Shiragiku

Shiragiku
"I want to see something pretty at the end..."
Japanese	白菊 しらぎく
Age	6
Occupation	Shrine maiden
Cause of Death	Sacrificed in the reliquary ritual
Date of Death	Late Edo period
Encounter	Fifth Drop, Shrine of Dolls Final Drop, House of Joining
Games	Fatal Frame: Maiden of Black Water
Notes	Shiragiku's Journal
Japanese Voice Actor	Natsumi Takamori
English Voice Actor	Sarah Pitard

Shiragiku is a character in Fatal Frame V. She is a white-haired young girl who haunts the Shrine of Dolls. She also appears in Ren Hojo's dreams, causing him to wonder whether he killed her in a ritual when he was young.

Background

Shiragiku grew up on Mount Kagiroi, a mountain close to Mount Hikami and sharing the same ritual traditions. She was born with white hair, red eyes and a frail body; people feared her because of her odd appearance, and said that she would not live to see her seventh birthday. Because those near to death were seen as having the strongest spiritual sense, she was prepared as a shrine maiden. Like the strongest of the Maidens of Black Water, she is able to read people's minds simply by looking at them.

While out playing one day, she met the young Kunihiko Asou, who befriended her. At some point she had a brush with death, and attributed her survival to the fact that he was with her. This further strengthened her as a shrine maiden, and it was decided that she would be sent to Mount Hikami in a casket to become a Pillar.

When Shiragiku heard about the Ghost Marriage ritual practised on Mount Hikami, she made up her mind that she wanted Kunihiko to be her partner. Before she entered the casket, he cut off a lock of her hair as a token, and promised that one day he would come to the mountain to join her. However, as Kunihiko grew older he came to believe his memories of her and the ritual she participated in were a dream, and he forgot his promise.

Alone in her casket, Shiragiku continued to wait. When Kunihiko returned to the mountain as an adult, she sensed his presence, but he was not carrying her token, and didn't notice her. After the mountain was tainted by the black water, Shiragiku's spirit began to haunt the Shrine of Dolls. Children who were spirited away in the area joined her band and were seen playing near the Shrine of Dolls and Twilit Peak. During the mountain's brief revival as a tourist destination, Shiragiku appears to the priest of the shrine in his dreams, and tells him his deceased daughter is happy, playing with the dolls he repaired.

Fatal Frame V

When Ren Hojo visits the Shrine of Dolls, Shiragiku mistakes him for his ancestor Kunihiko, to whom he bears a strong resemblance. She accuses him of breaking his promise. In the final chapter, when the Wedding Celebrant encourages Ren to choose his Ghost Marriage partner, the player is given the choice between a photograph, representing Ose Kurosawa, and a lock of white hair, representing Shiragiku. If the player chooses the lock of hair, Shiragiku will be waiting in the marriage room. At first she welcomes Ren, recognising Kunihiko's spirit in him, and shows him her body asleep in the coffin, perfectly preserved. Ren is disturbed by the sight and pulls away from her.

Furious at being rejected after waiting so long, Shiragiku attacks him, and one of two endings may occur, depending on whether Ren defeats her or not. In both he sees a flashback to her time with Kunihiko. If he defeats her, she tells him to forget her, and disappears after the vision, glad to have seen him once more. If she wins, she drags him into the box to be with her forever, but then has a change of heart and expels him, telling him to take his time dying.

Gallery

• 

Voice Lens Quote

"Please, don't forget me... Don't forget... I... I can't die... so I'll always be here... waiting forever and ever. They all forget me... They forget me and they leave me here, all alone... Forever... and ever... and ever..."

―Shiragiku

Battle Quotes

"Play with me... forever... I can't die... Stay with me... forever and ever... My token... my soul... don't lose it. It's all right... come... and find me... Will you end up leaving me too? You're going to die... I can't die... I died once already... It's always the same... Everyone dies except for me... They leave me all alone... They leave me waiting alone..."

―Shiragiku

Misc. Info

• Her name means "white chrysanthemum". It originated with a short story of the same name by Japanese author Kyusaku Yumeno. A scene in that story, in which a man finds a beautiful girl asleep amidst a crowd of dolls, was part of the inspiration for her character, and during development she was referred to as Shiragiku temporarily. However, staff liked it so much that it influenced her visual design and became her name permanently.
• Like Ose Kurosawa, Shiragiku appears in two forms: one in a pristine white kimono, the other in clothes stained black. The chrysanthemum design on her white kimono is replaced by higanbana on the black one.

See Also

• For other shrine maidens, see Shrine Maiden.
• For images related to Shiragiku, see Images of Shiragiku.

References