Hayabusa by former Weekly Gong Photographer Noburo Okawa

Memories of Los Angeles in my youth

In October 1993, Eiji Ezaki, a potential ace of FMW, left for Mexico on a tour. He didn't stay in Mexico City, but in Tijuana, Baja California. It was in Tijuana that Eiji Ezaki transformed into Masked Man Hayabusa.

In December 1993, two months after Eiji arrived in Tijuana, I and Yoshikawa, a reporter covering FMW, made an appointment to meet Eiji and headed to Los Angeles to cover the AAA Los Angeles event. Eiji and Onita Jr. (Flying Kid Ichihara) came to pick us up at Los Angeles Airport, driven by Amigo Ultra (Damien 666), who lives in Tijuana.

That night, we all ate at "Koraku" in Little Tokyo (when I went to Los Angeles in September 2022 and visited "Koraku" for the first time in about 30 years, it was still open as it was that day, and I clearly remembered the seats where we all sat). The next day, Damien invited me to go to Tijuana because there was a AAA TV match, so we drove from Los Angeles to Tijuana for about 4 hours.

Here, we decided to photograph Hayabusa, which was another purpose of our trip to Los Angeles. On the way to Tijuana, we tried to find a place with a Los Angeles or Mexican atmosphere to take pictures, but we couldn't find a suitable place, and sunset was approaching. In a pinch, I asked the driver Damien, "Anywhere is fine, please get off the freeway and stop." Damien found an empty rocky area and stopped the car.

Eiji transformed into Hayabusa in the car. And so, we were able to capture Hayabusa on camera just before sunset. By the way, after the AAA TV match coverage, we drove Damian back to our hotel in LA for 4 hours and slept in our group. It was a fun trip on a budget when I was young.

Hayabusa became a star overnight. On April 16, 1994, Hayabusa was selected to take part in the "First Super J Cup" held at the Ryogoku Kokugikan and returned to Japan from Mexico. His opponent in the first round was Jushin Thunder Liger. I still remember the scene of him suddenly launching a surprise attack and performing a tope con hilo while still wearing his entrance costume.

At the end of the match, although it was incomplete, he performed the Shooting Star Press for the first time. It was a move filled with Hayabusa's feelings for this match. With this match, Hayabusa's name became known nationwide. The wrestlers who participated in the championship match took to ringside. During the match, Hayabusa noticed me at ringside and came next to me and said softly, "Thank you for your hard work! I'm back!"

The following year, he officially returned to Japan from his overseas tour, and immediately after his return, he went drinking with us Weekly Gong members at a karaoke box in Tokyo until the morning and performed Eiji's specialty, "Romantic Flight" by Kome Kome Club.

On May 5, 1995, Onita's retirement match was decided. His opponent was originally scheduled to be Tarzan Goto, but since he left FMW just before the match, it was changed to Takashi Ishikawa of Tokyo Pro-Wrestling. However, Hayabusa volunteered to be his opponent in the retirement match, and Ishikawa agreed, so Hayabusa became Onita's opponent in the electric explosion.

Due to the circumstances of this time, Hayabusa participated in the Matsuyama show of Tokyo Pro-Wrestling the following month on June 6th as a friend. The big party with Hayabusa that night is called "Matsuyama Night" among us.

Hayabusa, who had a good relationship with the media, went to eat with a reporter from Weekly Pro-Wrestling after the match, and then joined the Weekly Gong and Tokyo Sports reporters at a bar where they were drinking.

The party in Matsuyama was so much fun that it continued until 7am. Of course, he also performed his specialty "Romantic Flight" here.

In 1997, he also participated in All Japan Pro-Wrestling in a tag team with his ally Jinsei Shinzaki. At the request of both of them after the match at the Nippon Budokan, he visited Misawa and Kobashi's waiting room and took a photo with each of them, leaving a proof of Jinsei and Hayabusa's participation in All Japan Pro-Wrestling.

In 1998, FMW parted ways with Onita. The new FMW changed its course and started anew with Hayabusa at the center. However, FMW was originally the Onita troupe, and losing its big star put it in a difficult situation. Around this time, Hayabusa, who was carrying a burden on his back, began to lose his sense of self, and even the atmosphere at the venue made it difficult to talk to him.

Miraculous recovery from a tragic accident

October 22, 2001, I was in Sapporo on another day for another interview. Around 10pm, I got a call from reporter Yoshikawa, who was covering the FMW Korakuen event. In a clearly shaken voice, he told me that Eiji had been taken to the hospital after an accident during a match. The next day, when I returned to Tokyo, I met up with reporter Yoshikawa and visited the hospital in Ochanomizu where Eiji was hospitalized.

Eiji was conscious and I was able to visit him, so at the time I didn't realize that his condition was so serious. He couldn't move from his neck down due to cervical spine damage...Far from returning to work as a professional wrestler, he was unable to even go about his daily life. To be honest, I couldn't find the words to say to him at that time.

After that, Eiji was somehow able to go out in a wheelchair, and he began performing live with his friends, using his singing voice, the other of the two gifts that God had given him. "Love, Courage and a Call" was my favorite song. Around that time, I met Eiji's live companion Bolshoi at the JWP Korakuen Hall event, and we had a chance to talk at length.

