In some shocking and unprecedented news, the Open the Dream Gate title belt was lost in the late hours of 07/21. The title belts are stored in duralumin cases for safe keeping when not in use. They were loaded onto the ring truck after the conclusion of Kobe World. The truck then traveled to the Sanctuary office building. At about 2 AM, the truck departed for the dojo, which is about 10 kilometers from the office building. While stopped at a traffic light about 2km from the office, the driver of another car informed the truck drivers that the back doors were open. The duralumin cases for the Dream & Brave Gate title belts were found to be missing. Management was contacted and a frantic search of the road ensued. The Brave Gate was found by a nearby telephone pole, safe and sound inside the case. However, the Dream Gate case was found in the garbage next to a nearby apartment building. The belt was not inside. Dream Gate champion Masato Yoshino was contacted by telephone, prompting him to get out of bed and conduct his own search of the area. After his tear-filled search proved fruitless, a report was filed with the local police. There are security cameras around the apartment building that could be helpful, and police are in the process of trying to obtain the recordings.
The title belt is valued at around 2,000,000 yen, or approximately $20,000 USD. Plans are for a Dream Gate title defense on 08/16 in Ota-ku, so an order has been placed with the America based belt manufacturer for a replacement. There are concerns that the title will not arrive in time. Yoshino is taking this news very hard, and apologized profusely to fans for his upcoming belt-less appearances. He hopes fans will cheer him as loudly as they usually do, despite this indignance.
President Takashi Okamura has placed finding the missing belt as the #1 priority right now.
