True crime: 44 days of hell

Junko was a 16 year-old girl who attended a high school in Misato, Japan. She was beloved by many and enjoyed all the attention people gave her for her beauty. People started to get jealous of her beauty and the attention they so craved. Junko had a normal life, didn’t do drugs, didn’t drink, and had a stable life, until she met someone who could ruin it in just four days. 

Hirioshi Miyano had a crush on Junko, but Hirioshi wasn’t looking for a relationship. Junko quickly turned him down. Hirioshi was known as the bully no one dared to oppose him, but Junko stood her ground and refused his confession.

According to Japan Insides, it says, “On November 25, Junko Furuta was kidnapped by four teenage boys who were apparently involved in the Yakuza. Junko was taken to a house owned by one of her kidnappers in the Ayase district of Adachi, Tokyo.”

Along with this, Junko was forced to call her parents one last time to tell them that she had run away and will stay with a “friend.” Junko Furuta insisted that she was not in any danger.  

That was the last call her parents would ever receive from her. Junko was scared for her life and did everything she was told to do. Her parents not believing that she was safe and with a “friend,” her parents decided to go on a manhunt to find Junko. 

The Scare Chamber talked about how Junko was allegedly being held at Nobuharu Minato’s house. His parents would visit his son, but not be aware that Junko was being held captive at his house. 

Under the threat of increased violence against her, Junko would  pretend to be the girlfriend of one of the boys. However, people started to notice that something was off about Junko’s relationship. People started to wonder if she was being held captive.

The parents of Nobuharu did nothing due to fear and retaliation from Hiroshi Miyano, who was known for having Yakuza connections. (Yakuza is a gang associated with violence.) While being in that house for 44 days; the four teenage boys would force Junko to do explicit things and undergo unspeakable suffering. According to the website, “ The Scare Chamber” it states, “By December 1, 1988, they were getting bored, but did not want to let Furuta go. They began beating her, and at one point they hung her from the ceiling and used as a punching bag.” She was being tortured the max. 

After around 30 days Junko’s body started to fail due to all the damage she received. Not being able to handle such cruel torture, Junko would beg her kidnappers to kill her and close it all. On the 44th day, her torturers would cut her up. The boys would leave no remorse. According to The Teal Mango, it states, “The boys did not spare even the mutilated body and beat it with an iron barbell. Later they poured lighter fluid on her face, stomach, legs, and face and burnt with fire. This final torture went on for around two hours. And later that day i.e., on January 4, 1989, Junko finally died.”

Janet Gaspar said it was a outrage for four teenage boys to kill, rape, and torture a girl for just refusing a love confession. She was deeply outraged by the non-justice Junko Furuta got when her four kidnappers were sentenced for seven and twenty years because they were underaged, but so was Junko. She received no justice at all and still hasn’t received the justice she deserves.  

The four teenage boys would live the rest of their teenage years free and not in jail where they should belong for the brutal murder of Junko. The saddest part of this case was Junko’s final moments being the four teenage boys beating her and laughing at her. The last time Junko’s parents would ever see their daughter is in a bin filled to the brim with concrete which would be where Junko’s final resting place would be.