospital.

• Unknown dates between the Day of Tranquility and the year of the next eclipse

Madoka moves into Misaki's home. What happens to her parents is unknown. At some point, Ruka plays Madoka a song on the piano, which tugs at her lost memories.

Sayaka's health worsens. She is hospitalised and eventually dies.

Note: It is not known exactly when Sayaka dies. Choshiro and Ruka both have memories of her in the same hospital room, but Choshiro's point of view is unreliable, and Ruka's memory offers no context to draw conclusions from, except that she sounds older than she did when she lived on the island.

Year of the Eclipse - Events of Fatal Frame IV

Most likely 1989 (see Timeline Translation Error).

August

• Feeling the return of their Moonlight Syndrome, Marie Shinomiya and Tomoe Nanamura attempt to perform a Kagura. The attempt fails, and both girls blossom and die.
• Misaki Asou sees a vision of a girl in black, who tells her to return to Rogetsu Isle. Madoka Tsukimori is worried about Misaki and goes with her.
• Madoka and Misaki are separated; Madoka is killed by a group of ghosts.

September, night of the full moon

• Ruka Minazuki travels back to Rogetsu Isle.
• Choshiro Kirishima wakes up outside Haibara Infirmary and begins searching for Ruka.
• Misaki makes her way to the Temple of Tsukiyomi and battles Sakuya, but is spirited away.
• Recovering her memories, Ruka gathers the fragments of the Mask of the Lunar Eclipse and recreates it.
• Ruka ascends to the shrine atop the Cape Tsukiyomi Lighthouse and plays the Moonsong to calm Sakuya's spirit.
• Choshiro places the reformed mask on Sakuya, and all the spirits cross over to the other side.
• Misaki wakes in the Temple of Tsukiyom and says one last farewell to Madoka. She watches the spirits crossing over from the beach.+

+It is currently unknown if these events from the photograph ending are canon to the Fatal Frame storyline or not.

Timeline Translation Error

The opening of the game states:

このゲームはフィクションであり実在の人物・団体との関連性はありませんまた。時代背景は1980年代の日本を設定し当時の時代考証に則り。現在では一部使用されていない表現が含まれておりますのであらかじめご了承ください。

This game is a work of fiction and has no relevance to real people or groups. The setting is 1980s Japan and reflects the historical context of the time. Please note that this includes the use of kanji and phrases no longer used today.

In the fan patch, this was replaced by this message from the developer:

This game takes place in Japan, with native Japanese characters. There has been every effort to translate the game, but please be aware that not only will the characters be speaking in their native language, but the game will contain many cultural references. Please use Wikipedia to your advantage. - Tempus

It appears that someone incorrectly assumed that 1980年代 meant "the year 1980" and not "during the 1980s." Since then, most discussions of the game's timeline assume that the main events of Fatal Frame IV take place in 1980, with all other dates deriving from that. No precise modern dates are given within the game, although some were added to the translation patch, based on the erroneous assumption above.

In the remastered version of Mask of the Lunar Eclipse, the newly-legible information board in the Asou Museum revealed that Asou's visit to witness the Kagura was in 1909. As the Kagura took place every ten years, and the game's 'present day' is in the 1980s, this makes 1979 the most likely year for the failed Kiraigou, meaning that the Day Without Suffering would have been in 1981 and Ruka's return to the island in 1989. This correlates with a game note which states that the Rogetsu Kagura was opened to tourists 30 years earlier; assuming a date of 1979 for the failed Rite of Descent, this would mean the Kagura became a tourist event in 1949, during Japan's economic recovery following World War II.