Murder of Junko Furuta

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Junko Furuta
古田 順子
Born(1971-01-18)18 January 1971[1][2]
Misato, Saitama, Japan
Died4 January 1989(1989-01-04) (aged 17)
Adachi, Tokyo, Japan
Cause of deathMurder (traumatic shock)[3]
Body discovered29 March 1989
Kōtō City, Tokyo, Japan

Junko Furuta (Japanese: 古田 順子, Hepburn: Furuta Junko, 18 January 1971 – 4 January 1989) was a 17-year-old Japanese high school student who was abducted, raped, tortured and murdered. Her abuse was mainly perpetrated by four teenagers: Hiroshi Miyano (18), Jō Ogura (17), Nobuharu Minato (16), and Yasushi Watanabe (17), and occurred over a period of 40 days from 25 November 1988. In Japan, Furuta's case is known as the "concrete-encased high school girl murder case" (女子高生コンクリート詰め殺人事件, joshikōsei konkurīto-zume satsujin jiken), as her body was discovered inside of a concrete-filled drum. The prison sentences served by the perpetrators ranged from seven to 20 years. The brutality of the case shocked Japan, and it is said to be the worst case of juvenile criminality in the country's post-war history.[4]

Background

Furuta was born in 1971 and grew up in Misato, Saitama Prefecture. She lived with her parents, her older brother, and her younger brother.[5] She attended Yashio-Minami High School, and worked a part-time job at a plastic molding factory from October 1988 in order to save up money for a planned graduation trip.[6] Furuta also accepted a job at an electronics retailer, where she planned on working after graduation.[4] At high school, Furuta was well-liked by her classmates, and had high grades and infrequent absences. She was a popular girl who had dreams of becoming an idol singer.[4] Furuta was 17 at the time of her murder.

The perpetrators of the crime were four male teenagers: Hiroshi Miyano (宮野裕史, Miyano Hiroshi, 18 years old), Jō Ogura (小倉譲, Ogura Jō, 17), Nobuharu Minato (湊伸のぶはる, Minato Nobuharu, 16), and Yasushi Watanabe (渡邊恭史, Watanabe Yasushi, 17), who in court documents were referred to as "A", "B", "C", and "D", respectively. Two others, Tetsuo Nakamura and Koichi Ihara, were known as "G" and "L". The members of the main group had all dropped out of high school in summer 1988 and became involved in organized crime as chimpira (low-ranking yakuza). They began using Minato's family home in Adachi, Tokyo, as a hangout. Beginning in October, they engaged in various crimes including theft (purse snatching and car theft), assault, and rape. On 8 November, the group abducted a 19-year-old woman in Adachi and raped her in a hotel. On 27 December, during Furuta's confinement, the group abducted and raped another 19-year-old woman in the same ward and raped her in a hotel.[7][8][9]

Kidnapping and abuse

Murder of Junko Furuta
LocationAdachi, Tokyo, Japan
Date25 November 1988 – 4 January 1989; 35 years ago (1989-01-04)
Attack type
Torture murder, child murder, kidnapping, child abduction, child rape, gang rape
WeaponsVarious
VictimJunko Furuta, aged 17
Perpetrators
  • Hiroshi Miyano (now Hiroshi Yokoyama)
  • Jō Ogura (now Jō Kamisaku)
  • Nobuharu Minato (now Shinji Minato)
  • Yasushi Watanabe
VerdictAll four pleaded guilty
ConvictionsCommitting bodily injury that resulted in death
SentenceMiyano:
20 years in prison
Ogura:
8 years in prison
Minato:
5 to 9 years in prison
Watanabe:
5 to 7 years in prison
LitigationMinato's parents ordered to pay ¥50 million (US$370,000; $909,455 today) in compensation to Furuta's parents in civil suit

On the evening of 25 November 1988, Miyano and Minato rode around Misato on their motorcycles with the intention of robbing and raping local women and spotted Furuta, who was on her way home from her part-time job. Acting on Miyano's orders, Minato kicked Furuta off her bicycle and fled the scene. Miyano, under the pretense of witnessing the attack by coincidence, approached Furuta and offered to walk her home. Upon gaining her trust, Miyano took Furuta to a nearby warehouse and threatened her, claiming to be a member of the yakuza and saying that he would spare her life only if she followed his orders.[7][8]

