Murder of Junko Furuta
Encyclopedia
was a 1988–89 murder in which a Japanese girl, 17-year-old Junko Furuta (古田 順子 Furuta Junko), was murder
ed.
) student from Misato, Saitama Prefecture
, for 44 days. They kept her captive in the house owned by the parents of Kamisaku, in the Ayase district of Adachi, Tokyo
.
To forestall a manhunt, one of them forced Furuta into calling her own parents and telling them that she had run away from home, but was with "a friend" and was not in danger. He also browbeat her into posing as the girlfriend of one of the boys when his (Kamisaku's) parents were around, but when he was sure they would not call the police, he dropped the pretext. Furuta tried to escape several times, begging the parents to help her, but they did nothing, apparently out of fear that a second boy would hurt them. This second boy was at the time a low-level Yakuza
leader and had bragged that he could use his connections to kill anyone who interfered.
According to their statements at their trial, the four of them raped her (over 400 times), beat her with metal rods and golf clubs, introduced foreign objects including a hot light bulb into her vagina, made her eat cockroaches and drink her own urine, inserted fireworks into her anus and set them off, forced Furuta to masturbate, cut her nipple with pliers, dropped dumbbells onto her stomach, and burned her with cigarettes and lighters. One of the burnings was punishment for attempting to call the police. It was also stated that some time after the first acts of torture, she became unable to drink water, which would cause her to vomit whenever she attempted to do so. At one point her injuries were so severe that according to one of the boys it took more than an hour for her to crawl downstairs to use the bathroom. They also related that "possibly a hundred different people" knew that Furuta had been imprisoned there, but it is not clear if this means they visited the house at different times while she was imprisoned there, or themselves either raped or abused her. When the boys refused to let her leave, she begged them on several occasions to "kill (her) and get it over with."
On January 4, 1989, using a loss at mahjong solitaire as a pretext, the four beat her with an iron barbell, poured lighter fluid on her legs, arms, face and stomach, and set her on fire. She died later that day of shock. The four boys claimed that they were not aware of how badly injured she was, and that they believed she had been malingering.
On January 5, the killers hid her corpse in a 55-gallon drum filled with concrete; the perpetrators disposed the drum in a tract of reclaimed land in Kōtō
, Tokyo
.
reported their real names, claiming that "human rights aren't needed for brutes".
For his participation in the crime, Kamisaku served eight years in a juvenile prison before he was released, in August 1999. In July 2004, he was arrested for assaulting an acquaintance, whom he believed to be luring a girlfriend away from him, and allegedly bragged about his earlier infamy. Kamisaku was sentenced to seven years in prison for the beating.
Junko's parents were dismayed by the sentences received by their daughter's killers, and enjoined a civil suit against the parents of the boy in whose home the crimes were committed. When some of the convictions were overturned on the basis of problematic physical evidence (the semen and pubic hair recovered from the body did not match those of the boys who were arrested), the lawyer handling the civil suit decided there was no case to be made and refused to represent them further.
In July 1990 a lower court sentenced the leader to seventeen years in prison. The court sentenced one accomplice to a four- to six-year term, one accomplice to a three- to four-year term, and another accomplice to an indefinite five- to ten-year term. The leader and the first two of the three appealed their rulings. The higher court gave more severe sentences to the three appealing parties. The presiding judge, Ryūji Yanase, said that the court did so because of the nature of the crime, the effect on the victim's family, and the effects of the crime on society. The leader received a twenty-year sentence, the second highest possible sentence after life imprisonment
. Of the two appealing accomplices, the one that originally got four to six years, received a five- to nine-year term. The other accomplice had his sentence upgraded to a five- to seven-year term.
of youthful offenders, especially in the context of youths charged as adults, and became a media
sensation.
At least three Japanese-language books have been written about the incident.
, 17 Sai, written by Fujii Seiji and illustrated by Kamata Youji, was released in 2004, chronicling the events of the crime.
An exploitation film
, Joshikōsei konkurīto-zume satsujin-jiken , Concrete-Encased High School Girl Murder Case), was made about the incident by Katsuya Matsumura
in 1995. Yujin Kitagawa (later a member of the music duo Yuzu
) played the role of principal culprit.
Another film, Concrete
, was based on one of the books written about the incident.
In 2006, the Japanese rock/metal band the Gazette released a song on their album Nil
titled "Taion" ("Body Temperature") that is a tribute to the girl.
