Recommendation - Junko Furuta

SpoilerOPEN DISCUSSION

I don’t know if the creators check this Reddit community, but if so, I want to recommend the absolutely horrific, devastating, disgusting, and shocking case of the torture, SA, and murder of Junko Furuta.

I heard about this case recently and wondered if casefile had ever covered it, but they haven’t yet.

It is one of the worst cases I’ve heard of to date, including the Toy Box case.

I am recommending it on this page because I think casefile could do a really good job in explaining WTF happened, circumstances of the police and justice systems in Japan, and the absolute depravity.

This girl deserves her story to be told, and I have really respected casefile in the past going over such difficult cases, while focusing on the humanity of victims.

Edit: I just want to clarify a few things and respond to common comments.

I recognize many people have mentioned that this case is too brutal/horrific and they do not want to hear about the details again. Another thing people have mentioned is that it is a popular or well-known case and has already been covered by many. People also said that Junko’s story should be left alone so she may rest in peace.

I absolutely understand those who do not want to hear about her case anymore than what they’ve already heard. It is truly devastating and sickening. I felt light-headed and dizzy when I first heard some details recently.

I heard of this case for the first time only a week or so ago, and I did not know it was well known or already well covered. That was my mistake in not researching more closely the coverage.

And again, for people wanting to keep Junko resting in peace, and those who don’t want any further exploitation from her case, I completely understand that and I agree fully.

The reasons I felt at the time I should mention her name and case in this group is because of her story and what she went through, and I have felt that casefile is able to do thorough research into factual information about cases including contacting families and local law enforcement, and they do so in a way that reflects the victim as much more than what happened to them. I think this case is as horrifying as everyone agrees in the comments, and I think the truth of what happened to her as well as other women who experience such depraved forms of violence against women deserve to have their stories told. The details are incredibly hard to hear, and I understand not everyone can listen at all or again, I felt that way too, but it is still the truth of what she went through, and for myself, I felt that the least I could do was listen.

I mentioned the toy box case above because that case I found extremely horrifying as well, and Casey didn't include all the details in that story, but did tell the stories of each of the victims that he could.

It is not my role ultimately to decide what stories should be told by casefile, nor how they should be told.

This recommendation is simply one person's suggestion, for the reasons above and I mean absolutely no disrespect. I also do understand and appreciate everyone's comments and reasons why they may disagree.

Thank you all for sharing and providing nuance!

in Casefileby gilliwang

42%

1mo

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Neat_Alternative999

1mo

I am unsure if Casefile has covered her story. Personally, I don't want to hear or read any more about her murder. It's horrific what happened and tbh, I want her to rest in peace.

gilliwang

-8

1mo

I understand that sentiment completely. That’s absolutely fair.

For myself, I would like to listen to casefile covering her story in part because of the justice system failures in adequately sentencing and addressing the perpetrators, and to keep the truth of what happened to her out there (yes it was horrific and I hope she is resting in peace, but what happened is truly devastating and what she went through deserves to be told and never forgotten).

macabruhhh

1mo

But aren’t there more than enough content about her that do just that? At what point does it seem like people just love to gawk at her ordeal over and over again under the guise of acting like they are doing it for a righteous cause, especially when this is a VERY infamous case? Even when the perpetrators first got sentenced, there was a lot of uproar so the anger over her injustice has always been apart of her story, this isn’t one of those cases that needs to be reflected upon to realize how fucked it was (unlike cases like Azaria Chamberlain that only viewed her mother as a victim as well afterwards).

Edit: in summary bc I wrote more than I thought lol; we should just let her rest and hope her loved ones find peace. There is nothing to be said about this case that hasn’t already and there isn’t anything to “spread awareness” about since this case is more well known than the podcast itself, it would just be exploitative

Mezzoforte48

-1

1mo

Personally, I've only heard of this case through people recommending this case for the podcast, but if there's a podcast I would want to hear their take on an infamous and brutal case, it's this one.

macabruhhh

1mo

“Hear their take” what take? Casefile is not even the kind of podcast that does takes, in fact Casey himself prides on the podcast being the exact opposite of that lol and instead tries to be as objective as possible and only retell the events, that’s it. Asking for a podcast to cover it is just asking to hear the brutal details about what happened to this poor girl all over again, but this time in an Australian accent, it’s weird.

Mezzoforte48

1mo

Casefile is not even the kind of podcast that does takes, in fact Casey himself prides on the podcast being the exact opposite of that lol and instead tries to be as objective as possible and only retell the events, that’s it.

That's exactly what I meant by their 'take' lol. Retelling the events and details of the case, as opposed to also reacting to and giving their opinions on them. You're way too caught up in the semantics.

And I don't have a strong opinion either way about whether they should cover the case or not. I was mainly just responding to the assertion that Casefile shouldn't do cases that are well-known.

macabruhhh

1mo

So you agree, you just want to hear the details of what this girl went through, but in a different voice? This exactly what I meant when I said people just want to continuously gawk at her ordeal for entertainment; people get such a kick in talking/listening about all the torture she went through. It’s unneeded/exploitive and Junko deserves to rest in peace.

Edit: as for the well known cases thing, it only really makes sense to talk about them all over again in instances like the Chamberlain one like I previously mentioned, where the narrative has changed over time

Mezzoforte48

1mo

people just want to continuously gawk at her ordeal for entertainment; people get such a kick in talking/listening about all the torture she went through.

Well if there are people out there that do that, then there's something really wrong with them and they probably shouldn't be spending their time listening to true crime content.

