The Tragic Story of Junko Furuta

Content Warning: This post contains descriptions of real-life violence that may be distressing to some readers. Out of respect for Junko Furuta and her family, no images or graphic crime scene content are included. This story is shared to honor her memory, not to sensationalize.

Older people often say that when they were young, there weren’t as many crimes as there are today. According to them, crime rates were relatively low during their childhood. I often wonder if that’s true or was it simply that there were fewer ways to spread news and fewer channels of communication back then? Either way, the argument persists. Nowadays, movies and video games are frequently blamed for the brutal crimes we see or hear about. But if we look back, even as far as the Bible, we can find evidence of violence long before Hollywood or game consoles existed. Take, for instance, the story of Cain and Abel. Cain, the firstborn of Adam and Eve, killed his own brother out of jealousy. That’s the first recorded murder in biblical history. So I ask: what movie or video game influenced Cain to commit that crime? Obviously, none. Violence and evil acts have been part of humanity for millennia. The only difference is that those earlier generations didn’t have social media or instant news updates to broadcast every tragedy. That said, I’m not denying that some crimes may have been inspired by films or shows. The Drishyam case, for example, is often cited as one where a real-life crime mirrored a movie plot. So yes, influence exists—but it’s not the root cause. Humans have always been capable of darkness. Whether crimes were fewer in the past or simply less reported doesn’t change the truth: crime, especially barbaric and chilling acts, still happens today—and it’s happening right now, somewhere in the world, as I write this.

Among the many horrifying criminal cases I’ve come across, one of the most disturbing was an incident that took place in Japan in the late ’80s. I first heard about it from a friend, and I was staggered. The brutality was overwhelming—I had to stop several times while researching it. It was brutal. Brutal. Brutal.

The case later came to be known as "The Concrete-Encased High School Girl Murder Case."

Let me share that story with you. Junko Furuta, a 17-year-old Japanese girl, got abducted and raped for 41 days by her classmate. She was a beautiful, intelligent, smart, and hardworking school girl who had big dreams like all of us. Junko was an incredible daughter, a loving sister, and a caring friend. She was quite popular with very infrequent absences. She worked as a part-timer after her school to save up money for the graduation trip, which she planned.

Unlike many of us, she was quite serious about her life. She hated to spoil around like others. That made some of them jealous of her. She was too busy chasing her dream. She accepted a job offer at an electronics retailer and planned to work there after her graduation.

All her dreams and life hard stopped on 25 November 1988. The beginning of 40 days of Hell. Around 8:30 PM, after finishing her part-time job, she headed off to her house on her bicycle. She never knew what was planned against her. She might have been humming her favorite song or thinking about her upcoming trip or her dreams. On her way back, four teenage monsters abducted her. Hiroshi Miyano & Jō Ogura (18), Shinji Minato (16), and Yasushi Watanabe (17) were the monsters who kidnapped her. The four boys were YAKUZA members, an organized crime group in Japan, at their very young age. On 25 November 1988, Hiroshi Miyano and the three other guys were wandering around the city called Misato to deprive and rape some local women. While riding their motorcycle, Miyano spotted Yashio-Minami High School student Junko Furuta, his crush, who had the nerve and courage to reject him. She was heading home after her part-time job. According to some reports, Hiroshi Miyano had a crush on Junko Furuta and confessed his love. But her rejection made him take vengeance on her and wanted to teach her a lesson. When Miyano spotted Junko, he ordered Minato to kick her from the bicycle. Following his order, Minato kicked her off from her bike. She lost her balance fell into a gutter. That evil-minded Miyano played a "Good Samaritan" role by immediately approaching her and helping her. That evil said, "I will send you home because it's too dangerous." Poor Junko never knew that that evil man is more dangerous than the darkness. Miyano threatened Junko in darkness, and rather than taking her home, he took her to the hotel and raped her. Around 10 PM, Miyano brought Junko to Minto's house on the second floor in Ayase, Adachi Tokyo, with the help of Jō Ogura and Yasushi Watanabe. Minto's father was on an employee trip, and only his mother and brother were at home. On 28 November, Miyano invited some friends while Minto's family fell asleep and raped her brutally. Whenever she disagreed, they jeopardized her by killing her family.

Junko's parents and police were searching her all over the country during this time. Knowing this, Miyano threatened her to make a phone call to her house. She called them with deep fear and pain and said to cancel the search warrant as she is running away from home.

