44 Days of Torture – Junko Furuta

You have a good future ahead of you.  You’re attractive and receive a lot of attention, sometimes making others jealous.  You don’t smoke or do drugs.  You’re doing well in school, in fact, you’re in your third-year at Yashio-Minami High School.  But you made one mistake. Normally, turning down a boy who likes you, results in some hurt feelings and maybe a little intimidation or harmless retaliation – especially when the boy you turned down is part of a gang. Little did she know, Junko Furuta had made the biggest mistake of her life.

WARNING: The following content may be considered graphic or shocking. Read at your own risk.

On November 25, 1988, after school was over for the day, 17 year old Junko Furuta started on her way home.  Along the way, she was abducted by 4 boys, one of them the boy she had just turned down.

She was taken to the home of their leader, 17 year old, Jo Kamisaku. Kamisaku was a member of the Yakuza, also known as gokudō, a transnational organized crime syndicate originating in Japan. Familiar with crime, and covering it up, Kamisaku knew they would need plenty of time to achieve their goal.  He and the other boys, forced Furuta to call her parents and tell them she would be staying at a friends house for a while, and that she was safe. She complied, doing as she was told, hoping for a positive ending.

The torture began almost immediately, with the 4 boys raping her repeatedly.  As if that wasn’t bad enough, at least 100 members of the Yakuza gang were invited over, for the mere objective of having their way with a 17 year old girl.  The boys took turns, raping her, urinating on her and inserting foreign objects inside of her.  This ranged from beer bottles to iron rods, and chicken on skewers.  At one point, they even inserted firecrackers into her anal cavity and set off.

By December 1, 1988, they were getting bored, but did not want to let Furuta go. They began beating her, and at one point she was hung her from the ceiling and used as a punching bag.  Her nose bled so badly, that she could only breathe through her mouth.  When they let her down from the ceiling, they dropped dumbbells on her stomach, thus greatly damaging her internal organs. She was forced to eat cockroaches, and when she asked for water or was given anything to drink, often her own urine, she vomited it out almost immediately.

Junko Furuta was brave, and one day, after a day of beating and drinking, she took a chance and tried to escape. She picked up a phone and tried to call the police, but she was caught and punished. She was burnt with cigarette butts then covered in lighter fluid across her arms and legs, then set on fire. She survived.

It’s hard to imagine what Junko Furuta felt or thought, but she did not give up. Kamisaku’s parents were home, and despite her pleas for help, they refused, instead choosing to turn a blind eye to their son’s crimes. They, too, were afraid for their lives.

By December 10, 1988, she was unable to walk properly due to the severe burns on her legs. She was beaten with bamboo sticks, and then golf clubs.  She had her hands smashed with exercise weights, and her nails cracked in such a way as to inflict nominal pain.  Several days later, the boys poured hot wax on her face.  They burnt her eyelids with a cigarette lighter, and she was then stabbed with sewing needles in the chest. As if that weren’t enough, they clipped her left nipple with a pair of pliers, and it was ripped off.

She suffered severe damage to her vagina, causing her to bleed heavily and she was no longer able to urinate properly. She finally gave up, knowing she would never get out alive, and by the 40th day of her captivity, she begged her abductors to kill her. They refused, they were not done with her yet.

January 4, 1989, something happened that was not at all related to Furuta, and the boys were furious. They opted to take out their anger and frustration on her. Her already mutilated body was hit repeatedly with an iron barbell until she began bleeding from her mouth.  They lit a candle and used it to burn her face and eyes. Again, they covered her with lighter fluid and set her on fire. They put it out, just in time to not kill her. 

Within the next couple of hours, her body finally gave up, and she died, ultimately succumbing to her injuries.

January 5, 1989, The boys had to get rid of her body, and to cover up their crime. They filled a 55-gallon drum with concrete and dumped her body inside.  They then cast the drum away somewhere on the reclaimed land in Koto, Tokyo.

Fortunately, the barrel was recovered, and justice was served, however, as all four perpetrators were all under-age when the crime was committed, they were tried as juveniles, but eventually faced the sentencing as an adult would, yet their sentences would not reflect the severity of their crime.

In July 1990, Kamisaku was sentenced to 17 years in prison.  One boy received a 6 year sentence, one a 4 year sentence and another 10 year sentence.  Kamisaku and the first 2 boys appealed their rulings, and the higher court dealt out even more severe sentences. Kamisaku ultimately received a 20 year sentence, the second a 9 year sentence, and the third a 7 year sentence.  

All 4 boys are free at this time.

Looking for another story from Japan? Check this one out.