These are the TIPS that correspond with Higurashi no Naku Koro ni episode 13.
Research Note II[]
<About the Oyashiro-sama>
It is not known how the word Oyashiro-sama is spelled. However, this may also be the result of how the translation of its name had changed subtly over the course of history. Hence, it is quite difficult to find whether or not this name is indeed correct to begin with.
In fact, the the only thing that is common in its history is that the readability of the four words O-YA-SHI-RO.
One theory states that the "社" (see footnote 1) that houses the Oyashiro-sama itself became a subject of worship, and that is why it became to be known as "御社さま" (see footnote 2). However, this theory is rather bland and boring.
While the following information may or may not be related to the above said matter, it is said that the noble Furude family has the bloodline of the Oyashiro-sama flowing within them. And according to the Furude family legend, it is said that if the first child that is born is a female after eight generations, that daughter in the eight generation will be the reincarnation of the Oyashiro-sama itself.
If one takes this legend into consideration, it seems the correct way to spell Oyashiro-sama is "御八代さま" (see footnote 3). (Of course, this spelling is just my own theory so there is no way of knowing for sure).
If such is the case, then the naming of the Oyashiro-sama is made under the premise of resurrection. Worshiping a deity under the pretense of its resurrection can be seen in many religions, so this is not rare. However, it is also interesting to note that several religions associate the resurrection of their deity with the "apocalypse."
Furude Rika, the cute little girl where all the village elders seem to take care of her with special treatment. ...There are rumors that she is the eighth generation "Oyashiro-sama." While I do not known the precise details of the Furude family tree, I do know that the first child of the past two generations were female.
Furude Rika, the little girl who looks over to protect Hinamizawa. What would happen if Hinamizawa loses her divine protection? What would happen if the tranquility between the humans and the demons were to wither away? Would all hell break loose once again as human-eating demons begin to engulf the village?
Weak and powerless humans cry and scream as the demons feast and remember what it was like to be their former selves.
...I wonder what a spectacle that would be. My heart pounds in excitement just imagining what it would be like.
Footnote 1: "Yashiro" - a place that enshrines a local deity
Footnote 2: Literal translation of this way of spelling "Oyashiro-sama" - The deity is the shrine itself
Footnote 3: Literal translation of this way of spelling "Oyashiro-sama" - The deity of every eight generations
The Great Hinamizawa Disaster[]
Early dawn June 22, 1983
XX Prefecture, Shishibone County, Hinamizawa village – a wide spread disaster has occurred.
From one of the Hinamizawa district’s water sources, Onigafuchi Swamp, has emitted volcanic gases (hydrogen sulfide & carbon dioxide) that shrouded the entire village.
Over 1,200 victims confirmed.
Over 20 people reported missing.
Approximately 600,000 people were evacuated from the surrounding communities, making this an unprecedented catastrophe.
Later investigations showed that directly under Onigafuchi Swamp, there was a magma reservoir and hot springs;
Leading to the conclusion the erupted gases causing this disaster originated from here.
In addition, immediately after the disaster’s occurrence, one after another people claimed the disaster as the “Curse” in accordance to Hinamizawa folklore stirring early confusion.
In Hinamizawa, when a curse is set, noxious gas said to erupt and wipe out the village accordance to folklore;
Leading scholars to believe in the past a similar gas eruption happened and has remained as folklore.
One particular fanatical weekly magazine reports, that this is a mere extension to the bizarre deaths which has spanned the past several years in Hinamizawa village, aggregating it as the “Oyashiro-sama Curse Theory.”
Furthermore, the relatives of the Hinamizawa citizens who escaped the disaster complained of failing physical health and were hospitalized one after another following the disaster;
Among a portion of them, past away from an unknown disease, further escalating the chaos.
On top of that, few of the relatives self proclaimed they were possessed by Oyashiro-sama’s Curse and committed suicide in such outrageous ways,
...there was no longer any way to stop the wide-spread shock over the nation.
The delusion of poisonous gas seeping in the dead of night silently, sparked fear across the entire Japanese nation;
Resulting increasing complaints of sleeplessness, troubled breathing, headaches, dizziness, etc.
Amongst them, few proclaimed they were possessed, and committed to odd behaviors.
This is likely due to subjective influence from radical information, however,
...later, this mental distress caused by the Hinamizawa Catastrophe elevated to an epidemic dubbing this condition as the Hinamizawa Syndrome...
Targeted by various rumors and speculations, presently the Hinamizawa district has been restricted and even flight over the area has been prohibited.
As the gases level dropped, and the restriction was lifted, however, in the Fall of the same year once more a gas outbreak was confirmed, and the surrounding area was again restricted.
Local stories tell the rotting village still has the remains of civilization, as if in a coma sleeping continuously...
In the end there was a lone survivor, a male living at Hinamizawa XXXX block, Maebara Keiichi (1X).
