Words : Hitoshi Kajino Translated by Ken Bhatt

CAN ’ T CLEARLY REMEMBER the moment I was faced with Eigo ’ s cold body in the morgue . All I remember was that everyone was crying . I didn ’ t know whether it was out of regret or sorrow , I just knew we were all trying to pull ourselves together by crying out loud .

There was so much to prepare for the funeral service . I had to attend a meeting with Eigo ’ s family to talk about how he would have wanted his final farewell to be . My task was to make a farewell video for Eigo , but it was really difficult for me to see him alive in all the footage . When I was back in Tokyo , I started going over a massive amount of Eigo ’ s footage to remember the good old days , like my first encounter with Eigo at MOSH RIDE , going to Baker ’ s Field in the USA , X Games , AIR-X , and many more countless demo shows and events . Tears were pouring from my eyes like a waterfall as I went through all this footage .

After several weeks , I got an offer to produce a film about Eigo . Before Eigo ’ s death , I had been working with him on a documentary for Red Bull , so I knew sooner or later the project would come together . However , it was still less than a year since Eigo ’ s death , so my mind was still scattered and I didn ’ t know how to start with the project .

One thing that was crystal clear to me , was that I was the only one who had shot Eigo for all of his FMX life . Just running through that footage in order would make for a dramatic story . There were countless episodes to talk about .

At the beginning Eigo was working hard on his own in Japan where no real FMX scene existed . He went out to the world with a scarred body and learnt many harsh lessons - but he believed in his own style and proved

himself with hard work . There are so many things he did and I wanted to tell everyone that Eigo was not a guy who should be forgotten just because he passed away .

Once the film production got the green-light , there were still many hurdles we had to clear . Dealing with a delicate subject matter , there were always going to be mixed emotions around the direction of the project . I realised what I had to do was paint as accurate a portrait of Eigo as a person that I could from the times and conversations we shared .

My biggest concern was Eigo ’ s wife Kaori . I had to explain to her why we should make this film and how important it could be for Eigo ’ s two kids , Eidai and Anna , to see their dad on the screen when they grow up . As the preparation went on and the extra shooting began , I felt Eigo ’ s guiding spirit from start to finish of the production . It must have been really hard for Kaori but she was gracious throughout and gave us tremendous support .

I was also concerned about Eigo ’ s parents and siblings . They were the ones most devastated by the loss but they agreed to be interviewed and sympathised with the project . I didn ’ t want to put too much expectation on them but every word from Eigo ’ s father , Tomoshige , and mother , Chizuko , carried such weight and love for their son .

The story was divided into segments and I began working on the script for the narration that would tie it all together . I always had one guy in mind for the narrator : Drake McElroy . Drake had TV experience but more importantly was a great friend of and influence on Eigo .

We started with the interviews in Japan , talking in Eigo ’ s family , the

owner of his home track , Mr Mori , and many local riders . For the opening we shot Eigo ’ s bike in Samegawa , where everyone was shivering in the cold weather . Mr Mori was also kind enough to let us use his house ( practically a castle ) for the interviews , complete with a golden Japanese folding screen for the backdrop .

As we gathered new footage , the editing process also began - which required processing some of the older footage we wanted to use . Our shooting skills and technology have come a long way since those early days but the footage still had a freshness . Just looking at his face in the footage made my chest tighten but that was the face I must show to people who loved Eigo . I was feeling nostalgic going over the archive footage and The Eigo Sato Story had started to take shape .

As for the title , I was thinking of “ The Eigo Sato Story ” at first but Red Bull wanted something a bit more poetic . One of my staff at Fuel Media , Kiyomasa Kawasaki , had a moment of inspiration during a meeting about the title :

“ How about RIDE FOR LIFE ?”

“ That ’ s it !” The title was perfect .

So the title officially became “ RIDE FOR LIFE ~ The Eigo Sato Story ~”.

As for the America shooting , I decided to take all the MX-VIRUS riders who were really tight with Eigo along . There may have been more practical ways to use the budget but I had wanted to bring them along from the beginning . One of the most helpful people in making this happen was Taka Higashino , who let us use his garage and whose reputation in the FMX mecca of Temecula opened a lot of doors for shooting . He contributed to the film as much more than just a rider , and I ’ m really grateful for his help . u

© JASON HALAYKO / RED BULL CONTENT POOL

© IAN HYLANDS / RED BULL CONTENT POOL

© JASON HALAYKO / RED BULL CONTENT POOL