Guro manga
artist Waita Uziga's "True Modern Stories of the Bizarre" includes the story "Schoolgirl in Concrete", based on the murder case of Junko Furuta.
Murder
Murder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...
ed.
Crime
On November 25, 1988, four boys, including a 17-year-old whose personal name was Jō and would be later given the surname Kamisaku, abducted and held Furuta, a third-year high school (12th gradeTwelfth
Twelfth can mean:*The Twelfth Amendment to the United States Constitution.*The Twelfth, a Protestant celebration originating in Ireland.In mathematics:...
) student from Misato, Saitama Prefecture
Saitama Prefecture
is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of the island of Honshu. The capital is the city of Saitama.This prefecture is part of the Greater Tokyo Area, and most of Saitama's cities can be described as suburbs of Tokyo, to which a large amount of residents commute each day.- History...
, for 44 days. They kept her captive in the house owned by the parents of Kamisaku, in the Ayase district of Adachi, Tokyo
Adachi, Tokyo
is one of the Special wards of Tokyo, Japan. It is located north of the heart of Tokyo. The ward consists of two separate areas: a small strip of land between the Sumida River and Arakawa River and a larger area north of the Arakawa River...
.
To forestall a manhunt, one of them forced Furuta into calling her own parents and telling them that she had run away from home, but was with "a friend" and was not in danger. He also browbeat her into posing as the girlfriend of one of the boys when his (Kamisaku's) parents were around, but when he was sure they would not call the police, he dropped the pretext. Furuta tried to escape several times, begging the parents to help her, but they did nothing, apparently out of fear that a second boy would hurt them. This second boy was at the time a low-level Yakuza
Yakuza
, also known as , are members of traditional organized crime syndicates in Japan. The Japanese police, and media by request of the police, call them bōryokudan , literally "violence group", while the yakuza call themselves "ninkyō dantai" , "chivalrous organizations". The yakuza are notoriously...
leader and had bragged that he could use his connections to kill anyone who interfered.
According to their statements at their trial, the four of them raped her (over 400 times), beat her with metal rods and golf clubs, introduced foreign objects including a hot light bulb into her vagina, made her eat cockroaches and drink her own urine, inserted fireworks into her anus and set them off, forced Furuta to masturbate, cut her nipple with pliers, dropped dumbbells onto her stomach, and burned her with cigarettes and lighters. One of the burnings was punishment for attempting to call the police. It was also stated that some time after the first acts of torture, she became unable to drink water, which would cause her to vomit whenever she attempted to do so. At one point her injuries were so severe that according to one of the boys it took more than an hour for her to crawl downstairs to use the bathroom. They also related that "possibly a hundred different people" knew that Furuta had been imprisoned there, but it is not clear if this means they visited the house at different times while she was imprisoned there, or themselves either raped or abused her. When the boys refused to let her leave, she begged them on several occasions to "kill (her) and get it over with."
On January 4, 1989, using a loss at mahjong solitaire as a pretext, the four beat her with an iron barbell, poured lighter fluid on her legs, arms, face and stomach, and set her on fire. She died later that day of shock. The four boys claimed that they were not aware of how badly injured she was, and that they believed she had been malingering.
On January 5, the killers hid her corpse in a 55-gallon drum filled with concrete; the perpetrators disposed the drum in a tract of reclaimed land in Kōtō
Koto, Tokyo
is one of the 23 special wards of Tokyo, Japan. As of 2008, the ward has an estimated population of 442,271 and a population density of 11,070 persons per km². The total area is 39.48 km². The ward refers to itself as Kōtō City in English....
, Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
.
Arrest and punishment
The boys were arrested and tried as adults; but, because of Japanese handling of crimes committed by juveniles, their identities were concealed by the court. However, the magazine Shūkan BunshunBungeishunju
, established in 1923, is a Japanese publishing company known for its leading monthly magazine Bungeishunjū. It also grants the annual Akutagawa Prize, one of the most prestigious literary awards in Japan, as well as the annual Naoki Prize for popular novelists. It also grants the annual...
reported their real names, claiming that "human rights aren't needed for brutes".
For his participation in the crime, Kamisaku served eight years in a juvenile prison before he was released, in August 1999. In July 2004, he was arrested for assaulting an acquaintance, whom he believed to be luring a girlfriend away from him, and allegedly bragged about his earlier infamy. Kamisaku was sentenced to seven years in prison for the beating.
