Noroi: The Curse (2005) Timeline Explained – Every Event in Order

Kagutaba is an ancient demon summoned by villagers of Shimokage centuries ago. The villagers imprisoned it for disobedience but conducted an annual ritual to keep it appeased. When the village was demolished in 1978 to make way for a dam, the ritual stopped, breaking the seal and allowing the curse to spread through those connected to the old practices.

Foreshadowing: The historian explains that the annual appeasement ritual was conducted until 1978, when construction began on the dam.

• kagutaba
• demon
• shimokage
• village
• dam
• curse
• ritual

Ishii's son was not her biological child. The final tape reveals he was the vessel for Kagutaba itself, the boy the demon inhabited. Hori discovers this truth and kills the boy with a rock, causing the boy to briefly transform into Kagutaba before dying.

Foreshadowing: The historian's scroll shows the ritual's 'daughter' later surfaced as Ishii, connecting her to the demon's lineage.

• ishii
• son
• boy
• kagutaba
• possession
• vessel

Ishii was attempting to replicate the ancient Kagutaba summoning ritual, which originally required feeding baby monkeys to a medium. She stole fetuses from a nursing school and fed them to Kana, believing this would activate the same supernatural process that created Kagutaba centuries earlier.

Foreshadowing: The historian's scroll details how the original Kagutaba was summoned through feeding fetuses to a medium.

• ishii
• kana
• fetuses
• ritual
• summoning
• nursing school

The recovered tape shows Hori confronting Kobayashi at his house, exposing the boy as Kagutaba and bludgeoning him with a rock. The boy briefly transforms into the demon, then Keiko becomes possessed, pours gasoline on herself, and sets the house on fire. Kobayashi tries to escape but is trapped as the house burns.

Foreshadowing: The documentary begins with Kobayashi's house burned and his wife dead among the ruins.

• kobayashi
• house
• fire
• tape
• hori
• keiko
• death

Hori discovers the boy is Kagutaba's physical form, the demon's vessel. Believing killing the boy would destroy the demon, Hori attacks him with a rock. The boy briefly transforms into Kagutaba's horrifying form before dying, but the curse has already spread beyond that single vessel.

Foreshadowing: Throughout the film, Hori demonstrates intense knowledge of the ritual and becomes increasingly agitated near the boy.

• hori
• kill
• boy
• kagutaba
• demon
• vessel
• murder

Keiko becomes possessed by Kagutaba, the same demonic force that has been spreading through the cursed individuals. Under possession, she pours gasoline on herself and ignites it, committing suicide while the house burns around her. This is the final act of the curse's destruction.

Foreshadowing: The film opens with Keiko found dead in the burnt remains of the house.

• keiko
• possession
• fire
• suicide
• kagutaba
• curse

Marika becomes possessed by Kagutaba. The loops she creates mirror the nooses used in the ritual hangings that have occurred throughout the film, she is subconsciously reenacting the violent deaths connected to the curse. A voice on the recording distinctly speaks Kagutaba's name during these episodes.

Foreshadowing: After filming at the shrine where Kagutaba's history is revealed, Marika begins exhibiting this behavior.

• marika
• loops
• yarn
• possession
• kagutaba
• noose
• ritual

Pigeons are linked to the Kagutaba ritual, Shin'sichi Osawa brings pigeons to his apartment, and dead pigeons are found at Ishii's former residence. The pigeons represent the animal offerings connected to the ancient rituals. Their deaths and Osawa's disappearance mark the spread of the curse through the community.

Foreshadowing: Dead pigeons are discovered at Ishii's property early in the investigation.

• pigeons
• osawa
• death
• ritual
• offering

Hori claims 'ectoplasmic worms' took Kana Yano, describing her disappearance as a supernatural abduction. This is his explanation for how the curse consumes psychic individuals, the worms represent the parasitic nature of Kagutaba's influence, drawing powerful psychics into the demonic realm.

Foreshadowing: Kana, known for her strong psychic abilities, vanishes after Hori's visit.

• hori
• ectoplasmic worms
• kana
• disappearance
• psychic

When the Shimokage village was demolished in 1978 to make way for the dam, the annual ritual to appease Kagutaba could no longer be performed. This broke the seal keeping the demon imprisoned, allowing its malevolent influence to escape and begin affecting new victims connected to the old practices.

Foreshadowing: The historian explains that the ritual was conducted every year until the village was destroyed.

• dam
• shimokage
• village
• ritual
• 1978
• imprisoned
• demon

The hangings are not random suicides but part of Kagutaba's ritualistic pattern. Seven people, including Osawa and Midori, hang themselves in a park using nooses similar to Marika's yarn loops. The curse drives its victims to reenact the violent deaths tied to the original summoning ritual.

Foreshadowing: Marika reveals her neighbor Midori hanged herself, and Marika herself begins making looped nooses.

• hanging
• suicide
• midori
• osawa
• ritual
• curse
• kagutaba

Kobayashi remains missing. After the house fire, his video camera is recovered and the final tape shows him trapped inside as it burns. The film ends with confirmation that Kobayashi was never found, leaving his fate unknown but presumed dead.

Foreshadowing: The documentary opens with Kobayashi's disappearance and burnt house.

• kobayashi
• missing
• death
• fire
• house
• fate

During the dam ritual, Kobayashi's camera captures a vision of Kana standing near a torii gate in the forest, surrounded by writhing fetuses. This represents the moment she became absorbed into the curse, her psychic essence fused with Kagutaba's malevolent energy.

Foreshadowing: Kana was taken by the curse after Ishii fed her the fetuses in an attempt to replicate the ritual.

• kana
• torii
• fetuses
• vision
• forest
• ritual

After the failed ritual, Hori is placed in a mental institution but escapes. He is later found dead the following day, his body discovered after Kobayashi also vanishes. His death marks another victim claimed by the spreading curse.

Foreshadowing: During the ritual at the dam, Hori becomes increasingly agitated and runs into the forest.

• hori
• mental institution
• escape
• death
• curse