Photo/Illutration Professional wrestler Hana Kimura (From the official website of reality show "Terrace House")

Fuji Television Network Inc. released an internal investigation report on the death in May of 22-year-old professional wrestler Hana Kimura, who at the time was a cast member of Fuji's popular reality TV show "Terrace House."

The report, however, raises grave doubts about the broadcaster's ability to take the loss of human life seriously.

What stuns us more than anything is that Fuji TV continued filming and airing the show as usual, even after learning that Kimura had harmed herself in late March.

Kimura repeatedly told the show's staff that she was being slandered on social media for her conduct and remarks on the show. The staff say they urged her to shun social media and consult a mental health specialist. But they took no further action, not even bothering to make contact with people close to her, which effectively left Kimura on her own to cope with her issues.

But she was just a young woman of 22 with only limited life experience, not to mention that she was also in an emotionally fragile state. In our view, Fuji TV handled the situation very badly.             

The report concluded that the staff never instructed or ordered Kimura how to act or speak before the cameras, nor did they try to attract a large level of social media interest in order to promote the show.

But Kimura's mother has been telling the media a different story--specifically, that she heard directly from her daughter that the show's staff had "enjoined" her to slap a co-star.

However, Fuji TV never interviewed Kimura's mother while the investigation report was being put together. This defies comprehension.

In compiling the report, the broadcaster chose not to involve a third-party organ so that the investigation could stay in-house, which, the company insisted, would be more desirable if the purpose was to obtain appropriate and readily-given testimonies.

But this attitude alone is sufficient proof of the report's inadequacy. 

Moreover, the report does not even identify the person in charge of the investigation. Did Fuji TV really think this would be acceptable to the public?

In this "era of social media," reality TV shows put cast members to far greater-than-imagined risks of character assassination, since the shows themselves are designed to expose the stars' daily lives and personalities to the viewing public.

How did the producers of "Terrace House" deal with this fact among themselves? What sort of "division of labor" was worked out between the actual production companies and Fuji TV? We can readily imagine that cast members, who are in a weak position, would try to go to any lengths to accommodate the wishes of the producers. So, what provisions were there for such situations?

What we expected from Fuji TV was a report with answers to these questions, provided by former cast members and media experts, as well as input from them on matters such as how the shows were produced and contracts drawn up. 

Instead, all we got was this report that went no farther than to just cite some issues that need addressing.         

And the broadcaster simply shelved the question of Netflix's responsibility as one of the show's streamers.

Kimura's mother has filed a request for deliberation with the Broadcasting Ethics and Program Improvement Organization, claiming her daughter's human rights were violated.

Fuji TV must not be allowed to call this case closed with its hardly satisfactory report.

--The Asahi Shimbun, Aug. 12

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