On November 25th of 1988, Junko, who had just turned 17 three days prior, was riding her bike home from her part time job. As she was riding past some hedges, a boy jumped out and kicked her off her bike. Another boy saw this, and offered to walk Junko home. This boy was Hiroshi Miyano. Instead of walking her home, he took her to an abandoned warehouse where he sexually assaulted her. He then took her to a hotel and sexually assaulted her twice again. Hiroshi told Junko that if she didn't do exactly what her told her, he would have the Yakuza kill her, as he had connections with them. In the early hours of the morning, he took Junko to a park, where his three friends were waiting. They were Jo Kamisaku, Shinji Minato, and Yasushi Watanabe. Junko recognized Shinji as the one who kicked her off her bike. Junko was told if she didn't do as they said, Hiroshi would send the Yakuza to kill her family. They then took her to Hiroshi's house that he shared with his parents. They told Junko to act as if she were one of their girlfriends.

Junko's parents were concerned about their daughter so they called the police and a manhunt was launched. The boys told Junko to call her parents and tell them she was alright, and to please call off the manhunt. She did, and the manhunt was called off. They forced Junko to sabotage her own rescue. For the next forty days, she was subjected to brutal torture at the hands of the four boys.

Some things they did were beating her, sexually assaulting her over 400 times, burning her eyelids with hot wax, burning her privates with a lighter, dropping heavy barbells on her while she was on the floor, hung her from the ceiling and used her as a punching bag, made to eat cockroaches and feces, holding her head on a concrete floor and jumping on it several times, putting her in a freezer for hours at a time, burning her with candles, wax, and lighters, made her perform degrading acts, mutilated her breast with pliers, and invited their other friends over to join in.

One of the friends who sexually assaulted Junko felt guilty and told his family who called the police. The police went to check the residence, and Hiroshi's parents said everything was fine and there was no girl being held captive. The police just believed them and didn't bother to check the house. Another chance to rescue Junko failed. In early December, Junko was able to sneak away while the boys were distracted and tried to call the police, but they caught her. They proceeded to torture her as a punishment. They doused her legs with lighter fluid and set them on fire. They did something else I won't say, which caused bleeding and sent her into convulsions. They thought she was faking, so they set her on fire again. Many times she asked them to go ahead and kill her.

They forced her to sleep outside on a balcony, in December, when it was very cold. They continued their torture of Junko. She was in so much pain that she could barely move. Due to her injuries she became incontinent, which made the boys lose interest in her. She became unable to eat or drink and would just throw up when she tried, and the boys would punish her for this.

On January 4th, 1989, one of the boys challenged Junko to a game of mahjongg. Despite her horrible state, she beat him. This made them very angry so they punished her. They beat and kicked her, hit her with barbells, and whipped her feet with bamboo sticks. Junko collapsed to the floor and started convulsing. They were angry about this as well and dropped the barbells on her while she was convulsing, and then doused her body and face with lighter fluid and set her on fire again. She became unresponsive and passed away that same day. They wrapped her in blankets and put her inside a travel bag. They put her in a 55 gallon drum and filled it with wet concrete. Then they disposed of her.

Police brought Hiroshi and Jo in for questioning on another sexual assault they had done. The police brought up a murder (not Junko's) that they thought they may have something to do with, and Hiroshi, thinking they were referring to Junko, broke down and confessed to everything. The police had no idea Junko was even dead. Her body was recovered and she was not even recognizable.

Despite the heinousness of the crimes they committed, they were all under 18 and were not named publicly, but a magazine found out their names and leaked them. All the boys took a plea bargain. All four boys pled guilty to "committing bodily injury that resulted in death," rather than murder. In 1990, Hiroshi was sentenced to 17 years, and appealed his sentence claiming it was too long and so it was reviewed and he actually got MORE time, an extra 3 years. Minato, who originally received a four-to-six-year sentence, was re-sentenced to five-to-nine years upon appeal. Yasushi Watanabe, who was originally sentenced to three-to-four years in prison, received an upgraded sentence of five-to-seven years. Jo Kamisaku served eight years in a juvenile prison before he was released in 2004. When asked why they confined the victim for over 40 days, the boys stated that they were "afraid of getting caught by the police". When an investigator asked them if there was any other reason besides fear of getting caught by the police, one of the boys retorted, "what other reason would there be?"

Junko Furuta's funeral was held on April 2nd 1989.

Hiroshi Miyano tried to hide his identity as much as possible after being released from prison. He is known to disappear when people discover who he actually is.

Jo Kamisaku openly brags about the things he did to Furuta.

Shinji Minato appears irritated when people ask him about his criminal background. Has complained about his incarceration.

Yasushi Watanabe, little is known about him. He is said to have become one of Japan's "hikikomori" following his release from prison.

2 films and 2 manga have been made about this case. I am hesitant to read or watch because how respectful can they possibly be? At least one is an exploitation film.

Jo Kamisaku's mother desecrated Junko's grave because she says Junko "messed up her son's life".