I had spotted the wrestler mask in a tiny place in Tokyo years before but couldn’t afford it – and I always regretted it
I first saw Tiger Mask in 2008, in a tiny pro wrestling shop near Tokyo’s Korakuen Hall: the sort of place that has autographs in the stairwell and posters from obscure 70s grappling matches peeling off the walls. He sat, resplendent, among a couple of dozen lesser masks: most with patterns, a couple with horns, none as mesmerising as my sweet golden prince with his floppy ears and strokable fur lining.
I didn’t buy him, obviously.
