Misawa/drinking

I've heard Misawa liked to drink, and I believe you said on a podcast that he and Hayabusa became drinking buddies. Do we know anything else about his drinking habits, like how much he would consume? Drink of choice? Favorite brand? 

In his All Japan days, Misawa was compelled to drink by his seniors. Genichiro Tenryu (who is most often credited with teaching Misawa how to drink), said that he felt kind of bad, because here was Misawa newly married, and he was whisked away by Tenryu to drink. As Mayumi Misawa states in "The Last Bump", " As a junior, the senior wrestlers got him drunk, but when he was in that position, he never compelled his own juniors. He would sit at the end of the bar, with his back to the wall, and laugh at their views as they were boasting about their overwhelming track record in the ring, the Triple Crown Heavyweight championship, which is the apex of All Japan wrestling." However, Kenta Kobashi does recall that Misawa thought it would be funny to get him drunk, and he sometimes would lie on his futon, the world spinning and wondering what day it was, when Misawa would appear and take him out again. I don't know about his having a favorite drink brand, but he seemed to like spirits more than beer

 

Mitsuharu Misawa, Naomichi Marufuji, Yoshinari Ogawa and Kotaro Suzuki (c.2003) - this was taken from a skit on a variety show, not a picture of a night out.

(although he did undoubtedly drink beer). 

Naomichi Marufuji recalls going to a sushi restaurant in Sapporo (Misawa was born in Hokkaido, like Marufuji's parents interestingly), which Misawa used to take him to when he was his attendant. Even though this was not somewhere local to Noah, they always kept a bottle of Sake for Misawa, and the manager would prepare it for him personally. After his passing, (7th year), Go Shiozaki and Kotaro Suzuki were in Hokkaido (this was during their AJPW era), and they found an Izakaya (kind of like a Japanese pub or tavern), took a table for three, and put his favorite cigarettes and Shochu in his place. So, I would probably say that given the references to it, and the fact that Shiozaki and Kotaro chose it, Shochu was probably his favorite. 

From "Donmai Donmai"

"I am not a big fan of Japanese sake, but I've always wanted to drink it at a hot spring or inn, but it was delicious. Wine is actually the worst of all alcoholic beverages. Wine may be the alcohol most distant from our lifestyle, where we often go out to eat late at night after the match is over"

"I'll answer Kobashi's question promptly. If I had to choose between tea and coffee, I would be more of a tea person, but I drink cafe au lait the most."

"I often end up eating yakiniku or going to a Izakaya. So, on that day I didn't want to eat much, and so I had yakiniku as a side dish for drinking. Towards the end, I remember suddenly thinking, "The Shochu has gotten darker". I think I was drunk before I knew it. On the 3rd, the matches started at 4pm, so compared to the pattern of going out drinking after the event, which usually starts at 6:30pm, I got off to an early start, and although I don't remember much, I think I probably got home around 2:00. 

It seems that Ogawa, Kotaro, and Ippei went out drinking again after that.

Later on, Misawa thought, "I wish I had been invited too."

Then, in the evening of the next day, Ippei sent me a mail saying "Sorry I couldn't answer the phone. I was going to change my cell phone." "I didn't call you, and I wonder why Ippei went to change his phone?" As I thought about it, my memories gradually came back. Come to think of it, I might have put Ippei's phone in the Shochu when I was drunk"

See Donmai Donmai for drinking references, nights out etc