*I don’t want to do trigger warnings on any post, but if I have to, this is the one I’m warning about. I’ve tagged the topics discussed here, so hopefully no one who has those tags blocked will be seeing this.*
Junko Furuta was a high school girl and part-time employee after school. She was popular and good looking, however frowned upon by gangster-like teens because she did not smoke, drink alcohol or participate in drug usage. Hiroshi Miyano was a known school bully with connections to the Yakuza. It is said that he had a crush on Junko, but she made it clear that she was not interested. Aside from Junko, no one dared to oppose Miyano.
On November 25, 1988, Miyano and his friend Nobuharu Minato were wandering around Misato, intending to rob and rape women when they spotted Junko cycling home after work. Minato was ordered to kick Junko off her bicycle, and Miyano used this to look like an innocent bystander and gain Junko's trust by saying that he would walk her home. Of course, Miyano had no intent of doing that. Miyano took Junko to a nearby warehouse, announced his Yakuza connections and threatened to kill her as he raped her there and later in a nearby hotel. Afterward, Miyato called Minato and his two other friends, Jō Ogura and Yasushi Watanabe to brag about the rape. Ogura had asked Miyato to keep her, as this group has a history with gang rape.
All four boys threatened Junko that if she resisted, the Yakuza would have her family killed and that they knew where she lived because they found her address in a notebook inside her backpack. Junko was then taken to a home owned by Minato's parents.
On November 27, Junko's parents contacted the police about their missing daughter. In order to stall a manhunt, Junko's captors forced her to call her parents and tell them she ran away and was living with a friend. When Minato's parents were around, Junko had to pose as one of their girlfriends. They later stopped pretending that Junko was anyone's girlfriend when it became clear that Minato's parents would not contact police. When Minato's parents were asked why they did not intervene, they said they were aware of the Yakuza connections and that Minato was violent toward them.
Junko Furuta was held in the Minato residence for forty days, where at least one hundred people knew of her captivity. In that time, Junko had been raped over 400 times, beaten, staved, hanged from the ceiling and used as a punching bag, had barbells dropped on her stomach several times, was forced to eat live cockroaches and drink her own urine, forced to masturbate in front of them, had foreign objects inserted into her vagina and anus. The torture did not end there, the boys also shoved a still-lit lightbulb into her vagina, set off fireworks in her vagina, anus, mouth and ears, burnt her vagina with cigarettes and lighters, burnt her eyelids with hot wax and lights, tore off one of her nipples with pliers and pierced her breasts with sewing needles.
A boy named Koichi Ihara was allegedly bullied into raping Junko Furuta, and when he left the home, he told his brother about the incident. His brother told their parents, who contacted police. When police arrived at the Minato home, they were told there was no girl inside and asked police if they wanted to look around. Police mistakenly believed that due to their openness, there must not be a girl inside the home. Both officers who did not search the home faced backlash in the community, and could have stopped Junko's torture at day sixteen. It's likely Junko would have recovered at that point. In December, Junko attempted to contact police, but was found out by Miyano. When they called back, he said it was a mistake, and as punishment Junko's legs were doused in lighter fluid and set on fire. In this instance, they also reportedly shoved a large bottle into her anus, which caused severe bleeding and she reportedly went into convulsions. During the trial, they stated they thought she was faking the seizure, and decided to set her on fire again. Somehow, Junko survived the injuries and continued to be raped and tortured. Junko asked her captors several times to kill her and get it over with already, but instead she was forced to sleep outside on a balcony in winter and shoved into a freezer. One of the captors reported that Junko's hands and legs were so badly damaged that it took her an hour to drag herself to the washroom. She eventually lost bladder and bowel control, and would be beaten for soiling the carpet. Junko also lost the ability to eat and drink and would vomit at any attempt, which she was also beaten for.
Junko's face became swollen and her body was so severely crippled, that she gave off a rotting smell that made the boys lose sexual interest in her. As a result, the boys then kidnapped and raped a 19-year-old woman who, much like Junko, was on her way home from work.
It is said that on January 4, 1989, the boys challenged Junko to a game of Mahjong, which she reportedly won and this enraged the boys, who in typical fashion, proceeded to torture her. They made Junko stand while they whipped her feet with a swinging stick. This made her fall into a stereo and go into a fit of convulsions again. Junko was bleeding profusely and pus was leaking from her burns. The boys taped her hands into plastic bags, taped at the wrist and continued to torture her by dropping an iron ball onto her stomach again and setting her on fire. This incident lasted two hours, and Junko tried to put out the fire but became unresponsive. Junko finally succumbed to her wounds and died.
Less than twenty four hours after Junko's death, Minato's brother called him and said that she appeared to be dead. The boys wrapped her body in blankets and shoved her into a travel bag. They then put her body into a 55 gallon drum and filled it with wet concrete. Around 8:00 p.m., they loaded the drum up and dropped it off into a cement truck in Tokyo.
On January 23, 1989, Miyano and Ogura were arrested for the rape of the 19-year-old woman. On March 29, both boys were interrogated as police had found women's underwear at their addresses. One of the officers led Miyano to thinking that he knew about the murder of Junko Furuta. Miyano thought that Ogura had confessed to the crime, so he told police where to find her body. This was puzzling for police, as they were actually asking about another murdered woman and her son. The police found the drum and identified Junko through fingerprints. The other boys and Minato's brother were arrested afterward.
Despite the severity of the crime, since the boys were juveniles, the court had sealed their identities. They later became known because journalists from the Shūkan Bunshun magazine discovered their identities and published them.
Miyano was sentenced to 20 years in prison. Miyano's mother reportedly sent Junko's family 500 million yen (425,000 USD) after selling her home. Minato was originally sentenced to three to four years in prison, but after appeal, he was sentenced with five to seven. Minato's brother and parents were not charged. Watanabe was also originally sentenced three to four years, but was also later sentenced to five to seven. Ogura seemed to go in and out of the system and assaulted a man after his release in 1999. He was sentenced to 7 years for the assault. Ogura's mother allegedly vandalized Junko's grave, stating that she had ruined her son's life. It was also reported the Ogura went through his father's savings, buying a number of luxury goods. That money was originally meant to go to Junko's family. Junko's family were dismayed by the light sentences, and won a civil suit against Minato's parents.
Junko's part-time employer, whom she worked for when she was kidnapped, presented her parents with the uniform Junko would have needed as a full-time employee. This uniform was placed inside her coffin. The location Junko's body was found in has since been developed into a park.
At Junko Furuta's funeral on April 2, 1989, her friend stated:
"Jun-chan, welcome back. I have never dreamed that we would see you again in this way. You must have been in so much pain ... so much suffering ... The happi we all made for the school festival looked really good on you. We will never forget you. I have heard that the headmaster has presented you with a graduation certificate. So we graduated together – all of us. Jun-chan, there is no more pain, no more suffering. Please rest in peace..."