But yeah, I do listen to true crime for entertainment. Not because I get a kick out of hearing about people being killed, tortured, or humiliated in graphic ways, but because of the process of listening to the suspense, the twists, the whodunit, and finally solving the case. It's kind of the same reason why some people enjoy horror movies. And before you say, "but the people in them are fictional," yeah they are, but I don't listen to true crime to just hear about the gruesome details, I want to hear about how they solve the case, and like most people, I get frustrated whenever a case is revealed to be unsolved. That's the big difference with true crime - if your enjoyment in listening to it doesn't also come from an interest in learning about how they solved the case, then all it is for you is torture porn.

The other thing is if we continuously use the argument of 'we shouldn't be hearing about the graphic details because it's exploitative and will further traumatize victims,' then we will also fail to learn from them and how we can try to prevent these cases from happening again. And by that, I don't just mean in terms of catching the perps and punishing them, but the red flags to look out before a crime can happen and the various factors that contribute to why somebody would commit such crimes. And this is why 'Casefile' is the only true crime podcast I listen to, because they just present the facts, while still also respecting the victims and their loved ones.

Lastly, I'll leave you with this perspective from someone that commented on the Colleen Stan case in response to how a lot of people were upset at how much graphic details were revealed in that episode:

"Yeah I have a really hard time when people complain that it was too much. Like for real? This lady SURVIVED all of this and yall have the audacity to complain about how you are disturbed by listening? Hear her story, listen. Understand what humans are capable of going through, have some dang compassion. If you felt weird listening, good, it means you’re human and have a heart. It’s just really mind blowing to me that so many people are complaining."

"The true crime industry has really done a disservice to victims by making their stories into palatable pieces of media that can be guzzled down on the drive to work. Casey is doing them a service by actually telling their story."

"Sorry for the rant, I am a survivor and can’t imagine how hard it was to re tell this story in this much detail and still be alive. What I experienced was a grain of salt compared to her and it’s done a number on my soul. She is a freaking hero."

macabruhhh

1mo

This case is unique for a victim who wasn’t alive to tell the story themselves bc there is an extremely detailed timeline of exactly what kind of torture she went through and when, instead of detectives just trying to figure it out based off of autopsy reports of injuries, and why people have always loved revelling in her horrific ordeal more than most other cases. I don’t believe in watering down graphic details or shying away from what actually happened at all, but this specific case has been so grossly exploited and attracts the worst kind of true crime fans. As for the “chase” aka the investigation, it was an accident bc one of the perpetrators slipped up while detained for another crime, which unraveled the whole thing for good, so there isn’t much of a story there. If Casefile did a series on this case, a bulk of it would inevitably be just retelling her days in captivity.

As for the Colleen Stan point, I appreciate what you mean but bringing light to a case where the victim survived and was able to tell their own story is VERY different than Junko’s, it’s just not very comparable. Junko was a child and never agreed or consented to having so many details, especially sexual details, about her being repeated over and over and over again. She was defiled in every way while alive and doesn’t need to continue to be in death. Obviously I’m not saying that no one should be able to cover cases where the victims died but once again, this case especially has been so milked bc of the gore. Also, the level of infamy between the two cases are vastly different. Junko is always at the top of “disturbing” list and known around the world, whereas I myself have never heard of Colleen’s name and only vaguely heard about a case regarding a girl in a box, and I live in the same continent as her.

Mezzoforte48

1mo

So you provided some background on how this case has actually been exploited for morbid pleasure over ethical investigation, which as someone that only knows about this case through name and superficial details of it, I appreciate you educating me on that.

What I will say with regards to her being a child that isn't alive to to tell about her ordeal is that I know Casefile has worked with the families and loved ones of victims before on past episodes mainly for missing persons cases, but with how much research they put into every one, it's hard to imagine that they don't do some kind of behind-the-scenes interviews and consulting with family members on much of them. But that's just my speculation. But mainly what I'm saying is that I do trust them to handle the consent aspect of retelling a case ethically more so than other podcasts. At least I hope they would if they're a podcast that prides itself on objective, raw telling of the events and details of cases.

gilliwang

1mo

Hi there, I understand what you’re saying and I want to clarify that I don’t want any further exploitation of Junko and what happened to her.

I was trying to say that I appreciate how casefile sticks to the factual information, including things like police incompetence and failures of the justice system, and in the case of Junko specifically, I think experiences of violence against women - especially ones with such horrific acts and inhumane depravity - deserve to be told and shared. It is the truth, and it is terrible, but it happened to her and I’m sure similar things have happened to many others. It is part of the awful depraved side of humanity.

And I do understand why people are not wanting to go over this case any further, saying they think it should be left alone. My recommendation was merely a suggestion because I appreciate how casefile handles the stories they tell. But I also didn’t know this case was as well known as people are saying, and I understand not wanting to simply repeat previous takes on the case.

Mezzoforte48

1mo

Response to your edit: Except Casefile is unlike other true crime podcasts in that they do exhaustive research beforehand (which you can see in the links below every episode page) They even use primary sources sometimes. So you may catch some pieces of information in a well-known case that's not widely public knowledge.

reduxrouge

1mo

The Wikipedia page has all the details. Read that.

gilliwang

1mo

Wikipedia is very different from how casefile approaches cases, but I understand why many people do not want this story to be covered again.

reduxrouge

1mo

As someone who knows all about this case, I can say the Wikipedia is very comprehensive.

gilliwang

1mo

Okay, thanks for sharing