The Abduction and Torture of Fusako Sano

He kept a 9-year-old girl captive in his room for almost 10 years.

“She was not only confined physically, her soul was also in chains.”

-Hiroaki Iwai, criminal sociology expert at Tokyo’s Toyo University.

This is a story about a 9-year-old girl named Fusako Sano. Living in a small town in Japan, she was a typical elementary school student with an average life. Unfortunately, she was at the wrong place at the wrong time. A violent and disturbed man, 27-year-old Nobuyuki Sato saw her, wanted her, and took her. He brought her to his room and kept her for almost 10 years.

Why did it take so long to find her? How did the police finally track her down? What did Nobuyuki do to her while she was his hostage? What happened to both Fusako and Nobuyuki?

A mixture of mistakes, lack of resources, and police ineptitude all created the perfect storm for this terrible tragedy. Had things been different, most likely Fusako would have been found within days rather than the 9 years and 2 months it took.

Who was Fusako?

Fusako Sano was a 9-year-old girl who lived in a small area of Japan called Sanjo City in Niigata Prefecture. Niigata is located North of Tokyo, borders Fukushima, and is known mostly for its rice, nature, and skiing. Sanjo City, where Fusakko lived is surrounded by forests, mountains and close to the coast of the Sea of Japan.

Fusako was watching a baseball game after school and when it finished she was on her way home. Students in Japan usually commute back and forth from school on foot, by bicycle, or public transportation without any adult supervision. Especially in small towns, neighbors and people of the community watch out for the kids as they go to and from school.

Unfortunately, on November 13, 1990, no one witnessed when a car pulled up and approached Fusako while she was walking.

Who was Nobuyuki?

Nobuyuki Sato, born in 1963 lived in Kashiwazaki City, the town south of Sanjo City. He grew up in a house with his father and mother. Nobuyuki's father started working as a driver for a large company and eventually started his own business. He married in his 60s and Nobuyuki was born.

Since Nobuyuki’s father was much older, he was often teased at school. Nobuyuki and his father’s relationship was also not very close because of the age gap. Nobuyuki’s mother worked for an insurance company and was very loving. Some people of the town believed she was too nurturing as even when Nobuyuki became an adult, she would buy him anything he wanted and spoil him.

Nobuyuki’s life was quite privileged as he had his own upstairs floor in the family house, was able to buy anything he wanted and lived the sheltered life of an only child. But he also seemed to have a problem that he might have inherited from his father. Nobuyuki’s father was obsessed with cleanliness and was seen washing his cars obsessively.

Having a father that was much older and possibly had a mental disorder, along with a mother who was diagnosed with mental illness and visited hospitals regularly, Nobuyuki was afraid to go to school. After leaving high school he started working at an automobile parts factory. But on his way to work one day, he got caught in a spider web. Feeling dirty and traumatized by the incident, he went back home and never worked a day in his life after.

In 1989, Nobuyuki’s father died in a long-term care facility after being kicked out of the house by Nobuyuki. Neighbors reported to NHK, Japan’s national television station, that after his father’s death, Nobuyuki became increasingly violent. They saw him break doors and windows of his family house and his mother was also seen with a black eye and bruises.

His compulsion with dirtiness and not wanting to have anyone close to him physically also caused him to avoid people as much as possible. When wanting to expand his parent's home, he used his mother’s money and tried to do as much of the construction himself.

Unfortunately, his violent tendencies were also taken out on his mother who was beaten and also had a stun gun used on her repeatedly. His mother, who was suffering both mentally and physically from Nobuyuki’s assaults, told the hospital many times about the domestic abuse but nothing was done.

In June 1989, a little over a year before Nobuyuki eventually kidnapped Fusako, he actually had attempted to abduct another girl. Nobuyuki spotted an elementary school girl on the street. As he was attempting to grab her and take her away, a friend spotted her and screamed for help. A nearby teacher ran and tackled Nobuyuki and called the police.

Nobuyuki was arrested and convicted of attempting to kidnap the girl. However, since this was his first offense, he was given a one-year prison term and released. Then on November 20, 1990, he spotted Fusako walking down the street. When asked by police why he targeted her, he said, “She was really cute and she was alone.”

The Abduction

Nobuyuki was driving along the farm road where Fusako was walking and decided to abduct her. Using a 14 cm (approx. 6 inches) survival knife he always carried, he came up to Fusako and held it against her chest. Frozen and unable to move or speak, he put Fusako in the trunk of his car and drove to his home.

