Watarai Residence
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The Watarai Residence is a location in Fatal Frame V. It was once the home of folklorist Keiji Watarai, who had it built to facilitate his studies of Mount Hikami.
History
For a while, Keiji Watarai lived in the house and studied the mountain's history and folklore, with help from the innkeeper at the foot of the mountain.[1] During his research, however, Watarai vanished mysteriously, and his house was found empty. Later, the house itself disappeared,[2] along with the path that had led to it.[1] A legend spread that Watarai had uncovered some forbidden knowledge, which caused his whole house to be swallowed by the mist.[3] It became known as the "Veiled House", or "Mayoiga" in Japanese, a reference to a famous tale recorded by Kunio Yanagita, about a house which appears and disappears at random.
Years later, an unidentified explorer recorded a video tape showing a route through the Womb Cavern to the Watarai Residence. While searching the house, they encountered the ghost of Keiji Watarai in the attic, after which the footage ends abruptly. Although the explorer was never found, the video tape surfaced near a river on Mount Hikami; it was restored and published by a film company, and became famous among occult enthusiasts.
Fatal Frame V
While researching postmortem photos for Ren, Kazuya Sakaki goes missing. He ends up at the Watarai Residence, where he calls Ren from the phone in the hall. Ren and Rui have already learned of the Watarai Residence as a potential source of information on postmortem photos,[1] and make their way there. They find the house, which is in a state of disrepair, with one room completely flooded, and another with a hole in the floor as if something has fallen through. However, they find no trace of Kazuya, and after a while fog starts to billow through the house. Moments after they leave, the Watarai Residence vanishes.
Later, Rui is spirited away to the mountain. Ren tracks her back to the Watarai Residence, and finds her trapped in a reliquary. Once again the house fills with mist, forcing them to leave in a hurry. As they search for a way out of the house, they encounter Kazuya's hostile spirit and finally learn his fate. After this point, the Watarai Residence is no longer accessible in the game, and the path from the Womb Cavern only leads to the eastern side of the Unfathomable Forest.
Misc. Info
- The name "Mayoiga" is also used as the Japanese title of the Lingering Scent Ending in Fatal Frame II, and the name of Kureha's haunted house behind the Kureha Shrine in Deep Crimson Butterfly.
- The Watarai Residence is near the cable car's Forest Station, which can be seen from the window of Watarai's study.