The Ghost In My Machine

Stories of the Strange and Unusual

The Weird Part Of YouTube: Unraveling The Mystery Of 4TH WALL’s Nakata Family & Their Extremely Haunted House

by

Previously: “School Rumors” And The Monster In The Basement.

In July of 2020, a single video appeared on a recently-registered YouTube channel called 4TH WALL. The video, titled “He is MISSING : Akira left this video,” features roughly four minutes of what’s honestly fairly conventional haunted house footage: Orbs (or, more likely, dust motes) flying through grainy security camera images; objects moving an inch or two seemingly unaided; doors sliding shut on their own; some odd-looking shadows that may or may not resemble faces or humanoid figures, depending on how closely you look at them; that kind of thing. If you’ve seen even just one paranormal investigation video at any point in your life, you’ve seen everything that happens in this one.

black and white close up of shoji panels viewed at an angle

The framing, though? That’s what turns some otherwise unexciting footage into something more. In various title cards and written captions, the people behind 4TH WALL — who do not identify themselves by name and refer to themselves only collectively, as “we” — tell us about the circumstances under which the footage was captured, and under which it was acquired; and, subsequently, why it’s of interest now: The footage was sent to them some three years earlier, in 2017, by a woman named Kanako, following the disappearance of her husband, the titular Akira. Akira had captured the footage prior to his disappearance… all the way back in 2009.

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As of July 2020, when this now-11-year-old footage appeared on 4TH WALL’s channel as their very first video, Akira — whose full name, we’ll soon learn, is Akira Nakata — was still missing.

And so, it turns out, was Kanako: A missing person report for Kanako was filed by Akira and Kanako’s daughter, Akemi, in December of 2018.

Akemi, 4TH WALL tells us, has new data for them.

They’re currently investigating the case.

Missing Pieces: More To The Story Than Meets The Eye

Over the following years, the case introduced in this single video would develop into a series which, as of November 2024, consists of seven videos. The “He is MISSING” videos, however, are far from the only ghost videos that appear on 4TH WALL’s channel; indeed, the channel is quite prolific, with some 60-odd videos available to watch, ranging in length from a few minutes to more than half an hour. Most of them don’t seem at first to be related to the “He is MISSING” videos, so if that’s the only part of the channel that interests you, you’d be forgiven for skipping everything but the ones labeled with that title.

But here’s the thing: If you only watch the “He is MISSING” videos, you, too, will miss things.

And there’s the rub. The way I see it, “He is MISSING” — what I’ve come to refer to mostly as the Nakata house investigation or the Nakata family case — is the main story of 4TH WALL, despite all of the other videos and series that appear on the channel.

When considering the wide array of videos and investigations on the channel, the Nakata house investigation functions, more or less, as the central organizing principle for it all. The main narrative is told in the “He is MISSING” videos, but many of 4TH WALL’s other videos — the ones that aren’t standalone filler that occupy the often-substantial spaces of time between Nakata house episodes — provide additional information about the case: They teach us more about the people directly involved; they inform us about the geographical area in which the story is set; and so on and so forth.

(It’s interesting to note, by the way, that some of the non-Nakata-related episodes seem to take their cues from well-known kowai hanashi, or Japanese creepypastas; “The Bizarre House” has elements similar to those in “Kotoribako,” for instance, while the series “An Apartment with Past Incidents – Ghost caught on the elevator” feels quite reminiscent of the Elevator Game. This observation is a little of the neither-here-nor-there variety, but I thought it was worth mentioning, as it points a bit to 4TH WALL’s lineage in the grand scheme of internet-based Japanese horror media.)

I’d also argue that the 4TH WALL collaborator and investigator named Meguro is the protagonist of the series and channel, despite the fact that, chronologically, he’s the last one to investigate the Nakata house.

4TH WALL is perhaps not quite as intricate as, say, one of its contemporaries, Fake Documentary Q, and the tricks used to create the effects seen in it are likely relatively simple. (There’s undoubtedly a lot of judicious use of fishing line and remotely controlled devices, for instance, along with some well-placed camera angles that obscure the manipulation while making it look like you’re seeing the whole picture.) It’s an interesting puzzle box of a series all the same, though, and an effective tale of generational baggage and the price a family’s descendants might pay for the sins of their ancestors.

the interior of a modern japanese home, in ruins. there are shoji panels on the walls, a shelving unit, and a Japanese-style dressing table with a mirror present. it is very dark.
From an early Fake Documentary Q episode with similar vibes to the kinds of investigations seen on 4TH WALL. The dressing table seen here — the mirror stand — is similar to the one we see frequently in 4TH WALL’s Nakata house footage, though notably more modern.