At the time of rescue, he had trouble breathing suffering from pulmonary edema due to the gasses, however, from grave rescue efforts his life been saved.
Presently he is hospitalized in the general hospital within the prefecture.
Several reporters have tried pursing for an interview daily, but all were refused.
......What did he see at Hinamizawa?
From 6/21 to 6/22, what happen in Hinamizawa?
Even to this day, he has continued to keep his silence.
The Great Hinamizawa Disaster Casualties List[]
Tomitake Jirou (real name unknown)
1983.06.19 Committed suicide within the village? Investigation on hiatus.
Takano Miyo
1983.06.19 Strangled to death in the mountains of Gifu Prefecture. Corpse was later burned. Investigation on-going.
Oishi Kuraudo
1983.06.20 Went missing during an investigation. Investigation on-going.
Kumagai Katsuya
1983.06.20 Went missing during an investigation. Investigation on-going.
Irie Kyousuke
1983.06.21 Committed suicide in the clinic? Investigation on hiatus.
Furude Rika
1983.06.21 Murdered on the shrine compounds? Investigation on hiatus.
The Great Hinamizawa Gas Disaster Casualties List
Ryuuguu Reina
1983.06.22 Deceased - Great Hinamizawa Disaster
Sonozaki Mion
1983.06.22 Deceased - Great Hinamizawa Disaster
Sonozaki Oryou
1983.06.22 Deceased - Great Hinamizawa Disaster
Houjou Satoko
1983.06.22 Missing - Great Hinamizawa Disaster
Houjou Teppei
1983.06.22 Missing - Great Hinamizawa Disaster
Maebara Ichirou
1983.06.22 Deceased - Great Hinamizawa Disaster
Maebara Aiko
1983.06.22 Deceased - Great Hinamizawa Disaster
Tomita Daiki
1983.06.22 Deceased - Great Hinamizawa Disaster
Okamura Suguru
1983.06.22 Deceased - Great Hinamizawa Disaster
Chie Rumiko
1983.06.22 Deceased - Accident during evacuation of the Great Hinamizawa Disaster
Kimiyoshi Kiichirou
1983.06.22 Deceased - Great Hinamizawa Disaster
Kameda Kouichi
1983.06.22 Deceased - Accident during evacuation of the Great Hinamizawa Disaster
Kasai Tatsuyoshi
1983.08.11 Deceased - Passed away at local hospital
Sonozaki Shion
1983.08.27 Deceased - Committed suicide at local hospital. Investigation closed.
Maebara Keiichi
1983.08.29 Attempted suicide at local hospital.
Currently undergoing intensive medical treatment at the Prefectural Medical Facility and is recovering from severe PTSD from the disaster. Interview requests from all forms of media are prohibited.
Maebara Keiichi's Interview[]
Summer of 2003
An elderly couple residing in Osaka Prefecture found a very old cassette tape as they were going through their son's belongings who died eight years ago. Their son (died at age of 47) was declared legally dead after they could not find his body when the fishing boat he was on capsized in 1995. In 2003, the elderly couple began to go through their son's belongings for storage after eight years of distraught. This was when they found the crucial cassette tape.
The deceased worked for a tabloid press from the late 1980s to the early 1990s, and it is believed that this tape was recorded when he was a reporter during that time.
The label on the tape reads "November 28, 1983 - Maebara Keiichi." It is believed to be a rare recorded interview with the sole survivor of the Great Hinamizawa Disaster that occurred in June of 1983. As the sole survivor of the Great Disaster, there was high interest at the time in obtaining information from him about what he saw and witnessed on that fateful night of June 21. Alas, there had been no word from his own words what he experienced...until this time.
Hence, it is expected that this tape recording will become a highly valuable source.
(click)
Kei: ......It's kind of hard to talk when it's recorded...
Int: Don't pay attention. See, isn't this better?
(From this point on, the recording gets unclear. The recording device may have been covered by something.)
Int: Okay, let's begin... First question is...where were you that night when the disasaster happened?
Kei:......If you go around the back of the shrine and...follow the trail in the woods......there's a suspenion bridge right in front of the mountain.......I fell from it. I was unconscious after that.
Int: Was that the night of the disaster? I mean, the night of the 21st?
Kei: ......No. The morning of Tuesday, 21st. I woke up at noon the next day......I believe I was unconscious for a day and a half.
Int: Why were you there? I think a lot of people would wonder too. It was a weekday and the bridge was far from both your home and your school, right?
Kei: ............................
Int: To be blunt, some people say that you somehow knew about the disaster beforehand, and you fell from the bridge because you were escapeing. You know that?
Kei: ...No way. That's ridiculous.
Int: I think that's horrible, too. Don't be offended........So, the bridge you fell from is located here...on this map? The one at the end of the train in the woods behind the shrine?
