Murder of Junko Furuta

Junko Furuta
古田 順子
Furuta in 1988
Born(1971-01-18)18 January 1971
Died4 January 1989(1989-01-04) (aged 17)
Cause of deathMurder (traumatic shock)
Body discovered29 March 1989
Kōtō, Tokyo, Japan

Junko Furuta (Japanese: 古田 順子, Hepburn: Furuta Junko, 18 January 1971 – 4 January 1989) was a 17-year-old Japanese high school student who was abducted, raped, tortured, and murdered. Her abuse was mainly perpetrated by four male teenagers—Hiroshi Miyano (18), Jō Ogura (17), Shinji Minato (16), and Yasushi Watanabe (17)—and took place over a 40-day period starting on 25 November 1988. In Japan, the case is known as 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), as her body was discovered inside of a concrete-filled drum. The prison sentences served by the perpetrators ranged from 7 to 20 years. The brutality of the case shocked Japan, and it is said to be the worst case of juvenile crime in the country's post-war history.