It’s a mystery that’s still unfolding now, which means we don’t have anywhere close to all the answers yet — but let’s take a look at what we’ve got so far, shall we? Let’s look specifically at how to watch the series, so that you get the full story — that is, which videos to watch, both within the official “He Is MISSING” series and outside of it. A guide to exploring the entire saga, if you will.

Here’s how to unravel the story of the Nakata family — and of the ripple effect their actions have had on all those who came after them.

Dramatis Personae: 4TH WALL’s Cast Of Characters

One of the interesting things about this whole elaborate tale is that, although the cast of characters is fairly expansive, we see comparatively few of them. This is especially true in the case of the Nakatas themselves; with the exception of some brief appearances of Akira or Kanako in the oldest footage, we actually see none of them — we only hear about them.

But this is a story about people, so first, let’s get our list of dramatis personae straight, starting with:

The Nakata Family:

At the center of the mystery is the Nakata family and whatever might be going on in their sometimes vacant, sometimes occupied, very possibly haunted house. They are:

Akira Nakata: The family patriarch. He has been missing since July of 2009, and is still missing as of now. 

Kanako Nakata: Akira’s wife. She is his second wife; they married in 2000. She submitted video footage captured by Akira right before he disappeared via survey form to 4TH WALL in April of 2017, which first alerted the channel to the mystery. She is also missing as of December 2018.

Akemi Nakata: The Nakata family’s adult daughter. She is Akira’s biological child and Kanako’s stepchild; she was five years old when Akira and Kanako married. Akemi submitted the missing person report for Kanako in 2018, and subsequently reached out to 4TH WALL asking them to investigate both Akira’s and Kanako’s disappearances.

She moved to Tokyo in 2013, when she was 18, for university, but has since returned to the area in which she grew up.

Sometimes, Akemi lives in the family’s house; other times, she does not. As of 2024, she is out of contact with 4TH WALL by her own choice, although she is not considered missing. As of this writing, she is around 31 years old.

Satoko Nakata: Akira’s grandmother; Akemi’s great-grandmother. However, Satoko is the only grandmother figure Akemi has ever known — Akira’s parents are long dead, and Akemi never knew them — so she refers to Satoko as simply her grandmother. They were very close.

Satoko lived with Akira and Akemi prior to Akira and Kanako’s marriage, as well as for a time after; however, she disappeared not long after Akira and Kanako married in 2000. She was reported missing seven years later, in 2007, and is presumed dead.

But although the Nakata family are the central figures in our story, they are far from the only characters involved. We also have:

The Investigators:

Various investigators working have taken on the case of the Nakata family mystery over the years. They are:

Company A: The first investigators Kanako Nakata hires to look for her husband; she engages their services in 2012. She fires them abruptly after they ask some uncomfortable questions about Satoko and her disappearance.

Videographer S: The first investigator 4TH WALL sends to the Nakata family house. He records the video for 4TH WALL’s first on-site investigation in October 2018, and returns to the house for a second visit in November of 2018. S is a longtime 4TH WALL collaborator, but stops all investigations — both with 4TH WALL and solo — after these two visits to the Nakata house. He is not necessarily missing, though 4TH WALL have been unable to contact him since around 2022.

S’s style is usually POV only. We don’t typically see him.

a video camera on a tripod, recording
Smile for the camera.

K: A psychic 4TH Wall has worked with from time to time. Kanako Nakata is acquainted with K; their connection is how Kanako learned about — and subsequently decided to reach out to — 4TH WALL.

Meguro: The second investigator 4TH WALL sends to the Nakata family house. He records the video for the 2024 investigation. Like S, he is a longtime 4TH WALL collaborator. Unlike S, we actually see Meguro fairly frequently; part of his technique and style involves addressing the camera to provide summaries of what he is doing and theories about what might be going on in each property he investigates.

Beginning around 2021, he is the primary investigator we see in 4TH WALL’s videos. Particularly notable investigations he undertakes include the Haunted House (Stigmatized Property) case, which occurred primarily between 2021 and 2022; a second Stigmatized Property investigation for the Kimura family (see: Others), which occurred in 2023; the Matsuo house ritual investigation, which Meguro originally began in 2015 and wrapped up in 2023; and the continued investigation of one of S’s outstanding cases, which S originally investigated in 2018 and Meguro took over in 2023.

Meguro is originally from the area where the Nakata family house is. The Matsuo family house is also in this area.

