June 1, 2020 Observer Newsletter: Death of Hana Kimura

The death of Hana Kimura this past week is a complicated story about reality shows, the worst aspects of social media and cyber bullying, and likely with the unique aspects of the time we are living in.

The end result was the suicide death of a 22-year-old woman who had high-level stage presence and a unique look, and was likely to explode in 2020 had this been a normal year, as the most marketable and biggest star in Japanese women’s wrestling.

The story has far wider implications in so many different ways than most pro wrestling stories. Its repercussions, besides her own death, include the possibility of the end of a popular worldwide television show, and even more, talk in Japan about enacting new legislation that would make cyber bullying a more serious crime. While obviously a huge news story in Japan, it garnered a lot of mainstream attention in the U.S. due to the popularity of the television reality show “Terrace House.”

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