Kojima, who was known by his stage name as Hiro Matsuda, died Saturday at his home.
Kojima played baseball in Japan but came to the United States in 1961 because wrestling was his first love. The sport was more developed here.
Kojima started wrestling on a circuit that took him through Texas, Oklahoma and Florida.
After settling in the Tampa Bay area in 1962, he went on to train neophytes at the old Sportatorium in Tampa, home of the Championship Wrestling from Florida television program.
"We referred to it as the dungeon," said wrestler Brian Blair, known as in the ring as Killer Bee. "That's where Hiro put us through the mill. He taught us discipline."
Blair trained with Kojima for two summers 20 years ago. He remembered that about 100 wrestlers tried out under Kojima those two years.
Only Blair, Terry Bollea (Hulk Hogan), Paul Orndorff (Mr. Wonderful) and Ray Hernandez (Hercules) stuck it out, he said.
Kojima wouldn't allow them to enter the ring until they'd done 1,000 pushups and 1,000 squats.
"We never knew wrestling as sports entertainment," Blair said. "He trained us to believe we'd have to fight for our lives. He used to kick us and say, 'Come on, boys, I'm an old man and you can't even keep up with me.' "
Kojima never stopped training, Blair said. Even in his 60s, he could do hundreds of pushups and squats.
Kojima is survived by his wife, Judith; daughters Heather Kojima of Venice, Calif., and Stephanie Kojima of San Francisco; and a sister, Hatsue Yokotsuka of Yokohama, Japan.
Funeral arrangements were pending.
Matsuda was an outstanding performer, having his best run in Florida. At one point, it was said Eddie Graham was willing to sponsor Matsuda for a run with the NWA World heavyweight title. While that never materialized, Matsuda did enjoy two reigns with the NWA World junior heavyweight championship, including a win over the legendary Danny Hodge.
Matsuda was probably best known to fans of this generation as a trainer. Among the stars that came through his camp include Hulk Hogan, Steve Keirn, Mike Graham, Brian Blair, Lex Luger, Scott Hall, Ron Simmons and Paul Orndorff.
Every young wrestler that came through Florida spent time in Matsuda's training camp, including Scott Casey and Mike George.
Everybody that ever went through a Matsuda training session described it as one of the most brutal things they have ever endured.
The news that Hiro Matsuda had passed away on Saturday brought back a flood of memories from the old McGuirk territory.
I had the opportunity to watch Matsuda in matches against Hodge, Mantell, Jay Clayton, and other top talent in the McGuirk territory, and those Junior Heavyweight matches were among my favorite memories growing up as a wrestling fan.
The Junior Heavyweight wrestlers of that era weren't "high-flyers" like the cruiserweights of today, but they were quicker than the big guys like Bill Watts, and they were much more fun to watch.
In those days, ring psychology was so much more prevalent than it is in wrestling today. Heels weren't just bad guys....they were villains. It was their job to incite the crowd and to stir things up to a fever pitch.
Nobody was better at doing that than Hiro Matsuda.
I remember a match that Matsuda had with Jay Clayton.
Clayton was never a big star outside of the McGuirk territory, but he was a popular young star in our area....and he was challenging Matsuda for the NWA World Junior Heavyweight Title.
Matsuda used every dirty trick in the book that night, and just when it looked like Clayton would be able to overcome the odds...Matsuda used a foreign object in a karate thrust to Clayton's throat.
Three seconds later, it was over.
Jay Clayton was left in the ring coughing up blood...and the fans were trying to jump over the railing to kill Matsuda.
They really wanted to kill him.
That's how good he was.
It's a lost art these days, but Matsuda had the crowd in the palm of his hands that night...and most other nights.
He was one of the best.
Most of all I would like to thank,
on my behalf and all Hulkamaniacs around the world to
Yasuhiro Kojima for making us Hulkamaniacs
and through Hulk Hogan making me a die hard
puroresu fan. I would also like to
send on my behalf and all Hulkamaniacs` our deepest condolences to the
Kojima family.
Thank you Yasuhiro for your efforts, you will never be forgotten!