On May 2nd, 1998, Hideto Matsumoto (1964 – 1998) passed away... News of his death was crushing and unbearable. 10years already and there still a lot of fans around still reminiscence the incident.Hide passed away May 2, 1998. He was drunk that morning. A girlfriend brought him to bed but when she went to check on him an hour later, he was not in his room. He had hanged himself with a ripped towel in his bathroom apartment, having tied the towel to the doorknob. He was barely alive when the ambulance arrived, but he later died in the hospital. Hideto was only 33. Four fans around the country attempted suicide when the news was made public, two of them succeeding.
Some say it was an accidental death, citing he was drunk. Others cite the similar suicide of INXS lead singer Michael Hutchence, who died from hanging in an attempt to gratify himself through autoerotic asphyxiation. Also, there was no suicide note, and he was known to do silly stunts to try to scare people and this could have been a stunt gone wrong. However, some fans would rather see it as a purposeful incident because it's better to think that he made the choice to end his life. They don't want to think that it was accidental. So some, it hurts more to think that he didn't want to die, that it was just an accident. As of today, the truth is not clear.
There is also speculation it wasn't suicide, some fans do believe it was a stress relieving technique. Not all fans agree. However, a few others have speculated that his song 'Pink Spider' was a sort of musical suicide note to his fans
Over 25,000 people attended his funeral at a Buddhist temple in Tokyo on May 7, 1998. Streets in Tokyo were closed off, and police sent boats, helicopters, 100 officers, and 170 security guards to the temple to deal with the emotional crowd. By the end of the first day, 26 people had been hospitalised.
Hide's death and funeral was announced by CNN and other TV channels around the world, despite his fame not reaching outside of Japan.
The remaining members of X Japan performed 'Forever Love' at the funeral, and Yoshiki gave a speech -- he was crying and shaking so hard he could barely hold onto the paper it was written on. Below is an excerpt:
"I still can't believe it. His beautiful face is now sleeping. I've tried to wake him up again and again, but still he sleeps... it was hide who always gave me good advice. Of course, he sometimes lost his way under various pressures -- but he always called me anyway. We talked about X, life, fans... sometimes he was like my elder brother, sometimes he was like a little brother... I think all his fans and friends are confused now... I myself cannot express my feelings in words."
Hide was generally a bouncy, spastic, party kind of guy, which just added to the confusion of why such a person would choose to escape his problems through suicide.
The 11 years eternal sleep and still counting...
Yoshiki's letter to late Hideto on Hideto's wake.
'' 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 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 a big brother to me and sometimes like a young brother too. We'd drink together and sometimes fight. But the next day, he'd come to me and say, "Yoshiki, have I done something last night? I'm sorry, I don't remember a thing." But this time, he didn't say anything back to me... sleeping.
To all fans and friends, you must all be confused. I also cannot express this sadness in words, but we must understand and accept this painful reality. Everyone please watch over his eternal sleep warmly. ''
