(ALL JAPAN) Exclusive interview with Ikki Kajiwara, creator of Tiger Mask

Weekly Pro

28th August 1984 (Issue No.56)

"The "Tiger Mask Brothers" team up with a new martial artist to become a new idol"

Tiger Mask creator Ikki Kajiwara (left) and special trainer Yoshiji Soeno*, Shidōkan Karate master (right)

The new Tiger Mask has different qualities than Sayama

The new Tiger Mask was born thanks to the green light of manga artist, Ikki Kajiwara, the creator of the previous Tiger Mask (Sayama Satoru). In response to Kajiwara's request that the new Tiger Mask surpass his predecessor, Giant Baba promised that he would do just that. What are Kajiwara's dreams for the new Tiger Mask? On August 9th, we visited Kajiwara at his home in Oizumi, Nerima Ward, Tokyo, for an exclusive interview. 

Q: It seems like you are feeling better. This time you will play a part in the appearance of the new Tiger Mask in All Japan, and it seems like the "Kajiwara idea" will be revived again?

KAJIWARA: He underwent major surgery for which he is still receiving outpatient treatment, but his life has been spared. "A hated child shines in the world," perhaps (he said proudly). He is not yet back at the stage of a comeback, but preparations are underway. The birth of the new Tiger Mask was at the request of All Japan Pro Wrestling, and Kajiwara Productions (note CEO is Ikki Kajiwara), which holds the registered trademark rights, has agreed to this. At the same time, I would like to request that he be made into an idol star who surpasses the previous Tiger Mask.   

Q: Naturally, this history can be considered an incidental part of Tiger Mask's past, but how did the request for Tiger Mask's birth actually come about? What was the route that led to it?

KAJIWARA: You know, right? You wrote about it in your magazine (Weekly Pro, August 14th issue). Naoki Otsuka, president of New Japan Pro-Wrestling Promotion, who previously worked under Director and General Manager of Sales, Hisashi Shinma, agreed to the birth of a new Tiger Mask (resurrection) at a meeting. Last Friday (August 3rd), Baba came all the way to my place (Oizumi, Nerima Ward) to ask me about Tiger Mask. He's a very honest person to do something like that. I told Baba, "I want you to develop him into an idol wrestler who can surpass the former Tiger Mask, Sayama", and Baba replied, "If I'm going to do it, I'll definitely make him a better wrestler." I'm looking forward to Baba living up to those expectations.

Q: What is your impression of the new Tiger Mask, Kajiwara-san? What do you think of him as a character?

KAJIWARA: I couldn't go to see the debut match at Kuramae Kokugikan on July 31 (where he greeted fans), but I'm going to see his debut match at Denen Coliseum in Tokyo on August 26th, which will be promoted by President Otsuka. I was completely worried at the time of Sayama's Tiger Mask debut match (defeating Dynamite Kid at Kuramae Kokugikan on April 23 1980), but this time I'm not as worried as I was then. At that time I didn't know the strength of the real Sayama, but based on his history (I watched his matches), I gave Tiger Mask the OK, believing that the true Sayama would not disappoint. After Baba-san visited me, we went to Shidōkan, a new fighting arts facility where Tiger Mask is trained and coached (Mihara-cho, Tokorozawa City, Saitama Prefecture; Kajiwara is the chairman). He has good qualities that are different from Sayama, and his physique is also modern.   

Q: Q: Now that you mentioned Shidōkan, there's talk in some circles that Tiger Mask might team up with a Shidōkan graduate in the future to create the "Tiger Mask Brothers," and Chairman Baba has also made comments along those lines.

KAJIWARA: You mentioned it in Weekly Pro two weeks ago...but nothing else has been said. In fact, apart from President Otsuka's proposal, Shidokan's chief instructor Yoshiji Soeno and Yousef Türkiye* are planning to make the Shidōkan black belt a younger brother of Tiger Mask and create the Tiger Mask brothers. The younger brother is a 22-year-old young man with a height of 175cm and 85kg, similar to Sayama (The Tiger, and has joined UWF, is 173cm and 33kg). He trains with professional wrestlers at the All Japan Pro Wrestling dojo, and is also coached by Tiger Mask at the Shidōkan dojo. His full-scale debut will be in a few months, and a brother in the same costume may be born on August 26th. The new Tiger Mask will not be the same character as Sayama's Tiger Mask, but will be unique. To that end, the combination with the younger brother, who is a practitioner of new martial arts (a culmination of karate and kickboxing), could potentially become an idol star with a new character.

Q: Sayama's The Tiger, who joined UWF, has announced that he will have a new ring name, mask and costume. What are your thoughts on that?

KAJIWARA: I found out about it in the newspaper on August 7th. Sayama and I have no trouble whatsoever. Kajiwara Productions has not made any request regarding that issue (image rights), so perhaps someone stepped in, and it didn't matter to him about either The Tiger or the costume. Sayama should forge his own path. He made the Tiger Mask that I depicted in anime into a real professional wrestler. But he was too good a student, too perfect. It's fine for the new Tiger Mask to be a maverick or someone who breaks the rules. I hope he will become a unique wrestler with a strong personality. I hope his younger brother can help him achieve that... Tiger Mask is also looking for a strong bunch of new martial arts, is talking about new techniques...Tiger Mask himself is looking for that. I intend to give my full cooperation to the new Tiger Mask. I'm sure he will become an idol for his fans.      

Notes

Ikki Kajiwara: Died on 21st January 1987.

Yoshiji Soeno: Japanese kickboxer and inventor of Shidōkan Karate.    

Yousef Türkiye (May 23rd 1931 - October 18th 2013). Turkish man born in Toyohara, Sakhalin Island. Raised in Japan, he spoke Japanese fluently. He had initially debuted as a pro wrestler in Japan pro in 1954. Referees in those days were both referees and wrestlers (Rikidozan did the same). However, in 1968 he was caught up in an assault case when he (along with another wrestler/sumo) assaulted The Great Togo who was planning to poach Kintaro Oki for IPW, He got out of trouble by making it look as if he had been assaulted, and while he was suspended indefinitely behind the scenes, he was rewarded for his actions. During the conflict between Baba and Inoki, he sided with Inoki. Although Inoki left JPW, he stayed on but was fired when he was found to have secretly offered Seiji Sakaguchi 10 million yen to lure Inoki to a new promotion. In 1972 he took part in New Japan's launch by working as a referee, but after a year he became estranged from Inoki. In 1978 he attempted to create a promotion called Big Japan (not related to The Great Kojika's promotion), but the plan fell through. He returned to New Japan as a referee in 1981, but got into blackmail charges in 1983, when he and Abdullah the Butcher were arrested on suspicion of blackmailing the ghostwriter of Butcher's book, "How To Make Pro Wrestling 10 Times More Enjoyable". Despite this he remained close to Inoki, and in later years worked for Real Japan. He died of heart related issues in 2013.