Murder of Junko Furuta
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Junko Furuta (古田 順子 Furuta Junko, November 22, 1972 – January 4, 1989) was a 16-year-old Japanese high school student who was abducted, tortured, raped, and murdered in the late 1980s. Her murder case was named the Concrete-encased high school girl murder case (女子高生コンクリート詰め殺人事件, Joshikōsei konkurīto-zume satsujin-jiken) due to the state of her discovered body: in a concrete drum filled with over 50 gallons of cement.[citation needed]
Crime
On November 25, 1988, four boys, including a 17-year-old whose name was Jō and was later given the surname Kamisaku,[1] abducted and held Furuta, a third-year high school student from Misato, Saitama Prefecture, for over 40 days. They kept her captive in the house owned by the parents of Kamisaku, in the Ayase district of Adachi, Tokyo.[2]She was a student at Yashio-Minami High School, and she was a stranger to her assailants.[3]
In order to avoid any concern over her abduction the perpetrators forced Furuta to call her parents and tell them that she would be staying at a friend’s house for a while. The parents of the boy whose house it was were present at least part of the time Furuta was held captive, yet did not intervene, later claiming that they feared their son too much to do so.[4]
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.[5] Her corpse was not discovered until a year later. When the victim's mother was informed of what had happened, she fainted and had to be taken for psychiatric treatment.[4]
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 Bunshun reported their real names, claiming that "human rights aren't needed for brutes".[citation needed]
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.[1] Kamisaku was sentenced to seven years in prison for the beating.
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.[5]
Furuta'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.
Effect
The case drew nationwide attention towards the sentencing and rehabilitation 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.[6]
In popular culture
An exploitation film, Joshikōsei konkurīto-zume satsujin-jiken 女子高生コンクリート詰め殺人事件, 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.[7][8]
Another film, Concrete (コンクリート, aka Schoolgirl in Cement, 2004), was based on one of the books written about the incident.
Seiji Fujii wrote a novel about the case 17-sai which turned manga Youji Kamata contrary to what had really happened, the novel shows a happy ending for the girl, who's still alive and her kidnappers are sentenced to jail for many years.
See also
References
- ^ a b Wijers-Hasegawa, Yumi, "Man who killed as child back in court", The Japan Times, July 29, 2004.
- ^ Utting, Gerald. "Sales tax creates tempest in a Tokyo teapot." Toronto Star. April 3, 1989. A15. Retrieved on September 29, 2009. Requires payment.
- ^ Hawkins, Kristal. "Japanese Horror Story: The Torture of Junko Furuta." Crime Library. December 15, 2012. Retrieved on July 14, 2013.
- ^ a b Kristal Hawkins. (June 15, 2013). "Japanese Horror Story: The Torture of Junko Furuta."
- ^ a b "Rapist, Murderer Given 20-Year Sentence." The Daily Yomiuri. Sunday July 13, 1991. Page 2. Retrieved from LexisNexis on September 29, 2009.
- ^ 渥美饒兒『十七歳、悪の履歴書-女子高生コンクリート詰め殺人事件』作品社、2003年。ISBN 4878935723. 門野晴子『女子高生コンクリート詰め殺人事件―彼女のくやしさがわかりますか?』おんな通信社編、社会評論社、1990年。佐瀬稔『うちの子が、なぜ!―女子高生コンクリート詰め殺人事件』草思社、1990年。ISBN 479420390X.
- ^ Joshikôsei konkuriito-dume satsujin-jiken at IMDb
- ^ "Filme mit Beteiligung von Yujin Kitagawa" (in German). Archived from the original on 2009-06-11. Retrieved 2008-03-09.
- "Torture and Murder in Tokyo". The Japan Times Weekly Overseas Edition. 1989-08-19.