The Murder And Torture of Junko Furuta
!! Trigger warning for descriptions of torture. Contains graphic detail.
Junko Furuta (古田 順子) was a Japanese high school student who was abducted, tortured, raped and murdered in the late 1980s. About 100 people knew about Furuta’s imprisonment but neglected to report it.
At 17 years old and 165cm tall, Junko Furuta was a high grade student working part time after school to save for a graduation trip. On the day of her abduction she told friends she was looking forward to watching a television show.
On 25th November 1988, Hiroshi Miyano and Nobuharu Minato wandered around looking for women to rob and rape, at 8.30pm they saw Furuta cycling home, Miyano told Minato to knock her off her bicycle and hid while he did so. Under the pretence of witnessing an attack Miyano approached Furuta and offered to walk her home safely, he then led her to a nearby warehouse where he revealed his connections to the yakuza gang and raped her, he threatened to kill her before taking her to a hotel and raping her again. From the hotel Miyano called his friends, Jō Ogura and Yasushi Watanabe, to brag about the rape. Ogura asked Miyano to keep her captive to allow others to rape her. The group had a history of kidnap and gang rape.
At 3am, Miyano took Furuta to a nearby park where Minato, Ogura and Watanabe were waiting. They found her home address in a notebook they took from her schoolbag and told her yakuza members would kill her family if she tried to escape. She was taken to Minato’s parents house which became their regular hangout and the place she continued to be imprisoned. After. being reported missing by her mother, the boys forced her to call her mother and tell her she had run away and to stop the police investigation. Furuta was also forced to pose as one of the gang’s girlfriends around Minato’s parents, a pretence that was dropped when it was clear the adults would not report them. They stated this was due to Miyano’s yakuza connections and fear of their violent son.
Furuta was held in the residence for 40 days, during which time she was horrifically abused, raped and tortured. Friends of the imprisoners were also invited to come over and participate. It was estimated that over 100 men participated in her torture and rape. Their trial statements stated that the 4 of the raped her over 400 times, beat her, starved her, hung her from the ceiling, made her sing while being beaten, forced her to masturbate for their entertainment, used her as a punching bag, dropped barbells on her stomach, and forced her to drink her own urine and eat live cockroaches. She was vaginally and anally raped with foreign objects including having a hot lightbulb, a glass soda bottle and a lit firework inserted into her. One of her nipples was torn off with pliers, her breasts were pierced with sewing needles and her eyelids were burn with hot wax. If Furuta lost consciousness during her torture her head was dunked in a bucket of water to wake her up.
Some accomplices were identified and charged when their DNA was found on and inside Furuta’s body. One claimed to have been forced to rape her and to have contacted the police, this had led to two officers going to the Minato house who left after being informed there was no girl inside, declining an invitation to search the property. Had they searched and found Furuta, her torment would have lasted only 16 days and she may have survived. Furuta also attempted to call police but was discovered before she could speak, when the police rang back Miyano told them it was an accidental call. As punishment her captors tipped lighter fluid on her legs and feet and set them on fire, she began convulsing and her captors decided she was attempting to fake a seizure and set her on fire again. Furuta repeatedly asked the boys to kill her and finish it but they refused. Due to the violent torture, Furuta lost bladder and bowel control, which she was beaten for and became unable to keep down food or water, which again she was beaten for.
Towards the end of her torment Furuta was severely crippled and her face was unrecognisable, she smelt like rotting meat which caused the boys to lose sexual interest in her. As a result they kidnapped and gang raped another victim.
On 4th January 1989 after losing at a Mahjong game, Miyano. vented his anger on their victim. The girl was beaten and candles were lit on her eyelids. As she was bleeding and pus was coming out of her wounds the boys taped plastic bags to their hands to continue to punch her. They then poured lighter fluid on her and set her on fire, the attack lasted 2 hours and Furuta died later that day from her injuries. The group wrapped her body in blankets and put it in a drum they filled with wet concrete. The body was disposed of on a cement truck.
On 23rd January 1989, Miyano and Ogura were arrested for gang rape and women’s underwear was found at their address. During interrogation, one of the officers led Miyano to believe they were aware of a murder he had committed, Miyano believing Ogura had confessed told police where to find Furuta’s body, something which confused officers as they were referring to a different suspected murder. The police found the drum and identified Furuta from her fingerprints.
The boys were aged betwen 16 and 18 at the time of Furuta’s death. Miyano, the leader of the crime, was sentenced to 17 years, later upgraded to 20 years. Minato received a 4-6 year sentence, later re-sentenced to 5-9 years. Minato’s parents were not charged. Watanbe was sentenced to 3-4 years, later upgraded to 5-7 years. Ogura was sentenced to 8 years and boasted about his part in the killing when released. Ogura’s mother vandalised Furuta’s grave claiming she ruined his sons’s life. Ogura also depleted his fathers savings by buying luxury products, the money was supposed to be given to Furuta’s family.
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