However, although Meguro’s family still lives in that area, Meguro himself no longer does. He purchased the home from the Haunted House (Stigmatized Property) investigation, which is Tokyo, in October of 2021 and moved into it in November of that year.

Meguro is also the touchstone for a number of other recurring side characters; many of them show up in 4TH WALL videos due to their connection with Meguro. (See: Others.) As I’ve noted, arguably, Meguro is the protagonist of the Nakata investigation story.

Others:

A handful of other characters tangentially related to the main story appear in 4TH WALL’s videos from time to time, often due to their existing relationship with Meguro. These others include:

Keisuke and Chiaki Kimura: Friends of Meguro’s. They are currently caring for the cat that belonged to the previous resident of Meguro’s haunted house. They also live in a stigmatized property, which Meguro investigated in 2023. They moved out shortly after his investigation and have experienced no issues in their new home.

Nakano: A collector of cursed objects. Nakano is acquainted with Meguro through their mutual friend, Keisuke Kimura. Meguro has never met Nakano in person; they have only corresponded via email, etc.

Kawasaki: A colleague of Meguro’s who is sensitive to spirits. He is first introduced during Meguro’s investigation of the haunted house shown in S’s old footage. He also undertakes a solo investigation of a mysterious shrine in 2023, and appears in the video about Nakano’s cursed objects.

4TH WALL: Whoever runs this channel may also be considered a character, although they are secondary or tertiary. They do not generally conduct on-the-ground investigations themselves (although there may be a very small number of exceptions); they typically send others, like S and Meguro, to do it, or they are simply sent footage shot by other people for analysis.

They refer to themselves as “we,” so it may be presumed that there are multiple people behind the channel — although that’s still not necessarily a given. We don’t know anything else about who they are — not their identity or identities, what their background is, nothing.

a stage viewed from the audience
Ready to break the fourth wall?

There’s also the question of the moniker itself and what it might mean. Is “4TH WALL” a reference to the concept of the fourth wall in narrative storytelling? Y’know, the one which can famously be broken to great effect? That’s my best guess, but as of right now, we just don’t know — and the channel itself certainly isn’t telling us.

What To Watch: Seeking Out The Nakata Complete House Saga

Here’s the thing: Although I remain convinced that the Nakata house case is the main story of 4TH WALL overall, there’s plenty on the channel that isn’t connected to that particular case. So what is?

Let’s answer that question: What follows are the videos to watch in order to get the most complete version of the story so far.

Some of the videos are more essential than others, so I’ve divided them all into three categories: Essential Viewing, or the videos you absolutely must watch in order to get the most basic idea of what’s going on; Optional But Recommended, or the videos that you can get by without viewing, although your experience of the story will be much richer if you do watch them; and Nice For Flavor, or videos that don’t relate directly to the main story, but which fill in the details about some of the secondary and tertiary characters or which otherwise just add a nice little bit of spice to the whole thing. 

Let’s start with the must-views:

Essential Viewing:

These videos are exactly what it says on the tin: The videos you must watch in order to understand the most general version of the Nakata house story.

The “He Is MISSING” Series

Without these videos — the full titles of which are “He Is MISSING: Akira left this video,” plus whatever number installment any given video might be — there is, of course, no Nakata house case. These ones are the bare minimum requirement to watch in order to unravel the story of the Nakatas.

Although there are six parts to the series as they’re labeled, there are seven videos in total. This is because Part 4 is split across two videos.

A playlist for all of them can be found here; however, in the event that a list with individual links is useful to you, here’s all of them, plus the dates they were uploaded:

The “Haunted House (Stigmatized Property)” Series

This series is Meguro’s first notable appearance on 4TH WALL’s channel; it introduces us to him as an investigator in terms of his style and the way he operates, and serves as some connective tissue between him and some of the other characters in our Dramatis Personae. There are eight videos in this series, although there’s also a ninth that’s no longer available to watch.

Arguably, these videos are more Optional But Recommended; however, because they introduce Meguro, who turns out to be the most important investigator of the Nakata house case, I think you’d be doing yourself a disservice to skip them.

a tatami room
A tatami room, or washitsu. Many of the houses in 4TH WALL’s investigations have them, including the Nakata house.

Again, there’s a full playlist here, but in the event that you find it useful, I’ve also put together a list of each individual video with its own link and the date of its upload below:

As a little bonus, the channel belonging to the person who originally owned the house in this investigation also exists. It can be found here, although if you’ve watched the Haunted House (Stigmatized Property) at 4TH WALL’s channel, you’ll already have seen everything there is on it.

