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Pink Spider
A tribute to hide 12/13/64 - 5/2/98


This section is dedicated to the late hide (Hideto Matsumoto). hide was born December 13, 1964 in Kanagawa, Yokohama and died on May 2, 1998. He was 33 years old. hide was found hanging from a door in his apartment. Police ruled it a suicide, but family, friends, and fans think otherwise. I read somewhere that his death was an accident. There was no motive or suicide note, so there is not much to go by to believe that it was intentional suicide. It said that the following day there was going to be a concert, with a suicide scene in it, and that hide was only practicing, but he was drunk. He died on the way to the hospital. hide's grave is in Yokosuka, but his ashes were flown over to LA, where they were thrown into the ocean. hide's funeral was on May 7th, and was held in the Hongan temple in Central Chichuji, in Tokyo.
hide was in the band X Japan, with Yoshiki, Toshi, Pata, and Heath. He joined in 1987, when Yoshiki called him to ask if he would join.
While in X Japan, hide did some solo work. His first single Hide Your Face came out in 1994, and was very popular. When X Japan disbanded in 1997, hide went on to create a band called Spread Beaver, where he created my favorite song, and the name for this page, Pink Spider. hide may be gone, but he is not forgotten. Forever Love is a song X Japan did, and I see a lot on the internet, this quote "Forever Love, Forever hide". Also, Yoshiki once dedicated the song Tears to his dead father, but then changed it to dedicate hide, after he died. At hide's funeral, Yoshiki was crying and shaking, and could barley talk when he said his speech.
This is Yoshiki's speech:
"I'm very shocked to hear about his death. I still can't believe what has happened. Right now, he's sleeping with a beautiful face .I tried to wake him up many times, but he's still sleeping. Between the five of us, hide was the one who kept his calm and thought out things. Even though I was the leader, he was the calm one who gave me good advice when I was being short tempered and emotional. Of course with all of that pressure, he too almost lost his identity. But during those hard times, he'd always give me a call. We would talk about X, music, friends, life, fans, almost anything. He was like an older to me and sometimes like a younger brother too. We'd drink together and sometimes fight. But the next day, he'd come to me and say, "Yoshiki, did I do something last night? I'm sorry, I don't remember a thing." But this time, he didn't say anything back to me, sleeping. Too all fans and friends, you must all be confused. I too can not express this sadness in words But we must understand that this is a reality. Everyone please watch over his eternal sleep warmly."
X-Japan Leader Yoshiki

It's sad. Also, the remaining X Japan band members performed Forever Love, and Scars, which hide wrote, at the funeral.