Meanwhile, Minto's parents saw Junko's face for the first time, but Furuta was pushed to play as one of the kidnappers' girlfriend. Although they already got a sense of the situation, nobody dared to report to the police. They were very well about Miyano's connection with the yakuza and what they are capable of. However, they never want anyone to find that their son has this side of the face and how wild he was. Minto's brother knew the whole situation, but he didn't do anything at all. They made her life terrible. At a very young age, they did the most ruthless actions that no one can ever imagine. When Junko fainted due to the repeated assaults, they dunked her head into a bucket of water to recover her mind, and then the boys again molested and raped her outrageously. In early December, Junko happened to see that those evil boys were taking a nap at night. She came down to the living room on the first floor and called 110 for help. However, she was caught by Miyano, and he answered the call from police by reverse detection and replied, " Nothing, it's a mistake." This incident caused much trouble for Junko. Miyano and Jō Ogura violently lynch Junko. They made her sing and dance when she was being tormented. When Junko pleaded them to let her go, they repeatedly kicked and beaten her. They used oil to lit her burned marks again. In mid-December, Junko's face was swollen miserably due to the endless beating. Her face becomes unidentifiable. They made fun of her, asking why did she has a big face and kicked her again. They made her starve and tortured, forced her to eat live cockroaches, drink her urine, inserted a foreign object into her vagina and anus, including a lit light bulb and fireworks, burned her vagina and clitoris with cigarettes and lighters, and her eyelids with hot wax. They tore off her left nipple with pliers and pierced her breasts with sewing needles. She was also found to be pregnant, also had severe damage to her uterus. On 4 January, Miyano lost his 1000,000 yen in Mahjong. After losing the game, he vented his anger to poor Junko. He continually burned her and was beaten by one after another. Those monsters didn't stop there; they beat her with a barbell, punched her, placed two short candles on her eyelids, and made the melted wax fall on her eyes. During this extreme torture, she fell onto a stereo unit and collapsed into a fit of convulsions. She started bleeding excessively, but those beasts didn't stop still; They continued their viciousness. But in the middle of their cruelty, her soul was taken away. The 40 days of survivor died on the 41st day. End of all hopes, hard stop for all her dreams.

She was raped by over 100 men for more than 400 times in 41 days. The next morning, the four monsters wrapped her corpse in a blanket, put her body in a 50-gallon drum, filled it with concrete, and disposed of it in a barren land. It was said that, they planned to dump the drum into the sea. But somehow, they left the drum into a vacant place.

On 23 January 1989, after 20 days of Furuta's murder, Hiroshi Miyano and Jo Ogura were arrested for a gang-rape case which they have committed in December. The rotten smell and physical appearance of Furuta made them lose sexual interest in her. So they kidnapped and gang-raped a 19-year-old woman who was on her way home from work. Surprisingly, cops got evidence of involvement in the disappearance of Furuta. During the investigation, one of the officers managed to make Miyano believe that cops were aware of a murder committed by Miyano. Assuming that Jō Ogura confessed about Furuta's rape and murder, Miyano told the police where to find her body. Furuta case is still considered as one of the worst homicide cases in history.

They were associated with the biggest crime organization and did extremely vicious things at a very young age. Although some were born in a well-settled family, they still did all kinds of horrible things. Their family was also afraid of their children and their extreme anger. When these brutal criminals were arrested, the Japanese government didn't reveal their identities. And, wow.. They pled guilty to "committing bodily injury that resulted in death" rather than murder.

Hiroshi Miyano, the leader of the gang, was sentenced 20 years in jail. He was released in 2009, while others were only sentenced five to nine years in juveniles. Even after committing such a brutal murder, those beasts were able to escape with such minor punishment. And Yeah, those four "good boys" just committed bodily injury, not murder! So the given sentences would be more than "sufficient." One of those fine sheep were arrested last year of an attempt to murder case. You can read it here.

What did they lose in their life other than some years? Nothing. Her family and friends lost her. Perhaps most of us don't even remember about her or this murder case. Those beasts are still out there healthy and alive with a new name and identity, and committing crimes. One of them even got married, and they are leading a good life. She faded away from her beautiful dreams, family, friends. That poor soul did not even get justice. Her wings were chopped off before even she could fly high. Her murder was the inspiration for the film Concrete in 2004. It is not any movie that led to this brutal crime. It's their evil mind!