He drove his car and parked in the back of his house where the expansion was planned and blindfolded Fusako. He then took her up to his room and tied her up. He also put tape on her mouth so she couldn’t scream. He then went back to his car, drove to the entrance, and parked in his usual space. Entering his home, he greeted his mother and acted as if he just arrived home.

He knew his mother would not come upstairs as he forbade her from coming to his room and went into violent fits if she came upstairs. In his room, he threatened Fusako saying, “You can’t leave this room. You will live with me and I will be here all the time. If you try to escape I will kill you and bury you in the mountains. Or throw your body in the sea.”

The Search For Fusako

On the day that Fusako went missing at around 7:45 pm, her mother contacted the police when Fusako never returned home. At first, the Niigata Prefectural Police in Sanjo gathered more than 100 people to search the neighborhood. The next day it grew to 200 people.

By the third day on November 15th, a special unit was set up with 107 police officers trying to locate Fusako. The police expanded the search to neighboring towns and cities and there were both ground and aerial searches but no one could find Fusako.

Over 20,000 posters with Fusako’s face and name were distributed throughout the prefecture but the police couldn’t find any leads. At the same time, there was a group who believed Fusako had been abducted by North Korea. There had been other cases in Japan, where operatives of North Korea had abducted children and brought them back to North Korea.

Along with this theory, as the news of Fusako became widely distributed, a person who claimed to be the abductor appeared. Then more people started calling in and claiming to be the culprit. These false alarms cost police time and resources and made it harder to locate Fusako.

On November 19th the special unit was reduced to 80 officers and by Christmas, the search for Fusako had been stopped. The case remained open and police followed leads but nothing seemed to be panning out. What was very unfortunate was that the police didn’t have Nobuyuki on their radar.

Despite following all leads of potential sex offenders in the area, police had not questioned Nobuyuki. Either in error or ignorance, Nobuyuki’s name had not appeared on the list of names police had of sexual offenders in the area. If they had, things might have turned out different for Fusako.

Years of Torture

For the next 9 years and 2 months, Fusako continued to stay in the room with Nobuyuki. Throughout the ordeal, she had to endure many hardships. Here is a list of some of the things that transpired in those years with Fusako as a prisoner.

• For the first 3 months, Fusako had her hands and legs tied the entire time and was not allowed to walk on her own.
• Anytime Fusako didn’t answer to Nobuyuki, tried to escape or leave her bed, she was beaten
• Nobuyuki sometimes practiced martial arts on her until she screamed out in pain
• He made her wear his clothes or if they wouldn’t fit, he would shoplift clothes for her. But he never paid for clothes or take women’s clothes (except for underwear) as it might be seen as suspicious
• In the entire time together, she was only allowed to take a bath once when she had fallen and gotten herself dirty. He blindfolded her, stripped her in the bath, and bathed her.
• Since Nobuyuki didn’t like to touch dirty things, he avoided the bathroom. Instead, he had bags he placed in the upstairs hallway outside his room for them to use as a toilet.
• He cut her hair short
• He only gave her a radio to listen to until the last year of their time together when he let her watch TV
• He home-schooled her
• He often used his stun gun on her. She would stun her self at times to get used to the pain
• He slapped and punched her and often threatened her with a knife if she forgot to record his horse races on TV for him
• Because she was kept in a mostly dark room, she suffered from jaundice
• It was reported that he hit Fusako about 200 to 300 times during their time together
• She was only fed one meal a day of instant soup or bento box lunches. After 6 years when she had a bruise on her leg, Nobuyuki thought she might be becoming diabetic and added a rice ball to her daily meal
• Her weight dropped from 46 kg (100 lbs) to 38 kg (83 lbs)
• She would often faint from malnutrition and her hands and feet suffered from atrophy making it difficult for her to walk on her own

Fusako’s Freedom

Throughout the years, Fusako was sometimes left alone with the door unlocked. But she wouldn’t escape. Whether it was the threats that Nobuyuki made, fear of being captured, inability physically to leave, or her acceptance of her situation is not fully known.

Akira Yoda, a development psychology professor believed, “It was extremely scary, so she was obedient to him. She was told not to run away, and she listened to him.” Fusako herself told police, “I was too scared to escape and eventually lost the energy to escape.”

With Fusako not being able to leave the house, police not being able to find her, and family and the community losing hope year after year, it was truly a miracle that Fusako was finally located. It started with Nobuyuki’s mother.

