The Dorei Experiment

It's impossible to discuss this case without exploring some extremely graphic content. I have endeavoured to avoid details of torture where possible. Misogynistic, racist and homophobic language has been redacted.

If you are hoping for answers, you might want to stop here.

In 2013, a number of .gif files showing a Japanese woman being tortured were uploaded to Reddit and 4chan. These moving images, set within a dimly lit apartment building, caused some to insist they were fake, but generated a lot of interest. After a little digging, a number of users found that the images were from a darkweb site that had been running since 2011. A huge influx of viewers flooded to the site.

She was nicknamed 'Dorei', a Japanese word meaning 'slave'. Dorei was imprisoned within a small apartment. Her living area contained a mattress on the floor, a small kitchenette and a large metal pipe that emerged from the centre of the ceiling. To the rear of the living area was a small wet-room containing a shower and toilet hidden behind a thin wooden door. She was trapped at the mercy of a person naming themselves 'Shujin', a word that can simultaneously mean 'master', or 'host'.

When required, two masked men entered the apartment. It was they who had been seen torturing Dorei in the various files that had been uploaded. Some suggested that the person claiming to hold Dorei captive was actually outsourcing her captivity to the pair, giving them instructions (perhaps from the other side of the world). Others believed that the entire experience was either a performance art piece or a consensual sexual experience between Dorei and Shujin, despite the unimaginable abuse inflicted upon her. People pointed to the fact that as well as master, host and owner, 'Shujin' could also be interpreted to mean 'husband'.

Dorei's entire existence was broadcast on the internet via webcam. She ate, slept, exercised, read and existed with a constant audience, a fact that she was very much aware of. The majority of the time, she merely sat within the apartment. On occasion, the two masked me would appear and torture her physically and sexually.

With the sudden influx of viewers, Shujin began what he called 'the great experiment'.

On a weekly basis, viewers were able to suggest things they wished to see happen to the captive Dorei. A random number generator was used to select a choice from the long list of suggestions. Whatever the result, Shujin would make it happen.

“This is an experiment,” Shujin posted on the front page of the site. “When I took Dorei in 2011, I thought I would be her punisher, but now I am just a way for you to be her punishers. I am your slave as much as she is. I could not change your results if I wanted to. I am not going to kill her, why end our fun? The only other limit to what I will do is the limit of your sick imaginations.”

There were predictable and horrifying results. Within a matter of months, Dorei was transformed. She was cut, burnt and pierced in multiple places. Her head was shaved and tattoos were forcibly etched across her body. She was poisoned, splashed with acid, glass was placed in her food. She lost weight, regularly went in to shock and went through periods of infection.

Whilst the majority of suggestions were outright abuse, others were seemingly surreal or bizarre.

In April of 2014, the random number generator selected 'fill the apartment with rice'. After two days, mountains of rice began pouring through the pipe in the ceiling. Dorei appeared visibly confused, leaping to her feet and retreating to the corner for a moment, before approaching and taking a handful, allowing the rice to stream between her fingers. Shujin eventually poured enough rice into the apartment to fill it to a depth of four feet. Dorei responded by piling as much of it as possible on one side of the room. Some of it, she cooked, a lot of it was washed down the sink or flushed down the toilet.

Another time, the random number generator selected 'get mosquitoes in there'. Dorei spent the week hunting and killing the insects, sleeping inside a makeshift net of clothes and blankets.

The week before Christmas, the random number generator (after landing on variations of 'kill her' twice in a row) selected 'turn the sprinklers on'. Shujin posted that the sprinklers in the apartment were not active, but that he would approximate something similar. For the remainder of the week, ice cold water poured in from the pipe at random intervals. Dorei used saucepans, cups and clothes to try and stop the water spreading across the floor.

And then, something unprecedented happened.

“She looks cold, give her a coat”.

By the end of 2014, two camps had begun to emerge – nicknamed 'Team Mercy' and 'Team Torture'. Team Mercy sought to improve Dorei's quality of life, whilst also trying to find a way to locate or identify her in an attempt to aid in her rescue. Team Torture repeatedly pushed for violence, sadism, humiliation and sexual abuse. The first week of 2015 saw the first time a Team Mercy vote had been selected by the random number generator.

Whilst Team Torture's ranks were filled primarily with those who were using the site for its intended purpose, Team Mercy were a broad and varied group. Some had originally been part of Team Torture and had buckled seeing the abuse play out, others were men claiming to be in love with Dorei who could not fathom why any viewer would wish to see her harmed. Others were not people who would ever have visited the site, if they had not been brought in to boost the numbers trying to protect or save her.

As Team Mercy grew in size, those in Team Torture grew increasingly bitter.

“Ban Team Mercy” one poster wrote. “This site was about hurting this dumb ________ from the beginning. Those of us who were supporters early on will leave and you'll be left with these fucking virgin ________ and ____________ and white knights who think if they free her she'll fall in love with them or something.”

“FFS this was the only reason I even bothered using the internet tbh. Now it's just like everywhere else online. The ______ have ruined the only place we had left.”

