On her first night, Kaoru dreams of meeting Izumi () who seemingly dislikes her appearance, as well as an Izumi-shaped scarecrow. He offers to let Kaoru stay for several days and tells her that Izumi is in the hospital. While Izumi's father, Kozo (), greets her warmly, his wife, Yukie (), acts cold like the other villagers. Finding Sally quickly leaving the scene, Kaoru heads to the Miyamori residence and meets with Izumi's parents. Arriving at a red-draped windmill, Kaoru meets Sally (), who is playing with a little girl, Ayumi Noji (), whose father, Shusaku () hastily arrives to take her, warning her not to talk to strangers. Kaoru does arrive at Kozukata, but all of the villagers act cold to strangers, only informing her about the upcoming 'Kakashi Matsuri' (Scarecrow Festival). Going inside the tunnel, her car breaks down, forcing her to walk on foot.

While going there, Kaoru sees a missing person poster of a Chinese woman named Sally Chen, nearby which she finds a tunnel leading to the village. The letter's address comes from Kozukata Village, located in the hills of a mountain. Inside it are bits of straws and a letter from Izumi Miyamori, a former friend of Kaoru who wants Tsuyoshi to meet her. Unable to contact him for a week, she goes to his apartment and finds an envelope near his telephone. In the beginning, Kaoru is a young woman who has close relationship with her brother, Tsuyoshi their parents had been dead a long time ago. Opening, lead protagonist, Kaoru Yoshikawa () is shown screaming in front of flames, asking why it had to be done to her. Little did they know that it may bring consequences far greater than they thought. They eventually began to burn human effigies made of straws as it also attract the spirits of the dead so they can interact with them. Plot The opening text narrates the tradition of 'Kakashi', where humans would burn animal and human hairs to prevent evil spirits from entering Earth.

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