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Reality show 'Bachelor Japan' cast member dies in suspected suicide

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If you're not seriously ill, you shouldn't be taking their your own life like this.

Please study what mental illness can do.

14 ( +17 / -3 )

There's nothing in the article that says she was bullied by social media and could of been other causes. But nothing in this article hints of anything related to online social media bullying other then trying to tie with with Hana Kimura's death because they were both on TV is perhaps a narrative the media is trying to conjure up.

8 ( +10 / -2 )

If you're not seriously ill, you shouldn't be taking their your own life like this.

What a statement here! "Shouldn't?" Stop and reread what you wrote here, it sounds truly ignorant and insensitive at the same time!

I would bet that ANY who is considering suicide or carries it out, successfully or otherwise, is already "seriously ill" and needs help.

6 ( +11 / -5 )

The Japanese culture of submissiveness and "knowing your place" produces many individuals with rigid but fragile egos who, when exposed to the glare of the public gaze and exploited for the cheap entertainment of others on trash TV reality shows, will inevitably wilt, crack and break. Toxic and sad!

4 ( +6 / -2 )

So is fake reality worse than reality OR is fake reality better than reality? Either way it seems these programs don't help people much.

4 ( +5 / -1 )

Along time ago, a friend committed suicide at the age of 20. It was devestating for his family and friends. It was a drawn out death and discovery, and there was a number of factors for why he took his life. Only he would have known the precise reasons.

Since then, several other friends and colleagues have taken their own lives. It never gets any easier to deal with. They are often highly intelligent people, it's never black and white, there's no precise detail you can focus on and say - ah, that's why.

I can't condemn what they did. Just wish (as ever is the case) we'd been there for them, or realized the warning signs. Sometimes, there aren't any obvious ones.

RIP Maria and all those who make that difficult and sad choice.

4 ( +6 / -2 )

Season 4 of the program, which features Hamasaki, had been available for streaming since Aug 1.

Not the entire season, it started 8/1 and were releasing a new episode each week. They cancelled last night's new episode and no word about the remainder of the season. I believe it was filmed last year unlike Terrace House which releases episodes soon after filming. I know all of this because of my reality TV news source WNA(Wife News Agency).

3 ( +4 / -1 )

I really feel sorry for these "actresses" and "actors" on Japanese TV, and it's really gotta be worse on so called "reality" TV here.

I hope the real reason is found out here!

2 ( +6 / -4 )

This seems like a pattern emerging behind these shows: young females who participate on them are killing themselves.

Not sure what the direct cause is, but obviously something happened in connection with their appearance that was so bad they couldn’t live with it.

2 ( +4 / -2 )

I’m starting to think that the reality of these “reality shows” is that it’s just bad for the mental health of the Japanese

2 ( +2 / -0 )

I dont mean to be harsh, but calling reality tv participants “artists” is a bit steep.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

@Wesley

Do you, by any chance, do not understand that it was a fiction ? She was playing a role according to the script as anybody else in the show. I do not know the characters of this show so can not be sure of who is who but the script was mostly around like : the evil wrestler (it the role she was to endorse in her main job) go evil in the house but thanks to her partners she become a good person thus the evil wrestler disaspear to create the nice wrestler.

This was more or less the script that her manager and the production team should have come up with.

As Terrace House is mostly a love story, we could have expected that some guy action will make her change and he will offer her a new costume/costume part which she would use on her next match. Potentially, the guy would have been the one who she was to lash at to make the story more emotional, depend of the kind of character he was to impersonate, we could expect some kind of good guy able to forgive everything and see through the mask of evilness and bring the good out of her.

And go for the violin.

It is a fiction. They are not real, they are actors playing a role. It is the same with idols and so on.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

I dont want to be rude but it seems people nowadays are getting weaker. saying something not good to a person is just as same as bitten by an ant.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

Everyone is talking about 'reasons' for suicide. The content is never the issue folks, it's what's going on internally and a lack of skills and awareness to deal with it themselves. There will always be bullies. Young people need to learn healthy thinking skills, not bully avoidance skills.