That night, Miyano took Furuta by taxi to a hotel in Adachi, where he raped her. He later called Minato's house and bragged to Ogura about the rape, after which Ogura told him not to let Furuta leave. In the early morning hours of 26 November, Miyano took Furuta to a park near the hotel, where Minato, Ogura, and Watanabe were waiting. They told her they knew where she lived, and that the yakuza would kill her family if she attempted to escape. Minato agreed to allow Furuta to be confined in a room on the second floor of his house in Adachi for the purpose of gang raping her. Furuta was held captive for the next 39 days.[7][8]

On 27 November, Furuta's parents contacted the police about her disappearance. To discourage further investigation, the kidnappers forced Furuta to call her mother three times to convince her that she had run away but was safe and staying with friends. When Minato's parents were present at the house where she was being confined, Furuta was forced to act as his girlfriend.[10] The group dropped this pretense when it became clear that Minato's parents would not report them to the police, and they later claimed that they did not intervene because they were afraid of their own son, who had been increasingly violent toward them.[11]

On 28 November, Miyano and the others, along with Nakumara and Ihara, gang raped Furuta for the first time. The group shaved her pubic hair, forced her to dance to music while 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 forced her to drink alcohol and large amounts of milk and water. She was also forced to smoke two cigarettes at once and inhale paint thinner. In one incident in the middle of the month, Miyano burned Furuta's thighs and hands with lighter fluid.[7][8]

By the end of December, Furuta was severely malnourished after being fed only small amounts of food and eventually only milk. Due to her injuries and burns, she became unable to go to the downstairs toilet, and was thereafter confined to the floor of Minato's room in a state of extreme mental and physical weakness. Her appearance was drastically altered from the brutality of the attacks on her, with her face becoming so swollen that it was difficult to make out her features, and her infected wounds emitted a rotting smell.[7][8]

Murder and investigation

On 4 January 1989, after losing money in a game of mahjong the night before, Miyano decided to take his anger out on Furuta. He ignited a candle and dripped hot wax on her face, placed two shortened candles on her eyelids, and forced her to drink her own urine. Furuta was lifted and kicked, fell onto a stereo unit, and began a fit of convulsions. To prevent them from being stained with blood, the group covered their hands in plastic bags before beating her with their fists and an iron exercise ball, and dropped the ball on her abdomen several times. Miyano poured lighter fluid on Furuta and lit her on fire; at first, she made attempts to put it out, but eventually stopped moving. The assault lasted for about two hours, after which Furuta died at 10 a.m.[7][8]

Less than 24 hours after her death, Minato's brother called to tell him that Furuta appeared to be dead. Afraid that their crime would be discovered, the group wrapped Furuta's body in a blanket and placed it in a large travel bag, then put the bag in a metal drum and covered it with concrete. At around 8:00 p.m. on the same day, they drove out to an empty lot near a construction site on the island of Wakasu in Kōtō, Tokyo, and dumped the drum.[7][8]

In early 1989, Miyano and Ogura were arrested for their kidnapping and gang rape of a 19-year-old woman in December 1988. On 29 March, the police interrogated Miyano. He believed that they were aware of his culpability in Furuta's murder; thinking that Ogura had already confessed, he told the police where to find her body. The police were initially puzzled by the confession, as they had been referring to the murder of a different woman and her seven-year-old son which had occurred nine days prior to Furuta's abduction, a case which remains unsolved.[citation needed] The drum containing Furuta's body was recovered on 30 March, and she was identified via fingerprints. Minato, Watanabe, Minato's brother, Nakamura, and Ihara were also arrested.[7][8]

Prosecution

The identities of the defendants were sealed by the court, as they were all juveniles at the time of the crime. Shūkan Bunshun magazine uncovered their identities and published them on the grounds that, given the severity of the crime, the accused did not deserve to have their right to anonymity upheld.[12] All four defendants pleaded guilty to "committing bodily injury that resulted in death" rather than murder. In July 1990, they were sentenced by the Tokyo District Court,[7] after which they appealed. In July 1991, Miyano, Minato, and Watanbe were re-sentenced by Ryūji Yanase of the Tokyo High Court.[8]