The Matsuo House Investigation

In 2015, Meguro investigated a house belonging to family called Matsuo that was in the same area in which he grew up. He discovered evidence of a ritual termed the Tonson-sama ritual — a ritual that seemed geared towards marrying in death two people who died before they could get married in life. This video includes both footage from that original investigation, as well as from 2023, when Meguro returned to the house for one additional visit.

This video, it turns out, is actually essential for understanding the Nakata house case. What it before watching the seventh “He Is MISSING” video (the one that’s labeled Part 6.)

Its actual title is “We experienced a real curse – The Ritual”; it was uploaded on Sept. 16, 2023.

Optional But Recommended:

These videos aren’t absolutely essential, but they do provide information about and context for many of the key players in the Nakata house saga. They make the world of the story a bit richer. Personally, I wouldn’t skip these.

The “Video Shot By Videographer S” Series

These four videos tell us about the first investigator 4TH WALL sent to the Nakata house, Videographer S — both how he worked, and also what may or may not have happened to him after his two 2018 visits to the Nakata family house. The footage itself isn’t connected to the Nakata house, but the series as a whole provides a bit more information and context. S provides this footage to 4TH WALL after he swears off all further paranormal investigations.

Of particular interest are the second and third videos, “Part 2 – First Part” and “Part 2 – Second Part.” Here, S investigates a haunted house near where he grew up — and then, in the second part, we see Meguro’s continuation of the investigation after S abandons it.

There are four videos; the playlist is here, and the individual videos and upload dates are below:

Nice For Flavor:

These videos are the lowest-priority ones to watch; they’re only tangentially related to the rest of the main series. You can skip them and not miss anything, but they’re still kind of nice to have.

damaged, torn shoji
Damaged, torn shoji like this is seen frequently in 4TH WALL’s videos. The Nakata house in particular has some extremely damaged shoji in it.

“A Stigmatized Property – Ghost Caught On Camera”

This video directly follows Meguro’s own Haunted House Stigmatized Property videos. It introduces us properly to the Kimuras, Keisuke and Chiaki—the cat-friendly couple Meguro knows, and to whom he gave the cat that used to live at his own haunted house, due to them being better able to care for it than he is.

It turns out that the Kimuras also live in a haunted house. This is Meguro’s investigation of their house, and of them. It was originally uploaded on Aug. 12, 2023.

“A House With Cursed Objects”

Again, this video isn’t at all important to the main story, but it does demonstrate just how much Meguro is the touchstone for all of the other characters involved — both in the Nakata house case story, and for the 4TH WALL channel in general — as it connects, through Meguro, a number of other characters we previously had no reason to believe were connected: The source of the cursed objects investigates in the video is named Nakano; Nakano is a friend of Keisuke Kimura; and Kawasaki, who works with Meguro frequently, helps out with the investigation here.

“A House With Cursed Objects” was originally uploaded on April 27, 2024.

The Shrine Investigation

A Kawasaki solo venture. Not essential, but interesting all the same. Its full title is “Investigation of mysterious sounds coming from the shrine – Ushi no Koku Mairi,” and it was uploaded on Nov. 11, 2023.

Non-Linear Storytelling: Viewing The Nakata House Case In Upload Order

If you want to watch these videos in the order in which they were originally published on the channel, here’s what that playlist would look like:

All in all, that’s 23 videos — a little more than a third of what’s on the channel. Beyond them, the other videos — particularly the earlier ones — are generally one-shots or don’t otherwise add anything to the main Nakata house investigation. Of those, the more recent videos (from 2023 onward) are the ones that aren’t just random investigations performed by persons unknown; Meguro has a hand in most if not all of them, so if you’re curious about more of Meguro’s work, those are worth a watch. I particularly like “The Bizarre House,” myself.

But that leaves us with the following question: What does all of that — all of what we see in those 23 videos — add up to? Because if you view them all in upload order, which I do recommend doing, we’ve got an awful lot of non-linear storytelling going on.

another tatami room
Another washitsu. Not the Nakata house.

Personally, I like non-linear storytelling; I like being able to piece together things as I go, and I appreciate a well-executed reveal that completely changes how you think about everything you thought you knew about the story up until that point. But it can make it a little difficult to keep track of everything — the main storyline of the Nakata family; the storyline of the investigation of their house; and even what exactly is going on with everyone else involved in the story beyond the Nakatas.

So: To get a bigger picture look at it all, let’s do something we haven’t done for a while — not since Backrooms: Found Footage.

Let’s make a timeline.

Here’s how all of those videos fit together, chronologically speaking.

Here’s what happens in the Nakata house case so far.

The Case For Chronology: A Complete Timeline Of The Nakata House Case

The timeline spans from 2000 up to the present — that is, about 25 years — with each entry including citations for where in the series that information comes from.

Note, though, that the citations for any given point in time aren’t necessarily from that time — that is, it’s not necessarily footage that was recorded at that time; the citation means that something in the video provides this information to us. Often, it’s the written text or narration from 4TH WALL themselves.

So, with that out of the way: Let’s begin.

2000: Akira and Kanako Nakata marry. Akemi is five years old at the time. Satoko, Akira’s grandmother and Akemi’s great-grandmother who had been living with them, goes missing shortly thereafter. (“He Is MISSING: Akira left this video – Part 2 – The Demon Room.”)

2007: Satoko Nakata is officially declared missing, some seven years after she actually vanished. (“He Is MISSING: Akira left this video – Part 2 – The Demon Room.”)

Early 2009: Akira puts an antique mirror stand (a dressing table that opens up into a mirror — a kagami-dai or kyodai, or かがみだい or きょうだい , I believe it’s called) in the room that had previously been Satoko’s, called the Demon Room. He also sets up a CCTV system in the house, due to the strange phenomena that have been occurring in the house since Satoko’s disappearance. (“He Is MISSING: Akira left this video – Part 2 – The Demon Room.”)

February 2009: Akira records a video of himself burying a doll in the mountains. This video seems to have been recorded over footage from a vacation which included a trip to Alcatraz. (“He Is MISSING: Akira left this video – Part 4.”)

February 28, 2009: The CCTV captures Akira returning home in a trance-like state, the same doll he had previously buried carried in his hand. (“He Is MISSING: Akira left this video – Part 4.”)

March 2009: The doll, possibly cursed, reappears during the Hinamatsuri. It is likely that Akira, still possessed, placed it in the hina doll setup in the family’s altar room after retrieving it from the mountain. He does not recall doing this. (“He Is MISSING: Akira left this video – Part 4.”)

a hina doll setup, with many red platforms lined with many hina dolls
A hina doll stand similar to the one seen in the Nakata house. This one, however, is correctly arranged, whereas the Nakata house on frequently is not.

July 2009: Akira Nakata disappears. (“He Is MISSING: Akira left this video.”)

2012: Kanako Nakata employs “Company A” to investigate phenomena in house. She later fires them after they ask her about Satoko’s disappearance — specifically, about whether Kanako and Akira had locked Satoko in her bedroom. (“He Is MISSING: Akira left this video – Part 2 – The Demon Room.”)

2013: Akemi Nakata, now 18, moves to Tokyo for university. (“He Is MISSING: Akira left this video – Part 4.”)

2015: Meguro investigates the Matsuo house. The house has an old clinic attached to it. Neither the clinic nor the house are currently in use, but once upon a time, Matsuo-san and his daughter Sayaka lived there, along with an employee of the clinic, Hiroko. Hiroko and Sayaka fell in love, but Sayaka fell to her death down the stairs before they could marry. Hiroko later died as well.

In one of the rooms of the house, Meguro finds a strange arrangement: Several photographs of people connected with the house — people who are no longer living, including Sayaka and Hiroto — set flat on the ground, each with a doll placed on top.

Three months after the investigation, Matsuo-san suffers heart failure. On the way to the hospital, those who were transporting Matsuo-san observed him to be chanting something resembling a spell the whole time. Matsuo-san passes away shortly thereafter. (“We experienced a real curse – The Ritual.”)

April 2017: Kanako submits Akira’s footage of strange phenomena occurring in their house to 4TH WALL. (“He Is MISSING: Akira left this video.”)

2018: Videographer S investigates a haunted house near where he grew up. (“Video shot by videographer S – Part 2 – First Part.”)

October 2018: 4TH WALL’s first investigation of the Nakata family home, lasting five days. The house is vacant at this time, although it’s still fully furnished and seemingly cleaned regularly. They are told that, during the investigation, they are NOT to enter three designated rooms: A room on the first floor; Akemi’s old bedroom on the second floor; and another room on the second floor. They’re not told why they are not to enter these rooms. (“He Is MISSING: Akira left this video – Part 3.”)

This investigation is carried out and documented by videographer S. (“He Is MISSING: Akira left this video – Part 3.”) He takes a VHS tape from the home without permission, which holds the footage of Akira burying the doll on the mountain Akira himself shot in February of 2009. (“He Is MISSING: Akira left this video – Part 4.”) He also shoots footage of Akemi’s old bedroom, despite having been told not to. He sees the possibly-cursed doll contained within a glass case in Akemi’s old room, although he censors this footage when he submits it to 4TH WALL and refuses to discuss what he shot. 4TH WALL do not, at this time, know what is contained on the footage. (“He Is MISSING: Akira left this video – Part 4 – 2.”)

November 2018: S revisits house of his own accord, in part to return the VHS tape. 4TH WALL is not aware of the visit at this time, and S did not receive permission from Kanako to enter the house. He enters through a window. He has an encounter with an old woman — later theorized to be Satoko’s ghost — and sees a hina doll setup in the altar room that wasn’t there the previous month. Notably, it is not the right season for this: Hinamatsuri is in March. The cursed doll is present in the setup. (“He Is MISSING: Akira left this video – Part 4.”)

a pile of VHS tapes depicted in a grainy photograph
Raise your hand if you’re old enough to remember VHS.

S is possibly possessed by something while he is here, and is compelled to bring the cursed doll from the hina doll setup into the Demon Room. He does not remember doing this, although he has record of it on video. (“He Is MISSING: Akira left this video – Part 4 – 2.”)

Following this visit, S stops all investigations, both solo and with 4TH WALL. He sends the footage from his two visits to the Nakata house, plus footage from a few of his solo investigations, to 4TH WALL, then cuts off all contact with them. (“Video shot by videographer S – Part 1 – Scary video.”)

December 2018: Kanako Nakata disappears. (“He Is MISSING: Akira left this video.”)

End of December 2018: 4TH WALL begins corresponding with Akemi Nakata after Kanako’s disappearance. Akemi then becomes very ill with an unspecified condition, and is hospitalized for some time. (“He Is MISSING: Akira left this video – Part 4 – 2.”)

Summer 2020: 4TH WALL and an unnamed videographer investigate the house again for a few days with psychic K, following the viewing of footage sent to them by Akemi. Akemi is sometimes living in the house during this period; she is in and out of the hospital regularly due to her illness, so she stays in the house when she is not in the hospital. She is not currently in residence, however. Akemi does NOT ask 4TH WALL to find her parents; she wants to see her grandmother, who she thinks has something to tell her.

During this visit, on day two, 4TH WALL finds a collection of Akemi’s childhood drawings inside a closet in the Demon Room. These drawings show two figures that look to be Akemi and Satoko, as well as a “demon couple.” They also find a small piece of metal they later learn belongs to the lock of a sliding door. (“He Is MISSING: Akira left this video – Part 5.”)

July 18, 2020: 4TH WALL begins uploading the videos of the Nakata family house investigation to YouTube. (“He Is MISSING: Akira left this video.”)

May 2021: Meguro begins investigating the Haunted House Stigmatized Property case. (“Haunted House (Stigmatized Property) – paranormal activity caught on camera” series.)

August 2021: Meguro appears on the 4TH WALL YouTube channel for the first time, in the second video of the Haunted House Stigmatized Property case. (“Haunted House PART 2 (Stigmatized Property) – paranormal activity caught on camera.”)

October 2021: Meguro informs 4TH WALL of his intended purchase of the house in the Haunted House Stigmatized Property case. (“Haunted House PART 3 (Stigmatized Property) – paranormal activity caught on camera.”)

November 2021: Meguro has completed the purchase. He moves into the house at this time and continues investigating it. (“Haunted House PART 3 (Stigmatized Property) – paranormal activity caught on camera” and “Haunted House (Stigmatized Property) – paranormal activity caught on camera” series.)

January 2022: After not speaking to 4TH WALL for three years, S finally gives the footage of Akemi’s room he shot in October of 2018 to them, (“He Is MISSING: Akira left this video – Part 4 – 2”) along with the remnants of other footage of his own solo investigations. (“Video shot by videographer S” series.) The Nakata house footage shows the encased cursed doll. After this, he disappears again. 4TH WALL have been unable to reach him since. (“He Is MISSING: Akira left this video – Part 4 – 2.”)

emperor and empress dolls atop a hina doll stand
This is what the top of a hina doll stand is supposed to look like. It is NOT what the top of the hina doll stand in the Nakata house looks like.

January 3, 2022: 4TH WALL posts the third video in the “He Is MISSING” series. This video features footage from the first investigation of the Nakata family house conducted by videographer S in 2018. This video also posits a theory about what happened to Satoko: That Akira and Kanako imprisoned Satoko in the Demon Room until she died, clearing the way for them to collect a large inheritance. (“He Is MISSING: Akira left this video – Part 3.”)