Junko's parents were dismayed by the sentences received by their daughter's killers, and enjoined a civil suit against the parents of the boy in whose home the crimes were committed. When some of the convictions were overturned on the basis of problematic physical evidence (the semen and pubic hair recovered from the body did not match those of the boys who were arrested), the lawyer handling the civil suit decided there was no case to be made and refused to represent them further.
In July 1990 a lower court sentenced the leader to seventeen years in prison. The court sentenced one accomplice to a four- to six-year term, one accomplice to a three- to four-year term, and another accomplice to an indefinite five- to ten-year term. The leader and the first two of the three appealed their rulings. The higher court gave more severe sentences to the three appealing parties. The presiding judge, Ryūji Yanase, said that the court did so because of the nature of the crime, the effect on the victim's family, and the effects of the crime on society. The leader received a twenty-year sentence, the second highest possible sentence after life imprisonment
Life imprisonment
Life imprisonment is a sentence of imprisonment for a serious crime under which the convicted person is to remain in jail for the rest of his or her life...
. Of the two appealing accomplices, the one that originally got four to six years, received a five- to nine-year term. The other accomplice had his sentence upgraded to a five- to seven-year term.
Effect
The case drew nationwide attention towards the sentencing and rehabilitationRehabilitation (penology)
Rehabilitation means; To restore to useful life, as through therapy and education or To restore to good condition, operation, or capacity....
of youthful offenders, especially in the context of youths charged as adults, and became a media
Mass media
Mass media refers collectively to all media technologies which are intended to reach a large audience via mass communication. Broadcast media transmit their information electronically and comprise of television, film and radio, movies, CDs, DVDs and some other gadgets like cameras or video consoles...
sensation.
At least three Japanese-language books have been written about the incident.
In popular culture
A Japanese mangaManga
Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...
, 17 Sai, written by Fujii Seiji and illustrated by Kamata Youji, was released in 2004, chronicling the events of the crime.
An exploitation film
Exploitation film
Exploitation film is a type of film that is promoted by "exploiting" often lurid subject matter. The term "exploitation" is common in film marketing, used for all types of films to mean promotion or advertising. These films then need something to exploit, such as a big star, special effects, sex,...
, Joshikōsei konkurīto-zume satsujin-jiken , Concrete-Encased High School Girl Murder Case), was made about the incident by Katsuya Matsumura
Katsuya Matsumura
is a Japanese film director and screenwriter known for his violent thriller-horror film series All Night Long.-Life and career:Matsumura was born in Tokyo, Japan in 1963. After graduating college, he entered the film industry where he worked on documentary films and short documentaries...
in 1995. Yujin Kitagawa (later a member of the music duo Yuzu
Yuzu (band)
is a Japanese pop duo. Its members are and . Both of the band members come from Yokohama in Kanagawa Prefecture, and attended Okamura Junior High School.-Discography:...
) played the role of principal culprit.
Another film, Concrete
Concrete (film)
is a 2004 independently-produced Japanese film that recounts the story of the murder of Junko Furuta. The film deals as much with the social factors that produced Furuta's four assailants as it does with Furuta's suffering at their hands....
, was based on one of the books written about the incident.
In 2006, the Japanese rock/metal band the Gazette released a song on their album Nil
Nil (album)
Nil is the second studio album released by Japanese rock band The Gazette. It was released on February 8, 2006 by PS Company in Japan...
titled "Taion" ("Body Temperature") that is a tribute to the girl.
Guro manga
Manga
Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...
artist Waita Uziga's "True Modern Stories of the Bizarre" includes the story "Schoolgirl in Concrete", based on the murder case of Junko Furuta.
See also
- Pai Hsiao-yenPai Hsiao-yenPai Hsiao-yen was the only daughter of popular Taiwanese TV host and actress Pai Ping-ping and Japanese author Ikki Kajiwara....
- Hello Kitty murderHello Kitty murderThe Hello Kitty Murder in Hong Kong refers to the case of a night club hostess who was kidnapped and tortured in an apartment in Tsim Sha Tsui in 1999. She eventually died over a month later, either by drug overdose or at the hands of the abductors...
- Tsutomu MiyazakiTsutomu Miyazaki, also known as The Otaku Murderer, The Little Girl Murderer, and Dracula, was a Japanese serial killer.-Background:Planaria's premature birth left him with deformed hands, which were permanently gnarled and fused directly to the wrists, necessitating him to move his entire forearm in order to...