  • Hiroshi Miyano was originally sentenced to 17 years in prison, and re-sentenced to 20 years,[13] the second-longest which is given in Japan before life imprisonment.[13] After his release in 2009, he changed his last name to "Yokoyama". He boasted of his connections with organized crime, and made his money through pyramid schemes. In 2013, Miyano was arrested on suspicion of bank transfer fraud, but the charges were dropped.[14][15]
  • Jō Ogura was sentenced to five to ten years in prison; he was released in 1999 and has since used the last name "Kamisaki". He worked in IT jobs after his release, but turned to organized crime after his past became known to those around him. In 2004, he was arrested for assaulting Takatoshi Isono, an acquaintance who he thought his girlfriend was involved with. Ogura shoved Isono into the trunk of his car, and drove him to his mother's bar in Misato, where he assaulted him for five hours.[14] Ogura was sentenced to four years in prison for the crime, and was released in 2009.[16][15]
  • Nobuharu Minato was originally sentenced to five to six years in prison, and re-sentenced to five to nine years. Minato's parents and brother were not charged. After his release, Minato moved in with his mother and changed his first name to "Shinji". In 2018, Minato was arrested again on suspicion of attempted murder after beating a 32-year-old man on a road in Kawaguchi, Saitama, with a metal rod and slashing his throat with a knife.[16][17][15]
  • Yasushi Watanabe was originally sentenced to three to four years in prison, and re-sentenced to five to seven years. He was released in 1996 and moved in with his mother.[8][13] [15]

Furuta's parents were dismayed by the sentences received by their daughter's killers and won a civil suit against the parents of Minato, in whose home the crimes were committed.[18] Miyano's mother reportedly paid Junko Furuta's parents ¥50 million (US$370,000) in compensation, as ordered by the civil court, after selling their family home.[19]

Aftermath

Junko Furuta's funeral was held on 2 April 1989. One of her friends' memorial address stated:

Jun-chan, welcome back. I have never imagined 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 principal 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...

Furuta's intended future employer presented her parents with the uniform she would have worn in the position she had accepted. The uniform was placed in her casket. At her graduation, Furuta's school principal presented her a high school diploma, which was given to her parents. The location near where Furuta's body was discovered has been developed since and is now Wakasu Park.[20]

At the time Japanese people were concerned about a US-influenced epidemic of violent crime, what they called the "American disease".[21] At least three books have been written about the crime.[22][23] An exploitation film, Joshikōsei konkurīto-zume satsujin-jiken (女子高生コンクリート詰め殺人事件), about the incident was directed by Katsuya Matsumura in 1995. Yujin Kitagawa, later a member of the music duo Yuzu, played the role of the principal culprit, and Mai Sasaki played the role of Furuta.[24][25][26] The case was also the inspiration for the film Concrete in 2004, where Miyano's name was changed to Tatsuo Oosugi, portrayed by Japanese former actor Sousuke Takaoka, and Furuta's name was changed into Misaki and is portrayed by Japanese pornographic actress Miki Komori.[citation needed] The case also inspired the manga 17-sai.