July 2022: Meguro finds the cat who belonged to the previous owner, Ichihara, of his haunted house on the home’s second floor balcony. He is unable to reach Ichihara, so he gives the cat to friends of his, the cat-friendly Kimura family, to watch in the meantime. (“Haunted House – Special Edition (Stigmatized Property).”)

August 7, 2022: 4TH WALL posts the video with the 2020 investigation footage. They theorize that Akemi’s childhood drawings feature figures that look to be Akemi and Satoko; additionally, they suggest that the “demon couple” might represent Akira and Kanako.

They also present the theory that Satoko was imprisoned not just inside the Demon Room, but inside the Demon Room’s closet: If the sliding closet door was locked from the outside using the piece of metal they found during the investigation, there would be no way to open the door from the inside. (“He Is MISSING: Akira left this video – Part 5.”)

April 2023: Meguro investigates the home of the Kimura family, who, it turns out, also live in a haunted, stigmatized property. The cat is doing great! (“A Stigmatized Property – Ghost Caught On Camera.”)

Summer 2023: Meguro takes up the outstanding 2018 investigation of the haunted house in S’s hometown. He brings Kawasaki with him. (“Video shot by videographer S – Part 2 – Second Part.”)

June 2023: Meguro revisits the Matsuo house eight years after his initial investigation. It now has a new owner; the new owner intends to renovate it, although the renovations have not yet taken place. The photographs with the dolls placed on top are still present, although they are now in a different spot in the house. The owner claims not to have touched them.

Meguro realizes the setup resembles a wedding ceremony, and soon learns that it’s a ritual: The Tonson-sama ritual, which is intended to marry two spirits after death. Meguro also suspects that Matsuo-san sacrificed himself to carry out the ritual.

In late June, a car crashes into the gate of the Matsuo house. 4TH WALL encourage Meguro to consult with a psychic medium about the best path forward. The medium tells him that there may be a curse at play, and advise him not to return to the house. (“We experienced a real curse – The Ritual.”)

August 2023: Meguro returns to the Matsuo house again anyway, without informing 4TH WALL that he intended to do so until after the fact. He cleans and organizes the Tonson-sama setup out of respect for its participants. (“We experienced a real curse – The Ritual.”)

Sometime later, the house is demolished. (“He Is MISSING: Akira left this video – Part 6.”)

hina dolls
Hina dolls. Some of the dolls used in the Tonson-sama ritual Meguro finds at the Matsuo house look to be hina dolls.

September 16, 2023: 4TH WALL posts the video of Meguro’s investigation of the Matsuo house featuring the Tonson-sama ritual. (“We experienced a real curse – The Ritual.”)

October 2023: Kawasaki investigates a shrine solo. At this time, the house from S’s outstanding investigation in his hometown is set to be demolished. (“Investigation of mysterious sounds coming from the shrine – Ushi no Koku Mairi.”)

End of 2023: Akemi is no longer living in the Nakata family house. The house is left vacant. The electricity is turned off. (“He Is MISSING: Akira left this video – Part 6.”)

January 2024: Meguro investigates a collection of allegedly cursed objects acquired by a person named Nakano. Meguro is introduced to Nakano by Keisuke Kimura. Kawasaki aides in the investigation. (“A House With Cursed Objects.”)

Spring of 2024: Akemi asks via email for 4TH WALL to come back to the house; she says there’s something she wants them to see inside her old bedroom. She also says, cryptically, that she has already met Satoko at the house, and that she played with her in the Demon Room, “over and over again, just like in the old days.” (“He Is MISSING: Akira left this video – Part 6.”)

July 2024: Akemi sends the key to the house. She says 4TH WALL are welcome to visit as often as they like, but notes that she’ll be away for a while and therefore not present herself; she also asks that they refrain from contacting her further for the time being. She asks specifically for Meguro to do this investigation. (“He Is MISSING: Akira left this video – Part 6.”)

Summer/Fall 2024: Meguro investigates the Nakata family house for the first time, and, in a cabinet in Akemi’s old bedroom, finds a setup very similar to the Tonson-sama ritual setup he previously saw at the Matsuo house: Three photographs — one of Akira, one of Kanako, and one of Satoko — placed flat on a shelf with dolls on top.

Meguro, who had previously intended to spent the night at the Nakata family house, changes his plan at that point: He leaves to go spend the night at his parents’ house instead.

Something about his experience at the Nakata house shook him up. (“He Is MISSING: Akira left this video – Part 6.”)

