The horrific Junko Furuta case of 1989 shook the world with its bone-chilling details. A brutal tale of the kidnapping, rape, and murder of a 17-year-old schoolgirl in Japan that took place in 1988. Were the perpetrators ever caught? Where are they now? Let’s find out.
What Happened to Junko Furuta?
Junko was a 17-year-old schoolgirl who worked part-time at a plastic moulding factory in Misato, Saitama Prefecture, Japan. She was missing for 44 days before her dead body was found encased in concrete. Junko studied at Yashio-Minami High School and was known to be a bright and pretty girl. However, her bright future came to an abrupt halt in November 1988.
One evening, when Junko was returning home from her part-time job on her bicycle, she was attacked by a man. Although, her classmate Hiroshi Miyano, known as the school bully, was also present at the site of the incident and offered to help Junko. Miyano offered to escort Junko home safely, to which she agreed. Little did she know that she would never see her loved ones again.
What followed was a story of shock and horror. Instead of taking Junko to her home, Miyano took her to an abandoned warehouse where he threatened to kill her and her parents if she didn’t cooperate. Miyano then raped and terrorized her with his connections to the Japanese mafia gang, Yakuza. Later, Junko was taken to a park where Miyano’s three friends- Shinji Minato, Jo Ogura, and Yasushi Watanabe were waiting for them. Junko was raped by all the other three men and was taken to a house owned by Minato’s family.
As Junko’s parents got worried, they informed the police of Junko’s missing. However, the four men made Junko call her parents to say she was staying with a friend and asked them to withdraw the missing report. While Junko was kept hostage at Minato’s house, he told his parents that Junko was his girlfriend. Minato’s parents suspected that something was wrong but did not speak up due to the terror of the Yakuza. Junko suffered 44 days of assault, torture, and rape at the hands of these four men.
She was raped over 400 times during these 44 days of captivity and was brutally tortured by the four men. On January 4, 1989, they eventually decided to murder Junko Furuta by dumping her body in a 55-gallon oil drum and filling it with concrete.
What Happened to the Junko Furuta’s Killers?
Two weeks after Junko Furuta’s body was found, Miyano and Ogura were arrested for a separate gang rape charge. During the investigation, Miyano let slip the whereabouts of Junko’s dead body with the misconception that Ogura might have confessed to the police. The police located Junko Furuta’s body on March 29, 1989.
According to the Tokyo Reporter, the four men pled guilty to the charge of committing bodily injuries resulting in death. They were given much lenient sentencing as compared to the degree of their heinous crimes. The court tried the four men as adults but their identities were protected by the courts as juveniles. Some people suspect that their sentencing was reduced due to their young age, while some believe it was due to their connections to the Yakuza. The four men were sentenced to the following terms-
- Hiroshi Miyano: 20 years imprisonment- 17 years at first, later upgraded to additional 3 years by Tokyo High Court.
- Jo Ogura: 8 years in prison
- Shinji Minato: 4-6 years, later upgraded to 5-9 years by a judge.
- Yasushi Watanabe: 3-4 years, later upgraded to 5-7 years.
The gang-leader Hiroshi Miyano served his 20 years of sentence in prison for murdering Junko Furuta and was released in 2009. He changed his name to Yokoyama to lead a normal life. However, he was charged with fraud in 2013 but was never prosecuted for the same. Since then, Yokoyama leads a luxurious life and is openly linked to the criminal underworld.