See also

References

  1. ^ "古田順子の両親の現在や生い立ち！女子高生コンクリート事件の被害者まとめ" [Junko Furuta's parents' current status and upbringing! Summary of victims of high school girl concrete incident]. MATOMEDIA [Matomedia]｜Entertainment/gossip/incident summary (in Japanese). 4 January 2020. Retrieved 16 April 2021.
  2. ^ "古田順子の生い立ちや両親の現在～飯島愛コンクリート事件関与のデマも総まとめ" [Junko Furuta's upbringing and current status of her parents - A complete summary of rumors related to the Ai Iijima concrete incident]. NewSee｜Summary of current status, entertainment, gossip, and incidents of celebrities (in Japanese). 10 February 2020. Retrieved 16 April 2021.
  3. ^ Weekly Asahi Geinō 1989-04-20, page 174
  4. ^ a b c "古田順子の生い立ちや両親の現在～飯島愛コンクリート事件関与のデマも総まとめ" [Junko Furuta's upbringing and the present of her parents-A summary of the hoaxes involved in the Ai Iijima Concrete Incident]. NewSee (in Japanese). 10 December 2019. Retrieved 1 January 2020.
  5. ^ douga bubble (26 December 2017). 女子高生コンクリ殺人 当時の報道6 [Concrete murder of a high school girl Reported at the time 6] (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 9 December 2019. Retrieved 11 April 2019.
  6. ^ "古田順子の両親の現在や生い立ち！女子高生コンクリート事件の被害者まとめ" [Junko Furuta's parents now and upbringing! Victim summary of high school girl concrete incident]. MATOMEDIA｜Entertainment news summary (in Japanese). 4 January 2020. Retrieved 24 June 2020.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i "東京地方裁判所 平成元年（合わ）７２号 判決 - 大判例" [Tokyo District Court Judgment No. 72 of 1989 - Grand precedent]. daihanrei.minorusan.net (in Japanese). Retrieved 25 April 2024.
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Full text of the Tokyo High Court's ruling on the Junko Furuta case" (in Japanese). Tokyo High Court. 12 July 1991.
  9. ^ Tanihara, Keisuke; Kojima, Satoru; Nakajima, Yutaka; Mizuno, Takeya (1 July 2005). "The Media Naming of Adult Criminals with Juvenile Criminal Records: The 1989 Concrete-Packing Murder Case and 2004 Assault Case (Part 1)". Information and Communication Studies. 33. Bunkyo University: Faculty of Information and Communications: 331–344.
  10. ^ Hawkins, Kristal (21 February 2013). "Japanese Horror Story: The Torture of Junko Furuta". Crime Library. Archived from the original on 22 February 2013. Retrieved 7 August 2015.
  11. ^ Yumi, Wijers-Hasegawa (29 July 2004). "Man who killed as child back in court". The Japan Times.
  12. ^ Hawkins, Kristal (21 February 2013). "Japanese Horror Story: The Torture of Junko Furuta". Crime Library. Archived from the original on 22 February 2013. Retrieved 7 August 2015.
  13. ^ a b c "Rapist, Murderer Given 20-Year Sentence". Yomiuri Shimbun. 13 July 1991. p. 2. Retrieved from LexisNexis on 29 September 2009.
  14. ^ a b Yumi, Wijers-Hasegawa (29 July 2004). "Man who killed as child back in court". The Japan Times.
  15. ^ a b c d "綾瀬コンクリ殺人の元少年ら4人 監禁致傷や詐欺など3人が再犯". Livedoor News (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 6 October 2018. Retrieved 28 May 2024.
  16. ^ a b "Junko Furuta killer again on trial: Chaos in the courtroom". TokyoReporter. 25 March 2019.
  17. ^ "Junko Furuta: Killer arrested for attempted murder 3 decades later". TokyoReporter. 10 September 2018.
  18. ^ "Jo Kamisaku Today". ww25.zhikal.co.
  19. ^ "Chilling Details About The Murder of Junko Furuta AKA The Concrete-Encased High School Girl Murder". Ranker. Retrieved 20 November 2019.
  20. ^ "JKコンクリート詰め41日間もまわされ続けた畜生事ｲ牛の全て。犯人達の現在がヤバすぎ・・・ ※実写化 動画あり※" [All of the animal cows that have been passed around for 41 days packed in JK concrete. The current state of the culprits is too dangerous...]. Samsara Bulletin (in Japanese). 19 October 2017. Retrieved 20 November 2019.
  21. ^ "For Junko Furuta". The Atlanta Constitution. 12 June 1992. p. 11. Retrieved 16 July 2023.
  22. ^ Atsumi, Roji (30 August 2003). 十七歳、悪の履歴書: 女子高生コンクリート詰め殺人事件 [17 Years Old, Evil Resume: Concrete Murder of a High School Girl] (in Japanese). Sakuhinsha. ISBN 978-4-87893-572-5.
  23. ^ Sase, Minoru (1990). うちの子が、 なぜ!: 女子高生コンクリート結め殺人事件 [Why is my child!: High school girl concrete knot murder case] (in Japanese). Soshisha Publishing. ISBN 978-4-7942-0390-8.
  24. ^ Joshikôsei konkuriito-dume satsujin-jiken at IMDb Edit this at Wikidata
  25. ^ "Filme mit Beteiligung von Yujin Kitagawa" [Movies with the participation of Yujin Kitagawa] (in German). Archived from the original on 11 June 2009. Retrieved 9 March 2008.
  26. ^ "映画『女子高生コンクリート詰め殺人事件 ～壊れたセブンティーンたち～』の感想・レビュー[31件] | Filmarks" [Impressions and reviews of the movie "High School Girls Concrete Stuffing Murder Case ~ Broken Seventeens ~"[31pieces] | Filmarks]. Filmarks (in Japanese). 22 November 2023.

External links

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