And that’s what we’ve got — for now, at least.

The Questions That Remain, And What’s Still To Come

So where does that leave us? With a lot of questions, mainly. I have some ideas, though, about what might actually be going on here — what might be happening inside the Nakata family house, and why.

There’s the implication in the Matsuo house investigation video that originally, Matsuo-san started the Tonson-sama ritual all the way back in 1990 to wed the spirit of his daughter, Sayako, to Hiroko, as the two had not gotten the chance to marry in life before Sayako died. But Hiroko was still alive then — and may, in fact, have died as a result of the ritual: In attempting to marry a dead person (Sayako) to a living one (Hiroko), it may have caused the living one to die by supernatural means while the ritual was ongoing. In short: The very end of the video implies that Hiroko may have died as a result of Matsuo-san beginning the Tonson-sama ritual after Sayako’s death. It’s also suggested that Matsuo-san’s own death was connected as well — that he sacrificed himself to fuel the ritual.

a video camera against a black background, shot dramatically from below
Ready for your close-up?

So what’s going on with the Tonson-sama setup in the Nakata house? After all, Akira and Kanako were married while they were both alive — so what need would there be for a ritual to marry them in death? And who would have attempted to conduct the ritual in the first place?

4TH WALL posits that Kanako or Akemi had to be the ones behind the ritual. Meguro thinks it’s Akemi. His theory is that, before Kanako went missing in 2018, Akemi had determined that Akira was not just missing himself, but actually dead — and that Akemi began the ritual in order to unite Kanako with Akira, despite the fact that Kanako was still living. The implication here is that what happened to Hiroko is also what happened to Kanako — that is, that she went missing, or possibly died, as a result of the Tonson-sama ritual.

As for why Akemi may have done this? Well, there’s the possibility that it may not have been an act of love.

If the theory about Akira and Kanako having locked Satoko in the Demon Room or its closet in order to receive their inheritance from her early is correct — and if Akemi figured it out — then it’s possible that Satoko may have left a grudge on the house.

It’s possible that Akira may have been driven mad by it.

And it’s possible that, if Akemi knew that Akira was dead, not just missing, then she could have used the Tonson-sama ritual to… let’s call it hurry Kanako along.

She could have done it in retaliation against Akira and Kanako — in return for them killing her beloved grandmother to satisfy their own greed.

In other words, the Tonson-sama ritual as it was performed inside the Nakata family house could have been an act of revenge.

Of course, the only person who can confirm or refute this theory is Akemi — but she’s no longer reachable. She hasn’t replied to any of 4TH WALL’s emails, and her phone number is now disconnected. It’s not outside the realm of possibility to think that she may never be reachable again — that she, like Matsuo-san, may have sacrificed herself to fuel the ritual — but absent any evidence of her death, she remains simply missing. The mystery, too, remains unsolved.

And you know what? That’s honestly not even the weirdest thing about the whole sordid tale. The weirdest thing is that the lowest common denominator here isn’t a member of the Nakata family at all.

It’s Meguro.

Meguro is from the area where the Matsuo house is. He’s from the area where the Nakata house is. He is the one who discovered the Tonson-sama ritual at the Matsuo house. He is the one who Akemi chose to show the Tonson-sama ritual at the Nakata house.

Why is Meguro the lynchpin? Why is he the connective tissue between all of these threads?

Hence, the thought I just can’t shake that maybe the protagonist of this whole story isn’t the Nakatas, but Meguro. I suspect that he’s got some even bigger connection to everything than anyone has figured out yet — even Meguro himself.

But alas, we have no answers to any of those questions yet. Although there have been other 4TH WALL videos posted since what’s currently the last video in the “He Is MISSING” series, we’ve heard nothing about the Nakata house case since then.

There’s still more to come, I suspect.

We’ll just have to wait and see what happens next.

And I, for one, am waiting for it with bated breath.

***

Follow The Ghost In My Machine on Bluesky @GhostMachine13.bsky.social, Twitter @GhostMachine13, and Facebook @TheGhostInMyMachine. And for more games, don’t forget to check out Dangerous Games To Play In The Dark, available now from Chronicle Books!

[Photos via naturalogy, StockSnap, marybettiniblank, KLAU2018, dep377, tookakpic/Pixabay; FakeDocumentaryQ/YouTube; Douglas P. Perkins, Mr.ちゅらさん, public domain, Chris 73, tab2_dawa/Wikimedia Commons, available under CC BY-SA 3.0, CC BY-SA 4.0, and CC BY 2.0 Creative Commons licenses.]

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