“Shujin, you know that the time has come as much as we do. This site has turned to shit and we both know that there will be a mass exodus soon. I'm BEGGING you to think about this and do the right thing. Kill that ______. Kill that ______ as painfully as possible then ___________________________________.”

The torture did not end, but the small mercies continued. One week, Shujin was tasked with providing Dorei with a dog. Three days later, the door opened and she was presented with a small shikoku that the audience named Koko. One week later, the random number generator selected 'kill that stupid fucking dog and make her watch'. The footage is still archived around the internet, if you know where to look. The door opens and the two men burst in, one is holding a choke chain, the other a meat cleaver. Dorei scurries to the opposite side of the room in panic and Koko approaches the two men, clearly unsure of what is about to happen. The choke chain is looped around her neck and one of the men force her to the floor and places his knee on her back. The other points at Dorei and then at the dog, saying something, then lifts the cleaver. There is a moment. Both men turn to face the door and enter discussion with a third party outside of the camera's view. After a few moments, they let the dog go and leave. Dorei crumples to the floor.

After three days, Shujin posted an update – he would not be killing the dog and any future votes to harm or kill Koko in any way would be ignored. Team Torture's reaction was explosive.

“Fuck you, you fucking _____. Thought you were better than the Team Mercy _______ but this just proves what we've known for a long time, you've been ____________ by the ___________. What's next? Nothing that harms that ______? No violence? No name calling? No ____________? Pathetic. I'm done here. Fuck you.”

“Shujin you ______, _________ ___________! Fuck you! Fuck you and this whole fucking website! What's the fucking point any more?! Congratulations, you fucked up the only good website on the net. Hopefully, some other _____ fuck will kidnap some other _____ and start a competitor site and we can all move there. Maybe someone with a dick instead of a ______ who will actually follow through! Fucccccckc you for ruining the only fucking good thing in my fucking life!”

“She's not going to fuck you willingly after all the shit you've done just because you don't kill that stupid dog, you _________ tiny-dick. I will hunt you down and fucking kill you!”

A common task uploaded by Team Torture was to remove the door to the bathroom – the wet room offering the only privacy that Durei had available. Whenever this happened, Team Mercy would attempt to get the door put back up. Whenever Team Torture had her diet restricted, Team Mercy would try to get it reverted. She was beaten with belts. She got flowers in her room. She was forced to wear fetish clothing. She was given alcohol and marijuana. She was horrifically sexually abused. She was given new books, magazines, a television.

The harder that Team Torture pushed, the harder that Team Mercy pushed back. Outside of the website, a number of Team Mercy were working together to try and facilitate Durei's freedom. Convinced this was no art piece, no consensual sexual practice, they contacted police in various countries but no investigations led anywhere. Members attempted to negotiate with Shujin. To their surprise, he responded. He politely declined to provide any information about his whereabouts and gently reprimanded those he felt were trying to trick him. In June 2015, member of Team Mercy raised funds in an attempt to 'purchase' Dorei from him. Shujin rejected $350,000.

And then, on the 20th of November 2015, it happened.

“Take her place.”

Shujin did not respond immediately but both sides of the community exploded.

“You presented this whole website as an experiment, well now this is the result. If you won't do it, then you're a fraud and have been since the beginning. If you won't do it, then you've just been a pathetic little freak this whole time.”

Those who had sadistically backed Dorei's torture responded with shock that the website would change direction or that they would lose what they viewed as their own private corner of the internet. Notably, a huge number of those who responded had previously said they would not be returning after Shujin refused to kill Koko.

“What kind of _____ wants to watch some fucking _______ doing this. Don't kid yourself, it was only because she was a hot woman that anyone is even here. You ______ calling for this are so fucking degenerate.”

After three days, Shujin posted a single sentence.

“Please stand by.”

Two days later, the door to the apartment opened. As always, Dorei scuttled away from the threat, unaware what was going to happen. This time, the figure in the doorway was neither of the two previously seen masked men. A male, dark haired, dressed in a blue hooded sweater and jeans entered the apartment. He was seen talking to Dorei who acted incredibly suspiciously. The man motioned to the doorway and then stepped back. Dorei watched him, carefully took hesitant steps towards the exit, then returned for Koko and left. Shujin is seen taking deep breaths, then closing the door behind her.

The experience changed from there. Dorei's imprisonment had only been made possible by Shujin, and with nobody operating the prison from the outside, the conditions quickly deteriorated. After five days, Shujin had eaten the food in the apartment. After eight days, he was seen visibly shivering. Posters suggested that the heating had stopped working correctly. Despite the change, audience numbers held steady – waiting to see what would happen.

Shujin starved to death in late December 2016 after frantically attempting to break the door to the apartment down. He had previously attempted to write a message on the wall, perhaps trying to get help sent to his location, but if anyone watching was able to read the message, they did not respond to it. His body remained visible on camera for a month, before the website feed cut. Presumably due to a failure to pay electricity charges.

Neither Shujin, nor Dorei were ever identified.