Professional Japanese wrestler and star of Netflix’s “Terrace House,” Hana Kimura, has died at the age of 22.
Kimura’s wrestling organization, Stardom Wrestling, confirmed the tragic news on Saturday, but no official details on the cause of ther death have been revealed, according to BBC.
“Stardom fans, We are very sorry to report that our Hana Kimura has passed away,” the announcement from the organization reads. “Please be respectful and allow some time for things to process, and keep your thoughts and prayers with her family and friends. We appreciate your support during this difficult time.”
Before her death, Kimura made several troubling posts on social media showing self-inflicted harm. In her message, the wrestler revealed she was being cyber bullied by online users.
“Nearly 100 frank opinions every day. I couldn’t deny that I was hurt. I’m dead,” Kimura wrote in her apparent suicide note, Forbes reported. “Thank you for giving me a mother. It was a life I wanted to be loved. Thank you to everyone who supported me. I love it. I’m weak, I’m sorry. I don’t want to be a human anymore. It was a life I wanted to be loved. Thank you everyone, I love you. Bye.”
Kimura, who is a second generation wrestler and the daughter of former wrestler Kyoko Kimura, participated and won the DDT Ironman Heavyweight Championship as an 8-year-old child in 2005, according to Cultaholic. Her professional career began with Wrestle-1 in 2016.
That same year, Kimura appeared a few times at Stardom Wrestling, but did not officially joined until 2019 where she received the Stardom’s Fighting Spirit Award, Vulture reported.
In addition to her wrestling career, Kimura also became one of the stars of recent season of Netflix’s “Terrace House.” She allegedly became the target of online bullies after an episode in the series where she fought with one of the casts about her wrestling uniform.
The remaining episodes of “Terrace House” that are scheduled for next week will not be released, Netflix Japan announced.
Tributes from fans have since been posted to social media.
For more resources on how to fight or report cyber-bullying, please visit 1800Victims.org.
Feature Image Screenshot via ソメラ麗星
