Junko Furuta: The Concrete-Encased Girl

Junko Furuta was a 16-year-old high school student when she was kidnapped, and for 44 days, raped and tortured until she died from her injuries on November 22, 1989. Junko suffered extensively in those days leading to her death.

Junko attended high school in Misato, Japan where she was an active, attractive, well-liked student. She received good grades in school and did not smoke, drink, or use drugs. Junko avoided those types of crowds, which infuriated a boy by the name of Hiroshi Miyano, a school bully with a huge crush on her.

Junko turned down Hiroshi’s proposal to go out on a date. No one ever told him no sending him into a rage when she refused his offer. Hiroshi plotted revenge on the girl who dared say ‘No’ to him.

Junko Kidnapped

On November 25, 1988, Hiroshi and three friends kidnapped Junko. They took her to a house owned by the parents of Nobuharu Minato, one of the kidnappers.

The four kidnappers forced Junko to call her parents, saying she had ran away and was not in danger. Frightened by what the kidnappers would do to her, Junko complied with the demand. They also forced Junko to pretend to be a girlfriend of one of the boys when Minato's parents visited their son at the home.

The parents soon learned that Junko was held captive but was fearful of Hiroshi, who had ties to Yakuza, and remained silent.

44 Days of Hell: The Torture of Junko Furuta

Every day of Junko's life was hell after her capture. The men kept her naked to humiliate her, then allowed more than 100 men vaginally and anally rape Junko. Police say Junko was raped more than 400 times. Some of the men urinated on her after they raped her.

They forced different objects into Junko’s vagina, including bottles, scissors, an iron bar, and other objects. At one point, a firework was inserted into her anus and lit. The men also forced a hot lightbulb into her vagina until it exploded.

The men beat her with golf cubs and bashed her face into the concrete floor and while they did not give her food or water, they forced her to drink her own urine and eat cockroaches.

Junko was hanged from a ceiling and used as a punching bag. The man burnt her eyelids with lighters and hot wax and ripped off her nipples with a pair of pliers.

Junko lost control of her bowels and repeatedly vomited due to the extent of her injuries. This infuriated her kidnappers who only beat her more to punish her.

Junko Calls for Help

When the attackers fell asleep, Junko attempted to call for help but was caught in the act. The men hung up the phone. When police called to check on the situation, Hiroshi told them it was an accidental call. They punished her by lighting her feet on fire with lighter fluid.

The men forced Junk to sleep naked on the balcony in wintertime with already swollen, bruised hands, legs, and feet and internal injuries.

Junko repeatedly begged her kidnappers to kill her and put her out of her misery. Again, they only continued punishing her.

Junko Dies; Body Stuffed in Concrete-Filled Drum

On January 4, 1989, the kidnappers forced Junko to play cards with them. When she won the game, they beat her with an iron barbell and set her legs on fire. She died the following day.

The men stuffed Junko’s body into a 55-gallon oil drum filled with concrete and dumped it in Koto, Tokyo.

Kidnappers Captured

The kidnappers were eventually caught. Due to the age of the kidnappers, Japanese customs omitted their names from the news, but a Japanese newspaper published their names, stating the world needed to know the names due to the erogenous nature of the crime.

• Hiroshi Miyano
• Shinji Minato
• Jo Ogura (Kamisaku)
• Yasushi Watanabe

Three of the boys spent less than eight years in prison. Mayano was initially sentenced to 17 years but received a 20-year sentence under appeal.