Kei:.........Probably...I'm not sure because I haven't been there many times.
Int: Ha ha ha ha ha. I wonder what brought you there on a weekday morning.
Kei: ...........................
Int: And...? About the riverside where you were lying unconscious...do you know people say that's impossible?
Kei: ..."Impossible"...again......Impossible...? Again...? Still...?
(For a while, Maebara Keiichi repeats 'impossible')
Kei: ....why.. impossible?
Int: You know the gas came from the Onigafuchi swamp, right? Scholars simulated the incident using precise a diorama, and found out some interesting facts.
Kei: ..........................
Int: Volcanic gas is heavier than air, so it flows into the lower area along the landscape, like water. So, they held an experiment to find out how long it took for the gas to cover the area...... And they found out....that the gas must've flown through the riverside where you were unconscious.
Kei: ......I dont understand what you're saying.
Int: I mean, if you were lying by this riverside, that means you were in the middle of the volcanic gas throughout the night. So, it defied the possibility that you'd been unconscious here.
Kei:................................
Int: I'll talk more frankly. I think...I think you're lying....... You were hiding in some safe place at the time of the disaster, and came out when the gas started to thin down, then you were found by the Self-Defense Force crew......What do you think of this?....Am I right?
(For a while, the reporter questions him as if teasing. But Maebara Keiichi just keeps sighing)
Kei: ......I wouldn't be surprised..if that was true.
Int: What do you mean you wouldn't be surprised...?
Some doubt that this tape is a recording with the real Maebara Keiichi
Kei:...Like you said, it's impossible...But nothing is impossible in Hinamizawa.....People who weren't suppose to be there were there in that village! The dead people were still living!....That wasn't rare at all........I wasn't expecting to be the living dead myself............! Aha ha ha ha ha ha ha. Aha ha ha ha ha ha..........ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!
Int: Aha ha ha ha ha ha! Ha ha ha...
(For a while, both the reporter and Maebara Keiichi keep laughing.´)
To check the plausibility of the tape, the tape was brought to a relative of Maebara family and had them listen, but because the recording was aged and lacked clarity, the relative could not recognize his voice.
Int: Okay, Keiichi-kun, I'll change the subject. What do you think of the theory that the disaster was the fifth curse, following the series of bizarre deaths in Hinamizawa?
Kei: No, I don't think it was. The fifth curse was me.
Int: Eh? Aha ha ha ha! What do you mean?
Kei: What do I mean....? It's the answer to your question.
It is also doubtful that the date on the tape, November 28th is accurate.
Kei: I'm sure you won't believe, but......I made that disaster happen....It was me.....I wished for the whole village to die, and that's why it happened.
Int: Ha ha ha ha ha....That sounds excruciating.
Kei: Excruciating?...That's a funny way to describe it.....
Because Maebara Keiichi had been committed to a mental institution after he tried to kill himself in August, two moths after the disaster.
Kei: I killed Takano-san , the manager , and Ōishi ...I had a supernatural power at the time...Yeah...it was a footstep, so to speak.
Int: A footstep...? Ha ha ha ha. What is it?
Kei: Oh, haven't you heard of that?...Flap, flap. Swash, swash. Heh heh heh.
The institution never allowed reporters, so it is highly unlikely that a recording exists after August of 1983.
Kei: You should try stopping walking suddenly, it's fun.......And if you hear an extra footstep after you stopped.....you should be careful.....heh heh heh heh.
Int: Ah...aha ha ha ha! O-okay, I will! Ha ha, ha ha!
Kei:..........Is this conversation that funny?
Yet it is possible that this reporter had sneaked into the facility because at the time, he was famous for his forceful methods.
You've been just laughing........You're the same as the manager....you pretend you sympathize with me, but....you think i'm a lunatic inside...
Int: Ha ha, ha ha...No, I don't. Ha ha ha...
Kei: I can tell...You have the same look in your eyes as he did....
Is this recording really an interview with Maebara Keiichi...? The truth is unknown.
Kei: ...The footsteps stopped that day...so I dont know if I still have that power, but...one more time....i wish you dead. I wish you dead because you up set me with your talking....Why don't I choose how you'll die this time?.........Takano-san was burned to death, so.............why not drown? ......How about you drown to death?
Ten and some years later. The reporter died in an oceanic accident as Maebara Keiichi prophesied.
Kei: ..........Back in those days, I could kill you in one day, you'd die by the next morning..........I wonder how many days later you're going to die....Huh, ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha.........You should be careful. Don't! die because of my curse!...........Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha
(The recording stops in the middle of Maebara Keiichi's laughter.)
And Maebara Keiichi...
Two days after the interview, on November 30th of the 58th year of the Shouwa (1983), he died of a high fever from an unknown cause.
The day before his death, his strange remark was written on his medical record when he asked for a nurse.
"I hear... an extra footstep again..."