Terrace House and Never Ending Curiosity of Other People's Live

Disclaimer: this was written last year, not long after the death of Hana Kimura. 

What is more interesting than a TV show with visually pleasing scenes, Japanese daily life and culture, and beautiful casts? Welcome to the world of Terrace House. Arguably as one of the most famous Japanese TV shows in the global level (streamed on Netflix), it has built up the hype until their fifth series, Terrace House Tokyo. 

Located in Karuizawa, a beautiful area known for its ski resort to holidaymakers. Image from theneighbourlist.com

With its slow pace and unique concept, it gained many praises by global audience: as a must-watch, an antidote of typical reality TV show, and the nicest TV show from Japan. I was enticed to watch these series to learn more about the language and culture so I started to watch from Opening New Doors and keep watching until the most recent one, Tokyo. In my defence, my Japanese skills is deteriorating so I need more input to practice my listening and add more vocabs. 

こんばんは。。テラスハウスは見ず知らずの男女６人が共同生活する様子をただただ記録したものです 用意したのは ステキなおウチとステキ車だけです 台本は一切ございません。- Opening line in every Terrace House Episode.

A typical Japan TV show, there is a set of panelists giving their opinion in the beginning, middle, and end of the show. These commentators are mostly comedians, TV talents, and actors/actresses. The casts were auditioned from various age ranges and occupations (high schoolers to 30-ish CEO) but I guess one of the unwritten requirements is good looking. 

The show is slow-paced, mundane, and mostly revolving around the casts' dating experiences. It reminds me of my university years when my friends and I rented a house and we literally lived together. The cameras were placed in excellent spots to capture their "real life" in the house (and outside) beautifully. Believe me, you will forget it is an unscripted reality show once you witness its great cinematography.

Which now it led us to the recent issue of the suicide of Hana Kimura from Terrace House. Before this news, the show had received several critiques, such as the topic about consent and Japan's attitudes toward women. Now the show is canceled after the death of one of the casts, Hana, who was reported received tonnes of cyber-bullying. We got more questions raised for this show. 

Who is held responsible for the death of a 22-year-old pro wrestler? There's a rumour that 

The existence of paparazzi, celebrity life updates, and even the personal life projected in social media by so called influencers have been happily consumed by people. There's demand, there's supply, boom, economy is created. 

It has little thing to do with the viewers's live, yet they (or us?) seem to enjoy the dynamics and its gossips. For celebrities and television talents, that is an opportunity to gain more sponsorship, endorsement, income, and ultimately fame. More dramatic, more kaching. In short, it's entertaining.