Original Tiger Mask's 'Osaka Tiger' Mask Found & Verified - Interest

Mask valued at 3,000,000 yen (about US$20,397.30)

Japanese variety and antiques appraisal program Kaiun! Nandemo Kanteidan featured on September 30 an original mask worn by professional wrestler and first real-life Tiger Mask, Satoru Sayama. The mask’s owner, an avid Tiger Mask fan, stated that the mask was the “Osaka Tiger” mask Sayama wore during a meet-and-greet event on August 9, 1984. Among Tiger Mask fans, the “Osaka Tiger” mask is known for its only appearance at the 1984 event. After verification by Takashi Izumi, director of professional wrestling memorabilia shop Toudoukan, the Osaka Tiger Mask was valued at 3,000,000 yen (about US$20,397.30).

Image via TV Tokyo

Kaiun! Nandemo Kanteidan notes that the Osaka Tiger Mask was Sayama’s private mask worn in public and at meet-and-greets. Mask maker Yuji Toyoshima made the mask.

Tiger Mask is based on Ikki Kajiwara and Naoki Tsuji’s 1968 manga series of the same name. The series got two earlier anime adaptations in 1969-1971 and 1981-1982 and three films in March 1970, July 1970, and March 1971. A revival anime series, Tiger Mask W, premiered in October 2016. Crunchyroll streamed the anime as it aired.

The original “Tiger Mask” is the alter ego of the character Naoto Date, a pro wrestler who goes against an evil wrestling organization and fights for children in an orphanage. The original manga ran from 1968-1971 in Kodansha’s Bokura magazine, Weekly Shōnen Magazine, and other magazines. Along with the baseball manga Kyojin no Hoshi, Tiger Mask is considered Kajiwara’s life work.

In professional wrestling, Sayama took on the moniker Tiger Mask when New Japan Pro Wrestling founder and owner Kanji Inoki, better known as Antonio Inoki, approached Kajiwara in bringing the manga character to life. Sayama wrestled as the character between 1981-1983. The Tiger Mask character has seen seven real-life iterations following Sayama’s departure from the character. Following his retirement from the Tiger Mask character, Sayama wrestled under the name The Tiger and Super Tiger. Hence, the “Osaka Tiger” mask is not a “Tiger Mask.”

Tiger Mask saw a rise in popularity in 2010 when an anonymous donation by Tiger Mask’s alter ego Naoto Date of over 30,000 yen (about US$204.00) in backpacks were made to a child guidance center in Maebashi City for children entering elementary school. The following year, several backpacks were donated anonymously using names of anime, manga, and tokusatsu characters.

Sources: TV Tokyo, Kaiun! Nandemo Kanteidan program’s website, Mainichi Shimbun’s Mantan Web