High School Girl Kidnapped, Tortured and Raped for 40 days

The cruel and heartbreaking story of Junko Furuta.

Trigger Warning: This story involves extreme and grotesque descriptions of rape, torture, and bodily harm of a young female that may cause distress. This may be difficult for some readers.

Crime is a part of human nature. Throughout our history, many countries and cultures have experienced a variety of brutal murders, terrorism, and violence. We are no strangers to cruel people who do cruel things.

That being said, this crime against an innocent 17-year-old girl involves some of the most vicious and shocking acts that I have ever come across in my reading and research into true crime. Not only was Junko Furuta taken against her will and kept for 40 days, but those 40 days involved awful actions that dozens took part in or knew about and did nothing to stop.

This is the story of Junko, a high school girl who was excited about graduating and entering the workforce but was kidnapped, raped, and tortured before succumbing to her wounds. She was finally placed in a drum filled with cement and dumped at a construction site. Who committed these crimes? Why did they perform such terrible things to her body? Why didn’t anyone stop them? How were they caught?

Targeting Junko

In November of 1988 in Saitama Japan, Junko was a 17-year-old highschool girl living with her parents and brothers. She was intelligent, stayed away from drinking, smoking, drugs, and was looking forward to graduating high school. She had already been accepted to work at a Japanese electronics company and was preparing for her new life. She also had a part-time job where she was saving money for her graduation trip with her classmates.

Junko was smart, beautiful, and had many things going for her. She had many admirers and was approached by a boy named Hiroshi Miyano. But because he was known as a playboy and possibly even connected to Japanese yakuza gangs, she turned him down. Unfortunately, he was not going to give up until he got what he wanted.

On November 25th, he convinced his friend Nobuharu Minato to attack Junko when she was on her way home from her part-time job. Minato kicked Junko off her bicycle and fled while Miyano approached her pretending to help. He helped her up and said he would take her home safely as the area was dangerous with yakuza members.

Junko accepted and they headed away from where she was attacked. However, instead of taking her home, he took her to an abandoned warehouse. Here he told her he was part of the yakuza, had high connections in the gang, and would kill her if she didn’t have sex with him. He then took her to a love hotel and raped her.

While at the hotel, he called Minato and talked about their success in fooling Junko. Minato was also with two other boys, Jo Oguro and Yasushi Watanabe. All four boys had unfortunately gang-raped other girls before. They convinced Miyano to keep Junko instead of letting her go as he had originally planned.

On November 26th, Miyano took Junko to a park where the other three boys were waiting. They then told her that they were all part of the same gang and knew where she lived. They threatened to kill not only her but her family if she tried to escape or if she told anyone. They then took her to Minato’s parent’s home where she would be kept for the remainder of her life.

Junko’s Last 40 Days

After not being able to contact or find the whereabouts of Junko, her parents reported her missing on November 27th. However, the police didn’t investigate her whereabouts as the boys forced Junko to call her parents to tell them she ran away and was fine. Even when Minato’s parents were around in the house, Junko would have to pretend to be Minato’s girlfriend.

However, as time went on, Minato’s parents started to figure out that Junko was being held captive because of her visible wounds and trauma. Unfortunately, they still didn’t report anything to the police for fear that Minato’s friend Miyano, who was connected to yakuza, would retaliate.

In fact, along with the four boys, Miyano invited some other yakuza gang members and school classmates to participate in the gang rape and abuse of Junko. It is reported that over 100 people came to the house to sexually assault or abuse Junko throughout her 40 days.

The rape and abuse were extreme and violent, and the amount of injury Junko took in those 40 days is unbelievable. Here are just some of the different types of abuse that Junko suffered:

• She was gang-raped repeatedly over 400 times
• Boys took turns beating her with fists and iron rods
• She was hanged from the ceiling and used as a punching bag
• She was forced to take drugs and alcohol
• They made her drink her own urine and eat cockroaches
• They drew on her face with a marker and forced her to dance naked while they beat her
• Various objects such as bottles, rods, and lit fireworks were shoved into her anus and vagina
• They burned her ankles, legs, vagina, clitoris, and face with lighters
• They ripped off one of her nipples with pliers
• She was urinated on and was constantly hit with various objects
• She was forced to masturbate and was given very little food or water
• She was placed in a freezer at times and sometimes slept on the balcony in winter

Due to the constant assaults, her face was swollen, parts of her body were exuding pus and giving off a rotting smell, blood was blocking her cavities making it hard for her to breathe, and she was dehydrated and vomiting because her organs were breaking down. Reports also mentioned that she was unable to control her bowels and it would take her almost an hour just to make her way to the bathroom. Near the end of her life, she would just soil herself where she lay.

