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The 2002 Japan animal cruelty case was an animal cruelty case involving the torture and death of a cat and was notable as the first animal cruelty case that resulted in a felony conviction in Japan.

In May 6 and May 7, 2002 a 26-year old unemployed Kure, Hiroshima Prefecture man named Jun Matsubara (松原 潤 Matsubara Jun) captured a kitten in his Fukuoka neighborhood and took it into his home. Matsubara tortured the cat for four hours by cutting off its ear and tail before strangling the cat with a piece of string. Matsubara hung the cat on the string with a CD labelled "I'm a defeatism" before throwing the cat into a river. Matsubara took photographs of the torture and posted them onto 2channel. A placard seen in the final photograph reads in Japanese "Offer to the brothers of Kuromutsu in the world!! Oscar Dill". Kuromutsu generally refers to people that kill dogs and cats; it is used on 2chan to refer to the "I hate pets" subforum.

A poster discovered the pictures and contacted authorities. Matsubara was arrested and was given a prison sentence as part of Japan's first felony animal abuse conviction. The case became infamous throughout Japan. This was notable as Japanese animal abuse laws had previously been lax and seldom enforced. Matsubara was given a six-month suspended prison sentence (the sentence was suspended for three years); this is seen as a remarkable sentence for animal abuse in Japan.

The case was used as a rallying cry against animal abuse and for tougher animal abuse laws by Japanese and other people from around the world [1].

The cat who died was posthumously named "Kogenta" (こげんた) by a Buddhist priest.

The only known picture of Jun Matsubara on the Internet is a 12th grade yearbook photo from Tsuda High School.

• 2channel threads about the abuse (Japanese)
• The "Dear Kogenta" website made by a man campaigning to stop animal abuse
• Himawari's Site about the Kogenta abuse case
• A mirror of Matsubara's website. This is not work safe (currently 403)
• Cache of a web site describing Matsubara's actions