The previous high profile case was a professional wrestler who probably didn’t have problems dealing with bullies until her appearance on the show started an online mob against her.

I doubt she expected that or was in any way helped to prepare for that by the show’s producers. The entertainment industry here is extraordinarily exploitative of young people and will treat them like dirt to extract every Yen they can out of them before ditching them. These are just a couple high profile examples illustrating that.

1 ( +3 / -2 )

The much bigger problem is the audience that watches such bs....lol

1 ( +2 / -1 )

One can only speculate for now...However one thing that is for certain is that show business can be very shady, and actresses are often pressured to do various things to advance (or in some cases save) their career.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

The much bigger problem is the audience that watches such bs....lol

I doubt that viewing figures and audiences are a bigger problem than young people taking their lives.

Such programming may well be bs, but that's down to the audience to decide. They will do that by switching channel or increasing the ratings. It's a subjective thing, telly output.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

The matter could have been solved if she had been sincere in her apologies for how she treated the other cast members and had made a sincere appeal for forgiveness. Her life could have been saved.

Always the fault of the victim. Nobody else need take responsibility, eh.

1 ( +3 / -2 )

I never had a good opinion about Reality Shows...Hope all of this kind of Shows be canceled.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

They left out the part where the "hateful messages" on social media were actually the backlashes for her verbal abuse and tantrum on live TV. 

The matter could have been solved if she had been sincere in her apologies for how she treated the other cast members and had made a sincere appeal for forgiveness. Her life could have been saved. 

Also I find it odd that someone in the pro wrestling line .... so used to taunting and provocation...could have been this affected by all this. Me thinks she took her own life out of guilt for what she had done rather than the social media backlash.

I have never seen the show, but the news reports I’ve read state that although advertised as “unscripted” the actors are in fact given instructions on what to do in each scene and she was just playing the role that had been assigned to her when she acted out the tantrum.

So that argument is like saying David Prowse feels guilt because of all the bad stuff Darth Vader did.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

People on TV should take a mental evaluation test, psychologist should review their mental state, how weak they are mentally, can they handle life being on TV. Can they handle any criticism, can they socialize with others.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Extremely sad she took her own life.

But there were warning bells

She went on one TV show to try to get married. That failed. She then went on another where a marriage partner was chosen and the first 30 days were shown on TV.

To be that obsessed with getting married and to go to such extreme measures, at that age. something must have been wrong.

We should also be cognisant that the word star in “reality tv star”, means nothing other than “participator”. These people are not stars. The media calling them such just adds to the problems. Invent another word for them like Instagram Stars becoming Instagram Influencers.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

It may or may not be the causal factor here, but reality TV has been linked with a number of suicides.

Whether this is the reality TV experience itself or the experience in combination with underlying factors for people drawn to reality TV I couldn't tell you. What I do think though is that reality TV producers have an extra duty of care over participants, and they should not be allowed to feign ignorance over psychological issues participants have during or after the show. Reality TV is a super fickle and potentially very transient form of fame.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

So, who was bullying her, on this show, this time?

I didn't read anything about bullying.

0 ( +3 / -3 )

Suicide is the result of unhealthy thinking patterns and not some external factor.

Yeah. But who says external factors can't and don't lead to unhealthy thinking patterns? I think its true that some people may be genetically predisposed to unhealthy thinking that can lead to suicide, but I think far more people just don't have the proper social network and social support that keeps them strong and mentally healthy. I think in Japan this human need is just not really appreciated, protected or encouraged. In all my time here in Japan I have only known one Japanese couple that actively and openly hugged their kids, like for nothing at all. I loved that about them and I feel that if more Japanese could be so warm toward each other that Japan could stop having such a high suicide rate since, yeah, I think people being warm toward each other helps ward off unhealthy thinking in most people.

As for if social media has any relation, having real friends in the real world is certainly great armor against hateful internet trolls you never met aren't they?

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Women of all ages receive a disproportionate amount of online bullying/harassment. From comments about their appearance, to threats of a sexual nature and/or death

Most of the bullying and harassment of women is by other women. Not only on social media but also IRL.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Nhk just reported that she was being harassed/bullied online

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Her name was Maria. Im wondering if she was half japanese, as was Hana Kimura?

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Too bad - she was beautiful.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

If you're not seriously ill, you shouldn't be taking their your own life like this. Early 20s is at the peak of your life. If the pressures if bullying on social media or your career in entertainment gets you that down, get out of it.

While getting out of situations that cause stress can be helpful, sometimes it isn’t possible, especially if you’re someone who is in the public eye. It’s not as simple as ‘well just stop being on TV’ or whatever, especially if this is her career field. What’s more, suicidal ideations can come about from things other than stress. Mental illness can make someone who, from an outside perspective, seems to have everything, into a ticking time bomb. We can’t know this woman’s mental state, so to judge her actions is irresponsible

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Early 20s is at the peak of your life. 

Let me guess, you must be around that age!

Early 20's is FAR from the peak of anyone's life, unless they are only going to live to 30 or so!

Early 20's is when someone's life is just getting started, and dying at that young of an age is sad. She was not old enough yet and obviously didnt have enough experience, nor training, in her life to know how to deal with issues like this.

Then again, there are plenty who are 3 times her age that dont either.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

So, who was bullying her, on this show, this time?

-1 ( +7 / -8 )

There's nothing in the article that says she was bullied by social media and could of been other causes. But nothing in this article hints of anything related to online social media bullying other then trying to tie with with Hana Kimura's death because they were both on TV is perhaps a narrative the media is trying to conjure up.

How much do you know about Japanese society in general? Not to mention the fields she was working in, TV and modeling.

-1 ( +4 / -5 )

""Ikinari Marriage" follows a man and a woman who have been paired up and have to live 30 days together as a couple following a wedding."

As opposed to living apart? The interesting part of the show is that a married couple is forced to live together?

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

Hana Kimura, a 22-year-old female professional wrestler and cast member of the popular Japanese reality show series "Terrace House," who committed suicide after receiving a barrage of hateful messages on social media

They left out the part where the "hateful messages" on social media were actually the backlashes for her verbal abuse and tantrum on live TV.

The matter could have been solved if she had been sincere in her apologies for how she treated the other cast members and had made a sincere appeal for forgiveness. Her life could have been saved.

Also I find it odd that someone in the pro wrestling line .... so used to taunting and provocation...could have been this affected by all this. Me thinks she took her own life out of guilt for what she had done rather than the social media backlash.

-1 ( +2 / -3 )

Always the fault of the victim. Nobody else need take responsibility

What about her victims? The ones who were verbally and emotionally abused by her? They're victims too.

Responsibility? When it comes to suicide, we are all responsible for our own lives.

-1 ( +2 / -3 )

If you're not seriously ill, you shouldn't be taking their your own life like this. Early 20s is at the peak of your life. If the pressures if bullying on social media or your career in entertainment gets you that down, get out of it. There are a million other things you can do other than to end it all. It's not worth it.

-2 ( +7 / -9 )

I really feel sorry for these "actresses" and "actors" on Japanese TV, and it's really gotta be worse on so called "reality" TV here.

They know exactly what they are getting into before they even start. It's called the entertainment business.

-2 ( +5 / -7 )

This seems like a pattern emerging behind these shows: young females who participate on them are killing themselves.

Women of all ages receive a disproportionate amount of online bullying/harassment. From comments about their appearance, to threats of a sexual nature and/or death.

-2 ( +2 / -4 )

Artists are fragile people and no artists are more fragile than actors.

I suspect she suffered from depression due to overwork.

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

Suicide is the result of unhealthy thinking patterns and not some external factor.

What an altruistic comment here! Reality is so much different, far too many people commit suicide purely because the "external factors" overwhelm their ability to "think healthily" or too seek assistance.

I pray to god you never run into a suicidal person and attempt to give them this advice. If I were suicidal, I just might consider becoming a murderer instead!

Trying to prevent all the 'bad' things in life to prevent suicide is the wrong approach. Young people need to learn healthy thinking habits and skills.

Ok Doctor, how do you propose going about here in a REALISTIC manner?

We dont live in your perfect world, please join reality!

-3 ( +3 / -6 )

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