She was born in 1971 as Kayako Kawamata. She was used by her mother who is an Itako (Japanese Exorcist) to "eat" the evil spirits from her mother's patients. This marks the child for the rest of her life, making her a target for gossip and cruelty. Kayako did seem to have a father-figure in her life. When she attends university, she meets Shunsuke Kobayashi , with whom she falls deeply in love. Years later, Kayako marries Takeo Saeki, the only person who understands and cares for her, and together, they have a son named Toshio. By now, Kobayashi is Toshio's school teacher, and she falls in love with him again. She writes of her feelings for him in the journal she kept all her life.