In the Kushiata region of 1840 Kyoto, Japan, a man and woman meet in a darkened house and fondle a small figurine of two lovers in a passionate embrace. As the man and woman make love, an older man arrives at the house and sees the lovers' silhouettes through the screen wall. Enraged, he slices through the barrier with his katana sword, destroying the room; he then chops off the younger man's head, stabs the woman, and kills himself. A storm blows the figurine into the rubble and encases the house in darkness. In contemporary Japan, an American diplomat named Alex goes to the airport to meet his two friends, Ted and Laura, and their young daughter, Amy, who have moved to Japan for Ted's job as a writer. In the car, Alex announces that he found a 200 year-old house for the family to rent at a low rate. He admits that the house is supposedly haunted, but Ted is excited by the idea. At the house, the family admires their spacious new home, and Alex says goodbye. That night, the light in Laura's room repeatedly turns off automatically, but Ted blames a faulty switch. Later, Ted awakens to see three blue, ghostly figures in the doorway, which disappear when he turns on the light. He and Laura make love. The next morning, a Zen monk arrives to warn Ted that the house contains dark spirits; he advises Ted to visit him at the temple should any problems arise. Meanwhile, Laura finds the figurine lodged under the stairs and shows it to her husband, who identifies it as a netsuke carving. While the couple talks, the female ghost walks into Laura's body. Laura asks Ted why Alex never married, and makes a suggestive remark about her feelings toward their friend. As Laura feels the spirit leave her body, she apologizes for her offhand comment. Later, at a street festival in Tokyo, Japan, Ted takes photographs of a woman he sees through his lens, but when he lowers the camera from his face, she disappears. Meanwhile, Alex telephones Laura to invite her and Ted to a party; the female ghost possesses Laura again, and she insists Alex come to visit her at the house. When Ted develops the photographs, the woman is missing from the frame. During dinner, the female ghost overturns a plate of food. On the night of the party, Laura puts the netsuke carving in her purse and dances with Alex, before taking him to a private garden where she kisses him. Ted leaves the event with three Japanese magazine agents who wish to discuss business. They drink, and, sometime later, Ted awakens from a drunken sleep in a restaurant booth, with a woman named Wakako draped over him. As he dances with her, she transforms into the woman Ted saw in his camera. She reveals her name to be Otami, but quickly changes back into Wakako. At the house the next morning, the sink faucet turns on automatically, causing Laura to become anxious. While she and Amy go shopping, the female ghost awakens Ted. Later, the older male ghost stabs his sword into Ted's desk, and the ghostly blue weapon turns to metal. Frightened, Ted visits the monk, who says that many years earlier, a young girl named Otami fell in love with Masanori, a samurai student of her husband, Shugoro. The monk explains the rest as Shugoro killed Masanori and Otami before killing himself. When Laura and Amy return home, Ted admires the demonic masks they purchased, but yells at his wife for spending so much money. He apologizes, however, and they embrace. During dinner, Amy sees a ghostly blue face in her soup, and refuses to eat. Shugoro's ghost possesses Ted, and he forces the soup down Amy's throat. The next morning, Ted urges Laura and Amy to accompany him on his business trip that day, but Laura insists they will be fine at home. After Laura sends Amy away with a babysitter, she invites Alex to the house and they make love. Meanwhile, Ted photographs a group of Japanese crab-divers called "Ama." Otami takes the form of one of the drivers and pulls Ted under the water. That night at the house, Laura receives a telephone call, informing her that Ted is in the hospital, and she leaves Amy home with the babysitter. As the girl sleeps, the male ghosts possess two large spider crabs and they chase Amy outside. The girl climbs a tree, but falls to the ground. When Ted and Laura return home, the police report that Amy has been hospitalized. Amy is sent back to the USA to recuperate. One week later, one of the masks flies off the wall and falls onto the table in front of Laura, prompting her to proclaim that she hates the house. Ted destroys the mask with a katana, which causes Laura to convulse in pain. After resting, Laura telephones Alex to end their affair, declaring that she loves her husband. Sometime later, the Zen monk explains that Amy swallowed the ghost's soul when she drank the soup, and instructs the family to return home the next day. He performs a ritual, scattering powder throughout the rooms and chasing the three ghosts outside. Laura cries, crouched in the corner of the room. The Zen monk tells Ted and Laura that the ghosts are gone, but not to let anyone inside the house until morning when he will return to exorcise the house to cleanse it of evil once and for all. Once the monk leaves, a guilt-ridden Laura tells Ted about her sexual tryst with Alex. Ted reacts very badly and responds by hitting Laura. Just then, Alex enters the house, and unknowingly lets the three ghosts inside with him. Ted then punches Alex, and the two men fight. As Otami possesses Laura, Shugoro enters Ted's body, improving his fighting skills. Finally, the ghosts motivation for creating all this mischief and mayhem becomes known: they have been plotting to reenact the tragic encounter in order to pass on to the afterlife. The possessed Ted and Alex duel with katanas until Ted gorily beheads Alex. Ted drives his sword into Laura's stomach before he commits suicide in the same manner from the opening scene. The three ghosts rise from the corpses and exit the house, leaving behind the netsuke carving.
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