At that time, she told me he was having trouble with his Hayabusa mask, and we promised to support him in any way we could. We called this the "New Hayabusa Project" and, with the cooperation of mask craftsman Yukihiro Nakamura, we started selling real Hayabusa masks in our store.

In Mexico, we also cooperated with Aron Canales, the original manufacturer of Hayabusa, and were able to reproduce the nostalgic mask of the early design. "Masked Aristocrat Fiesta 2011" held at Korakuen Hall on October 7, 2011 was our 10th anniversary event and my first and last big event in the wrestling industry. I wanted Hayabusa to be involved with us, so I asked him to produce the double main event.

This event was the 40th anniversary of Mascaras' visit to Japan, but I had an underlying theme. It was Hayabusa's return to the ring of the "holy ground" Korakuen Hall for the first time in 10 years. It was exactly 10 years ago, in October 2001, that Hayabusa suffered that unfortunate accident. It took 10 years for Hayabusa to make a miraculous recovery after that accident.

Although the doctor had told him that he might be bedridden for the rest of his life, after 10 years, Hayabusa managed to stand up from his wheelchair and slowly walk 10 meters on his own. I wanted not only the fans who gathered at Korakuen Hall to witness this miracle, but also the people in the wrestling world, so I planned to bring Hayabusa up to the ring after the match.

I only told this to NOSAWA Rongai, a few wrestlers, and Boss Fujiwara, who I had asked to call in the crowd. Mascaras performed a flying body attack on Ultimo Guerrero, and the match ended. A few wrestlers quietly began to loosen the ropes. Boss Fujiwara took the microphone and appealed to Hayabusa, who was in the broadcast booth, saying, "Hayabusa, come up!" Korakuen Hall was filled with a huge Hayabusa call.

All the wrestlers who were participating offered their support until Hayabusa got up to the ring. Hayabusa stood in the ring at Korakuen Hall for the first time in 10 years, and with a microphone presented to him by Shinzaki, he closed the event beautifully. Hayabusa was a professional wrestler after all.

Immediately after that, the fans at Korakuen Hall called out "Pro-wrestling is the best," and I was overwhelmed with emotion, and backstage, Eiji and I embraced in tears.

Mexico, a land of memories

Two months later, several friends gathered at Eiji's house for a year-end party. At this party, NOSAWA said, "Hayabusa, let's go to Mexico!" It was NOSAWA's specialty to make a false statement. However, NOSAWA acted quickly.

After securing the cooperation of Kensuke Sasaki and Akira Hokuto's Diamond Ring, we immediately started looking into Samurai TV, and in May 2012, we made Hayabusa's first trip to Mexico in 17 years a reality.

With the help of Principal Ultimo Dragon and Lucha Fan Fest promoter Manuel, Hayabusa was able to meet various wrestlers again. Aron Canales, the mask maker of Hayabusa, was happy to see the reunion and shed tears. After a busy autograph session and photo session, Hayabusa and his group enjoyed their vacation in Cancun.

At the hotel in Cancun, they booked a barrier-free room at the very front of the first floor, right in front of the pool, and it was kind of heartwarming to see the empty Mexican beer cans piling up on the balcony of Eiji's room day by day.

Eiji was able to swim and play in this pool for the first time in about 20 years. During their stay in Cancun, Yujiro of New Japan Pro-Wrestling, who was on a tour of Mexico, came all the way from Mexico City to meet Hayabusa, and they all drank all night at a steak restaurant.

As an aside, I often feel that airports and hotels abroad are very generous in terms of barrier-free access. On the other hand, I often feel that Japan, which is supposed to be such a wonderful country, is still lagging behind in that area.

When Eiji came to Korakuen Hall, the station now has an elevator, but at that time, he had to ask the station staff to use the slope to pull him up, so it took 10 minutes just to get to the station platform.

Also, the toilets at Suidobashi Station on the Toei Mita Line are on the opposite side of the exit where the elevator is, so it was difficult to move around in a wheelchair.

Even when eating in the Suidobashi area, there were very few restaurants that were easy to enter in a wheelchair. Going abroad with him made me think a lot about barrier-free access in Japan.

When he returned from his tour of Mexico, Eiji seemed to be more positive than ever. He once told me honestly that he had flourished from the accident and of course he had been working hard on his rehabilitation in order to return, which was no lie.

But Eiji's realistic goal was "I want to change into an Hayabusa costume and stand in the ring at least once for everyone at my old spa." This was the comeback of Hayabusa that Eiji aimed for.

The day of farewell came suddenly

On March 3, 2016, I was staying in Guam with Io Shirai and Mayu Iwatani for a photo shoot for Photo Libre. There, I received a message from NOSAWA saying "It seems that Hayabusa has passed away." I immediately asked an acquaintance to contact Jiro Hachimitsu, who was good friends with Eiji, to confirm the facts, and found out that it was true after all.

After Eiji passed away, someone who had supported Eiji for a long time told me that "Hayabusa will do his comeback match in the ring prepared by Okawa." That will no longer be true. But Eiji has already done enough.

Eiji "Hayabusa" Ezaki was a proud and handsome man. These words are always in my heart. "The fun is just beginning!"