Junko’s Chances of Escape

Halfway through the 40 days, Junko asked the boys to “kill her and get it over with” but they continued to keep her alive. There were two occasions when Junko almost escaped.

The first was when she tried to call the police and tell them she was being held captive. According to testimony, “She was on the phone when the boys snatched the phone from her and hung up before Junko was able to say anything. As punishment, they poured lighter fuel on Junko’s legs & feet to set them on fire, burned her eyelids with lighters & hot wax, and smashed her fingers.”

The second time was when one of the people who had taken part in one of the gang rapes decided to report the incident to the police. Police officers arrived at Minato’s house on Day 16 of Junko’s captivity to investigate. The boys told them that there was no girl in the house and invited police to search the house. Police declined and left. Had they searched the house and found Junko, she would most probably have survived her injuries.

Junko’s Final Day

Junko’s final day was on January 4, 1989. On this day, Miyano lost at a game of Mahjong and in anger decided to beat Junko. All the boys beat her despite her being almost unresponsive. They made her stand as they beat her and she fell on a stereo and went into convulsions. Junko was having a seizure which the boys thought she was faking.

They wrapped plastic bags on their hands to avoid the blood and pus and continued to beat Junko. Finally, they doused her with lighter fluid and set her on fire. The attack that lasted for two hours finally ended the life of Junko.

The boys then took Junko’s body, wrapped her with blankets and packing tape, and put her in a travel bag. They then placed the travel bag in a 55-gallon drum and filled it with concrete. They wrapped the drum in garbage bags then drove the drum to a construction site in Tokyo where they dumped it at a vacant lot.

A few weeks after Junko died, Hiroshi Miyano and Jo Ogura were arrested for the gang-rape of a 19-year-old woman that had happened in December while Junko was still alive. Police officers also wanted to question the pair about the death of another woman and her son. As they were interrogated separately, Miyano thought Ogura confessed to the death of Junko and told police about Junko’s death and the location of her body. Until Miyano accidentally told police about Junko, they had no idea that she was even missing.

With Miyano’s confession and location of Junko, police searched and found Junko’s remains which were verified by fingerprints. With the confession and body, police arrested Miyano, Minato, Oguro, and Watanabe.

Arrest and Sentencing

Because of their ages, the amount of torture, slow death, and possibly because of their connections to the yakuza, the boys were not charged with murder. Instead, they were charged with “committing bodily injury that resulted in death.” All four boys pled guilty and received prison sentences.

The boys were considered minors in Japan (the boys ranged from 15 to 18) so initially, their names and identities were not released. However, because of the brutality of their crimes, a Japanese media outlet revealed their identities claiming they didn’t deserve to stay anonymous.

Miyano, who was 18 at the time, was seen as the leader and received 20 years. He was released in 2009 but rejoined his yakuza friends and was arrested for fraud a few years later. However, he was released because there was not enough evidence to convict him.

Minato, who was 16 at the time, received 5 to 9 years and once released moved back home with his mother. Neither his brother nor his parents, who were living at the home where Junko was kept captive were charged. The money that Minato’s family was meant to pay Junko’s family after losing a civil suit also never ended up going to the family. The boys (Minato, Ogura, and Watanabe) were given the money and spent it on gambling, alcohol, and cars according to reports by filmdaily. In 2018, Minato was arrested for slashing the throat of a man during a fight.

Ogura, who was 17 at the time, was sent to a juvenile prison for 8 years and was released in 1999. He worked for a bit but also joined a gang and in 2004 was arrested for attacking, kidnapping, and beating a gang member. He was sent to prison for 7 years.

Watanabe, who was also 17 at the time of the murder, was given 5 to 7 years. He is the only one of the four that has not been arrested or had any run-ins with the law.

It’s very hard to talk about this case because of the young ages of the victims and killers, the cruelty of the acts committed, and the lenient sentences. Whether the police were incompetent, influenced by yakuza, or just unlucky we will never know. But one thing we know for sure is that Junko suffered.

She was treated worse than an animal and abused, assaulted, and molested by dozens if not hundreds of people. She lost her innocence and life just a few days after her 17th birthday and never really truly received justice as neither the boys nor their parents apologized to Junko’s family for the violent way they stole her from the world.

Movies, tv shows, and even manga have been created based on the story of Junko Furuta and this crime is probably the most gruesome and heartwrenching crime that has been reported in Japan. Hopefully, Junko’s story will serve as a reminder that life is precious and that we should all look out for one another. If someone who knew about her predicament had done something about it, she may have been saved.

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