Do you know about the murder of Junko Furuta? One of the worst cases in Japan, where a young girl suffered months of torture and was ultimately killed? In this article, we will explore everything about this case, from the victim, the criminals, the authors, the media with its anime and mangas, and much more.
We do not recommend this article for sensitive people, the story presented in this text is quite brutal and horrendous. Junko Furuta, a 17-year-old girl who was raped, tortured, butchered and poured into cement over a period of 44 days.
Junko Furuta was a Japanese student who suffered months of unimaginable torture at the hands of her classmates before dying on January 4, 1989. After she rejected the school bully, Hiroshi Miyano, she was taken by 4 boys to one of the kidnapper's house, Nobaharu Minato. In total, over 100 people knew about her kidnapping; None did anything to help, and several joined in the torture.
Remembering that this is not the only case in Japan. We recommend already opening in a new tab our article about: The famous Seriais Killer of Japan.
Table of Content
Who was Juko Furuta?
In 1988, Junko Furuta, 17 years old, completed her last year before graduating from Yashio South High School, following a common habit. At school, the girl was considered intelligent, beautiful, and shy. Despite her popularity, she never appeared at parties organized by classmates and friends. She didn't drink or use drugs - unlike most of the other students. Her daily routine consisted of going to school and going straight to her part-time waitress job from there.
Furuta was born in Misato, Saitama Prefecture. She lived with her parents, her older brother, and her younger brother.
As a teenager, she attended Yashio-Minami High School and worked part-time in a plastic molding factory during after-school hours since October 1988. She did this to save money for a graduation trip she had planned.
She was a popular girl with beautiful features and dreamed of becoming an Idol singer. On the night she was kidnapped, Furuta was eager to go home to watch the final episode of the TV show Tonbo.
The Kidnapping of Junko Furuta
Miyano Hiroshi and his 16-year-old friend Shinji Minato hung out at a nearby local park where women were being sexually assaulted. The pair were experienced rapists known to have a keen eye for spotting soft targets.
It was at 8:30 am that day in 1988 that the two found Junko Furuta riding her bike down the road on her way to work. The plan is quickly drawn up: Shinji knocks the girl down by kicking her as he passes his bike and creates an opportunity for Hiroshi, who pretends to suppress his friend's attitude and helps Junko to her feet. He immediately offered to accompany her to work, which she eventually accepted.
Halfway there, Hiroshi threatens to kill her if she doesn't silently follow him. They arrive at an abandoned warehouse where the boy rapes her while terrorizing her with the promise of death. From there, he takes her to Shinji's house and invites 17-year-old Jõ Ogura and Yasushi Watanabe to be a part of the whole horror.
The Torture of Junko Furuta
Nothing compares to the level of bestiality Junko Furuta suffered during the 44 days she was trapped in that filthy room. After repeated sodomy and sexual violence until she bled, she was hung naked from the ceiling by her wrists and used as a punching bag by the boys.
They gagged her, beat her with dumbbells, burned her with cigarettes, candles, introduced light bulbs, scissors, iron bars, and even set fireworks on her vagina and anus, causing severe burns and rupture of internal organs. Hiroshi even invites friends and other Yakuza members to participate in the atrocities.
Police Investigation
On November 27, Furuta's parents contacted the police regarding her disappearance. To discourage further investigation, the kidnappers forced her to call her mother, to convince her that she had run away but was safe and staying with some friends.
They also forced Junko Furuta to stop the police investigation. When Minato's parents were present, Furuta was forced to act as his girlfriend. Hiroshi Minato's parents with time did not get involved in fear of their own son who was increasingly violent.
Escape Attempt and Collective Rape
On the night of November 28, Furuta tried to run away screaming in fear at the sight of several boys. Miyano grabbed her legs, put a pillow over her face. The parents were woken up and went to check for the scream, but the son said it was nothing and the rape began.
From time to time, she was raped by 12 men in a single day. According to the group's statements, the four shaved their pubic hair, forced her to dance naked and masturbate in front of them, and left her on the balcony in the middle of the night with little clothing.
They inserted objects into her vagina and anus, including a lit match, a metal rod and a bottle, and force-fed her large amounts of alcohol, milk and water.
She was also forced to smoke several cigarettes at once and inhale paint thinner. In one incident, Miyano repeatedly burned Furuta's legs and arms with fluid.
Malnutrition and injuries
In late December, Furuta was severely malnourished after being fed only small amounts of food and eventually only milk.
Due to her severe injuries and infected burns, she was unable to go to the bathroom and was confined to the floor of Minato's room in a state of extreme weakness.
Furuta's appearance was drastically altered due to the brutality of the attacks. His face was so swollen it was hard to make out his features.
Her body was also severely crippled, giving off a putrid smell that caused the four boys to lose sexual interest in her.
As a result, the boys kidnapped and raped another 19-year-old woman who, like Furuta, was on her way home from work.
The Death of Junko Furuta
On January 4, 1989, after losing a game of mahjong against someone else the night before, Miyano decided to take out his anger on Furuta by pouring lighter fluid on her body and setting her on fire.
Furuta allegedly tried to put out the fire, but it gradually became unresponsive. They continued to punch her, lit a candle and dripped hot wax on her face, placed two short candles on her eyelids and forced her to drink her own urine. After she was kicked, she fell, collapsed and had seizures.
She was bleeding profusely, and pus was emerging from her infected burns, the four boys covered their hands in plastic bags. They continued to beat her and threw an iron exercise ball into her stomach several times. The attack would have lasted two hours. Furuta eventually succumbed to his injuries and died.
Less than 24 hours after her death, fearful of being penalized for the murder, the group wrapped Junko Furuta's body in blankets and placed it in a suitcase. Then they threw her body into a 210-liter drum and filled it with wet concrete.
Hiroshi Miyano even put a tape with the last episode of Tonbo next to Junku Furuta's body saying he was afraid of her coming back to haunt him.
Torture - The Worst Death in History
Junko Furuta's case is considered the Worst Death in History for the following reasons:
Rape – Junko was raped over 500 times in 44 days. Many of these rapes were gang rapes, in which friends of the four boys were invited to participate and humiliate her. At some point, over 100 different men were involved in the rape.
For most of her imprisonment, she was naked and forced to masturbate in front of her captors. Some boys urinated on her and she was forced to drink her own urine.
cut in the vagina – Foreign objects such as iron bars, scissors, needles, thread, light bulbs, fireworks, cigarettes and lighters were forcibly inserted into her vagina and anus, causing severe burns and injuries. Furthermore, she forcibly pierced her breast with a sewing needle and tore off one of her nipples.
Beating – She was beaten regularly, sometimes tied up like a human punching bag. The boys displeased them by punishing her with sticks and bamboo sticks.
frozen – After begging to die, she was locked overnight (remember it was winter) and later locked in a fridge.
Burned – This is believed to be the final cause of his death. She was badly burned by the aforementioned lighter and fireworks. When she tried to call the police, she was doused with lighter fluid and her body caught fire. She somehow survived, but was killed by another body on her 40th day in prison.
The boys allegedly threw dumbbells and an iron gym ball at his stomach, partly to blame for the loss of bladder control and damage to his genitals.
We also have a video in English on the subject:
Hiroshi Miyano - The Demon
Hiroshi Miyano, the leader of the crime, had a history of problematic behavior since elementary school, such as shoplifting and damage to school property.
In April 1986, he enrolled in a private school in Tokyo, then dropped out. After that, he continued to commit various crimes that increased over time.
A little before Junko's crime, he was living with his girlfriend, the irmã mais velha of Yasushi Watanabe, and intended to marry her, but dissatisfied with the salary from his tile job, Miyano became involved with the Yakuza and sexual crimes, causing the relationship to end.
Hiroshi Miyano became a bully at the same school as Junko, he liked to show off his performance in the Yakuza, he has committed several crimes and raped several girls.
At school he had a crush on the victim Junko Furuta who rejected his advances in front of the whole class, thus provoking motivations for this horrendous crime.
Hiroshi Miyano was one of the four boys who killed Junko Furuta on January 4, 1989. At the time of the incident, they were using the second floor of Minato's house as a hangout and had previously participated in criminal activities such as robbery, extortion, and rape.
Two weeks after the crime, ironically, Hiroshi ended up unwittingly turning himself in to the police regarding Junko Furuta's death when he was arrested with Jõ Ogura for the rape of another girl. Hiroshi realized that the police were investigating Junko's case and assumed that Ogura had turned him in. Such an assumption caused him to reveal himself the location of Junko's body.
Sentences of the criminals
Hiroshi was sentenced to only 20 years and the other top criminals received only 5 to 10 years each. Most of them were later re-arrested for various crimes, including rape and fraud.
The criminals only did not receive life imprisonment or death penalty due to their age, making the case even more impactful due to the lack of punishment for someone so horrendous.
The main prisoner, Hiroshi, was kept in the Kawagoe Juvenile Prison for a period before being transferred to Chiba Prison. Former life prisoner Ryuichi Kanahara (2009) describes Hiroshi as "An intelligent, carefree, and well-behaved man who seems incapable of committing such a brutal crime."
Hiroshi Miyano, after being released from prison in 2009, changed his name. He went on to attend a kickboxing gym and often took his juniors to barbecues and cabarets.
He continued to be involved with the Yakuza and still rode BMWs and luxury watches. Engaging in various crimes of fraud, he was eventually arrested again in 2013, but was released soon after.
His personality still remains cruel, talking openly about sex, where he said he liked to tie women to ropes. His whereabouts today are unknown.
Criminals in the Junko Furuta Case
- Hiroshi Miyano [宮野裕史] (Changed his name to Yokoyama Hiroshi);
- Jō Ogura [小倉譲] (Changed his name to Jō Kamisaku);
- Shinji Minato [湊伸治]
- Yasushi Watanabe [渡邊恭史]
- Tetsuo Nakamura [中村哲夫]
- Kōichi Ihara [伊原孝]
Hiroshi Miyano was sentenced to only 20 years' imprisonment in a juvenile rehabilitation centre, Shinji Minato was sentenced to five to nine years, and Jõ Ogura was to eight years. The Yakuza are believed to have been involved at the time.
The impact of the case was so great that it demanded changes in Japan's penal system, especially in terms of juveniles being tried as adults.
Media on the Junko Furuta Case
Junko Furuta's torture and murder sparked international outrage, and her case inspired several films and a manga illustrated by Kamata Youji. The most notable film is Joshikôsei konkuriito-dume satsujin-jiken released in 1995. The film was directed by Katsuya Matsumura and stars Yujin Kitagawa.
Another independently produced Japanese film in 2004, Concrete, is also based on the events leading up to Junko Furuta's murder. At least three books were written by Japanese authors who were inspired by the case. For some, the story behind Junko Furuta's torture and murder has been augmented, invented or modified. The fact that the crime happens doesn't change!