Charged with drug trafficking, Hosoi was sentenced to 10 years in prison. He carried 1.5 pounds of crystal methamphetamine from Los Angeles to Honolulu. The authorities caught up with him in January 2000 at the Honolulu airport. He skipped a court date in 1995 and, to avoid arrest, declined an invitation to the first X-games, which had been billed as the long-awaited rematch of Hosoi and Hawk.
The recession of the 1990s hit his business bad, and his drug addiction grew. At one point he earned $350,000 a year, according to the Orange County Register.īut fame and finances weren’t enough, so he turned to drugs and partying. When street skating began to emerge in the mid-to-late 80s, Hosoi proved a threat there as well, winning both the vert and street contests at the Lotte Cup contest in Japan in 1989.
In 1984 he formed his own company, Hosoi Skates, first distributed through Skull Skates, then through NHS-INC, and his took off in popularity. Hosoi invented the “Christ Air” and the “Rocket Air,” and he was renowned for pulling huge aerials - even holding the world record at one point. Hosoi was making money and had a huge following. It was a rivalry that fed the growing following in this spectator sport. Hosoi surprised many spectators by winning their first faceoff. He was winning competitions, and eventually he would have to take on the big name of skating, Tony Hawk, a technical and daring trickster.
He became famous for his flair and graceful style. He became a professional skateboarder in 1982 when he was only 14-years-old. Skating became his daily bread he even dropped out of school at age 13 for it. But he still felt empty.īorn of a Hawaiian Japanese father and Caucasian mother, Hosoi grew up in Southern California, where his dad worked at a skate park in Marina Del Rey. Christian Hosoi had one dream in life: he wanted to be the best vertical skateboarder in the world - and he got it.
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