Although Nobuyuki’s mother had complained of her son’s violence against her in January 1996, January 12, 2000, and January 19, 2000, no one from the hospital or police had come to visit the home or confront Nobuyuki. Once the beatings and attacks with a stun gun became a daily ritual on his mother, she once again tried to get help from the hospital.

Finally, on January 28, 2000, seven medical and health staff from the center visited the home. Five of them entered the home and despite not getting any answer from upstairs, headed to the second floor to Nobuyuki’s room. When they opened the door, Nobuyuki who was sleeping awoke and screamed, “Why are you in my room?”

Once the staff explained their presence he started screaming wildly and going into a fit of rage. The staff was able to subdue him and inject him with a sedative. He fell asleep and the staff decided to escort him to a hospital. They also noticed something moving around under a blanket and when they removed the blanket they found Fusako.

She asked if she could stay at the home but the staff brought her along in the car to the hospital. En route, she gave her name and the staff realized she was the girl who had been missing since 1990. They quickly called the police.

At the hospital, police arrived and approached Fusako who quickly told them,

“I was abducted near the school by a man who forced me into a car. For nine years, I did not take a step out of the house. Today, I went out for the first time.”

Police took Fusako’s fingerprints and confirmed they matched those on file and she was finally reunited with her parents. Her parents could not recognize her since she had changed so much from age 9 to 19 years old. They had never given up hope to find her and were overjoyed.

Police and medical staff checked and interviewed Fusako and learned that throughout the ordeal she was not sexually assaulted or raped. And two weeks after Nobuyuki was admitted to the hospital he was arrested.

When questioning Nobuyuki he said he never sexually assaulted Fusako because he thought of her as a friend and part of his family. When questioning his mother, she said she didn’t know he was holding Fusako upstairs. However, police reported that she often made meals for her son and Fusako as well as allegedly bought feminine hygiene products for Fusako.

What Happened to Nobuyuki and His Mother

Despite Nobuyuki’s mother possibly having had knowledge of her son’s actions, she wasn’t charged. On February 10, 2000, only Nobuyuki was charged with the kidnapping, assault, and imprisonment of Fusako. Because he had a driver’s license and was betting on horses, police believed he was mentally fit to be charged. Police said he confessed to the crimes he was charged with.

His trial began in May 2000, and to help increase the chances of a conviction and longer sentence, along with his charges, additional charges such as shoplifting clothes were added. The defense, on the other hand, tried to show that Nobuyuki was criminally insane and was unfit to stand trial. But psychiatrists found him mentally fit to face charges and he pleaded guilty.

Nobuyuki was found guilty and sentenced to 14 years in prison. His team appealed and in his second trial, the Tokyo High Court reduced his sentence to 11 years. But, the prosecution appealed his case and it was sent to the Japanese Supreme Court who decided to reinstate his original sentence of 14 years.

Nobuyuki was released in 2015 at the age of 52, and despite spending 14 years in jail was not able to be rehabilitated or have his mental health issues dealt with. He changed his name, moved to Chiba Prefecture, and was both having counseling as well as taking psychiatric drugs for his illness. His mother passed away of natural causes while he was still in prison.

Unable to work, Nobuyuki was receiving welfare from the government and was living in a government living center for the disabled. In 2017, he was found to have passed away in his bed from his illness.

What Happened to Fusako

Released from captivity, Fusako was hospitalized with post-traumatic stress disorder and experienced both physical and mental issues. She had recurring nightmares, as well as difficulty speaking to people. Due to confinement, doctors noted her way of talking and acting resembled that of a child.

Her body was malnourished, dehydrated and she could barely walk. However, once she was reunited with her parents and back at home, her health recovered quickly. It was reported that currently, she works on the rice fields with her family, has a driver’s license, sometimes goes to see local soccer games, and enjoys photography. She still has trouble socializing with people and likes to spend time alone.

Police also came under fire when it was revealed when Fusako was first found and taken to the hospital, the police chief decided to spend his evening playing mah-jong with his friends rather than go to the hospital and meet Fusako. The errors on the sex offender list with Nobuyuki’s name omitted also caused much uproar. Both the head of the Regional Police Bureau and the Chief resigned after news of their poor response was revealed.

The story of Fusako is not only shocking because of the length of time she was missing but also because of all the failures that caused her to be missing for so long. A variety of factors such as incompetence of the police, the lack of support for those suffering from domestic abuse, failure of those responsible for the well being and mental illness to respond to calls for help, and the lack of proper laws or regulations set in place to prevent these types of crimes from happening were all factors in this case.

If you enjoyed reading this article, please check out some other stories of true crime in Japan: