Japanese Wrestler Dies At 22 following Cyberbullying

Written by Angella Semu

Netflix star and Japanese professional wrestler Hana Kimura has died shortly after issuing social media posts implying she had been cyber-bullied.

Stardom Wrestling, Kimura’s organisation, confirmed the tragedy in statement on Saturday May 23.

Reports revealed that the winner of Stardom’s 2019 Fighting Spirit Award had been targeted by hundreds of mean tweets from fans and critics on a daily basis and on Friday she posted images of self-harm on Twitter.

According to Forbes, Hana was a second-generation star and daughter of journey-woman wrestler Kyoko Kimura and before her demise, she was starring in the fifth season of Terrace House, which follows the relationships between men and women after they move in together.

Her career started in 2017 and her last big match was in January 2020, when she fought alongside Giulia at the Wrestle Kingdom 14.

The cause of death was not immediately clear and her family has asked fans to be respectful.

Maneno Chimulala

I am a journalist, educator, and activist with passion for telling stories about social justice, sports and political issues. I graduated from Mzuzu University. I started my career at the Maravi Post online publication in 2012 as an intern while in college. Upon graduating from Mzuzu University I was offered a job as Sports Reporter because of my background as a goalkeeper and rose to the position of sub editor. I also had a short stint with Nyasatimes, Malawi Punch and Malawi Digest. Over the past seven years, I have worked intimately with rural organizations and communities in Malawi on human rights, girl child education and grassroots development projects. With an academic background in education, I also volunteer as male champion for girls’ education under Girls Empowerment Networks (GENET) in Malawi’s South West Education Division (SWED).