Your Name. (2017) Timeline Explained – Every Event in Order

The body-swapping begins spontaneously and appears to be connected to the comet that appears at the film's opening. Mitsuha, frustrated with her rural life, wishes to become a handsome Tokyo boy in her next life during a shrine ritual. This wish, combined with the comet's arrival, seems to trigger the supernatural connection between her and Taki, despite them living three years apart in time.

Foreshadowing: The film opens with a stunning comet display, and Mitsuha cries out for a different life during a ritual before the swapping begins.

• body swap
• comet
• Mitsuha
• Taki
• supernatural
• time

Itomori is destroyed three years before Taki meets Mitsuha when a comet fragment crashes into the town, killing Mitsuha, her grandmother Hitoha, her sister Yotsuha, and many other residents. Taki only discovers this tragedy when he researches Mitsuha's hometown, learning that she and her entire family perished in the disaster.

Foreshadowing: The comet that appears at the beginning of the film is shown crashing to Earth, and news reports mention it will be visible in a month.

• Itomori
• comet
• Mitsuha death
• tragedy
• town destruction

When Taki travels back in time to prevent the tragedy, he successfully saves Mitsuha and the town by warning them about the comet. This changes the timeline entirely, erasing the body-swapping experience from existence. The emotional bond and memories they shared across time no longer have a foundation in this new timeline, so they lose all recollection of each other.

Foreshadowing: The sake ritual allows Taki to cross into Mitsuha's time, but altering history comes with the cost of erasing their shared memories.

• memories
• timeline
• time travel
• forgot
• ending

Taki travels back in time by consuming the sake that Mitsuha's grandmother had Mitsuha create and leave at the shrine. This sacred sake, made from rice Mitsuha chewed and fermented, contains Mitsuha's life energy and spirit. When Taki drinks it during his desperate search for her, he is able to cross into her time period and warn the town about the impending comet disaster.

Foreshadowing: Mitsuha's grandmother explains the significance of the Kumihimo ritual and the shrine's sake, which has mystical properties tied to the family's traditions.

• sake
• time travel
• shrine
• Taki
• Mitsuha grandmother

The comet serves as both the literal cause of the tragedy and a symbolic element connecting Mitsuha and Taki. It appears at the film's opening as a stunning cosmic event, returns three years later in a fragmented form that destroys Itomori, and appears again at the story's emotional climax when Taki and Mitsuha finally meet across time. The comet's periodic nature mirrors the cyclical themes of fate and connection in the film.

Foreshadowing: The news reports mention the comet will be visible in a month, and Mitsuha's interest is piqued during breakfast.

• comet
• cosmic
• Itomori
• symbolism
• destruction

Mitsuha's entire family perishes in the comet disaster, including her grandmother Hitoha and younger sister Yotsuha. Her father, the mayor of Itomori, survives but is left devastated by the loss. In the original timeline, Mitsuha dies while trying to convince her father to evacuate the town, having received Taki's warning through their body-swapping connection.

Foreshadowing: The tension between Mitsuha's father and the family is established early, with Mitsuha's estrangement from him as the mayor.

• Mitsuha family
• grandmother
• Yotsuha
• mayor
• death

Mitsuha is frustrated with her small-town life in Itomori, feeling trapped by the traditions she must follow as the miko shrine maiden. During a shrine ritual, she cries out that she hates the town and her life, wishing to become a handsome Tokyo boy in her next life. This desperation to escape drives much of her character arc before she begins switching bodies with Taki.

Foreshadowing: Mitsuha and her friends complain about their small town and dream of moving to Tokyo.

• Mitsuha
• Tokyo
• Itomori
• escape
• dreams
• small town

Mitsuha and Taki communicate by leaving notes in each other's phones, notebooks, and on their bodies using markers. They write messages to coordinate their daily activities, warn each other about upcoming events, and gradually develop a deeper connection through these written exchanges. The notes become crucial when they try to coordinate their efforts to save the town.

Foreshadowing: Mitsuha finds a note asking 'Who Are You?' which is Taki's message to her.

• notes
• communication
• phone
• messages
• coordination

The body-swaps gradually become less frequent and eventually stop after Mitsuha dies in the comet disaster. After Taki travels back in time and prevents the tragedy, the original timeline where the swaps occurred is erased, so the swaps no longer have a reason to exist. The emotional climax occurs when they briefly meet in the ethereal realm before the timeline resets.

Foreshadowing: The swaps become less predictable as the comet approaches, and Mitsuha expresses worry about whether Taki remembers her.

• body swap
• stops
• timeline
• Mitsuha death
• comet

Kumihimo is the traditional Japanese art of braiding cords that Mitsuha's grandmother Hitoha teaches to Mitsuha and Yotsuha. The ritual represents the weaving of fate and time, connecting the characters across the cosmic and temporal divide. The braided cords symbolize the bond between Mitsuha and Taki, while the grandmother's explanation about the thread of fate foreshadows their connection.

Foreshadowing: The scene where they practice Kumihimo includes dialogue about the significance of the craft and the connection between past and future.

• Kumihimo
• braiding
• ritual
• grandmother
• tradition
• cord

The sake Mitsuha creates at the shrine is a sacred liquid made from rice she chews and feritates over three days as part of a family ritual. Her grandmother explains that this sake contains Mitsuha's spirit and life energy. When consumed by another person, it allows them to connect with Mitsuha across time and space, which is how Taki is able to travel back to save her.

Foreshadowing: Mitsuha's grandmother mentions the sake's mystical properties during the shrine visit scene.

• sake
• shrine
• spirit
• ritual
• Mitsuha grandmother
• life energy

Mitsuha and Taki are three years apart in time. Mitsuha lives in 2013 (the year of the comet disaster), while Taki lives in 2016. This three-year gap is why Taki cannot initially find Mitsuha when he searches for her in person, and why he discovers that her town was destroyed three years before his time.

Foreshadowing: Taki learns from news reports that Itomori was destroyed three years ago, which shocks him as he realizes the implications for finding Mitsuha.

• time gap
• three years
• 2013
• 2016
• timeline

Taki develops deep feelings for Mitsuha through their body-swapping experience, despite never meeting in person. As they live each other's lives and communicate through notes, they fall in love with each other's souls. When Taki discovers Mitsuha died three years ago, he becomes desperate to save her, showing that their emotional bond transcends the physical and temporal barriers between them.

Foreshadowing: Taki becomes increasingly invested in Mitsuha's life and feelings, even getting jealous when Mitsuha (in his body) interacts with Ms. Okudera.

• love
• connection
• feelings
• Taki
• Mitsuha
• bond

At the end, Taki and Mitsuha pass each other on different trains going in opposite directions. They both feel an inexplicable sense of recognition and longing. When the trains stop, they exit and search for each other, finally meeting on a staircase. They ask each other their names, symbolizing their rekindled connection. The film ends with hope that they will remember and find each other again, though their memories have been reset.

Foreshadowing: Throughout the film, they desperately try to meet each other but are always separated by time or circumstance.

• train
• ending
• reunion
• staircase
• names
• hope