Sasuke (television series)
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SASUKE (Romanized in Japanese) is a competition held in Japan produced by Monster9 [1] and broadcast on the Tokyo Broadcasting System (TBS) television network twice a year between Japanese TV drama seasons. It is one of the spin-offs of Muscle Ranking Series (Japanese: 筋肉番付シリーズ Kinniku Banzuke Shiriizu?), a former TBS physical tournament program. SASUKE consists of four obstacle courses, each more difficult than the last. Each competition is taped prior to the air date and is shown as a three hour show with edits made for time consideration.
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[edit] Stages
[edit] Stage One
One hundred participants must first take on Stage One, a test primarily of speed. The object of the course is to reach the other side and hit the buzzer before time runs out, while not touching the water below. Even if a competitor remains on the course after his foot touches the water, he is automatically disqualified. Typically, around 90 to 95 of the 100 original entrants are eliminated in this first stage. The exact time limit varies depending on which obstacles have been placed into Stage One at each specific competition, but is usually between 85 seconds and 105 seconds. In 2007 the time has been increased to 130 seconds.
Among the most notable (and most often recurring) obstacles are:
Quintuple Step: The competitor must jump across 4 platforms that are angled 45 degrees toward the center.
Rolling Log: The competitor must grab onto a large log and hold on to it as it rolls down an incline. Later, drops were implemented onto the track in an attempt to jar the competitor off.
Jump Hang: The competitor must bound off a trampoline onto a large cargo net, then either climb up and over the net or under it, taking care not to touch the water below if they choose the latter route.
Warped Wall: The competitor needs to scale a 15-foot concave wall by running up its side and grasping the top. This obstacle has proven to be the nemesis of many entrants striving to complete the first stage; even SASUKE veteran Makoto Nagano met his match on the Warped Wall twice before finally completing it and advancing to the later stages. In the 18th tournament, the wall, now known as the Great Wall, was made higher and equipped with a rope hanging down to aid competitors in climbing over it.
Rope Swing/Climb: This final obstacle of Stage One immediately follows the Warped Wall. The competitor must swing to a wall and climb up a rope to press the buzzer before time expires. The 2007 version of this obstacle is the Tarzan Rope in which the wall has been replaced by a rope net.
[edit] Stage Two
Stage Two consists of a lowered number of participants and grueling obstacles. Fewer than 200 competitors have ever reached Stage Two. Stage Two's obstacles, like Stage One's, alter throughout the competitions, but all hold to the same principle: if you make a single mistake, you fall into the water below. Stage Two's obstacles determine the time limit, so there is no exact number, but it is usually between 60 seconds and 70 seconds.
Stage Two's most infamous obstacles include:
Spider Walk: The competitor must use his hands and feet to climb up, across, and back down two parallel walls.
Metal Spin: An array of chains dangle from a rotatable horizontal wheel, resembling a chandelier, over a water hazard; the competitor must jump to grasp one of the chains, spinning the wheel to the other side.
Lifting Walls: Three walls of 30kg, 40kg, and 50kg block the competitor, who must lift and cross under them to advance.
[edit] Stage Three
Stage Three, unlike the previous two, has no time limit. Instead of focusing on speed or agility, this course almost exclusively tests one's upper body strength and stamina. The regular obstacles consist of the following:
Rumbling Dice: The entrant uses a monkey bar-like box frame to cross a water pit. By grabbing the upper bar and pulling it down, the box rolls its way across the pit.
Body Prop: The competitor must traverse a 5-meter expanse, holding his body parallel to the ground below as he does so. Along the way there are breaks in both the hand and foot platforms, requiring the entrant to negotiate those as he moves across.
Globe Grasp: The competitor crosses yet another pool of water by grabbing onto a series of small spheres attached to the ceiling.
Curtain Cling: The competitor must grapple across a wide hanging curtain to reach the other side. This was changed in the 18th tournament to a "Curtain Swing" made up of 4 diagonally-placed curtains on which competitors must swing from one to the next to proceed.
Cliff Hanger: By far the most daunting Stage Three obstacle, the competitor must navigate yet another chasm using only a narrow ledge to make his way across. At two points, the ledge breaks - once going a foot up, and again going 18 inches down. The ledge is barely wide enough for competitors to fit their fingertips. In 2007, the Cliff Hanger underwent a change to make it even more difficult. The middle section was shortened and the ledge inclined upwards. Moreover, the third section develops an even smaller profile, giving the competitor about half as much space for his fingers.
Pipe Slider: The last obstacle on the course, the entrant must hang from a pipe and, by undulating his body, move that pipe across a track to the other side. Once there, the competitor needs to swing off the pipe and onto the finishing platform. On numerous occasions, competitors have reached the end of the Pipe Slider, only to miss the final platform by failing to build enough momentum when swinging off, rendering all their efforts for naught.
[edit] Stage Four
Those who manage to clear the first three stages are presented one final challenge. Stage Four consists of only two obstacles: a 20-meter wall climb (similar to the Spider Climb from Stage Two) and a 15-meter rope climb. However, the competitor has only 30 seconds to complete both obstacles and hit the button at the top of the tower. After 15 seconds, the Spider Climb walls pull apart, causing anyone who had not yet cleared the climb to fall. If the competitor is still climbing the rope when time runs out, it detaches from its mooring, again resulting in a sudden drop by the competitor. (The competitor wears a safety rig in case of a long fall.)
[edit] Champions
Those who complete all four stages are awarded a cash prize of 2 million yen. To date, only two men have completed all four stages: crab diver Kazuhiro Akiyama and commercial fisherman Makoto Nagano. Nagano had been to the final stage a number of times before finally clearing, including reaching the buzzer just a half-second too late. A handful of others have reached the final stage only to come up short; one of them, gas station manager Shingo Yamamoto, dislocated his shoulder at the very beginning of the wall climb and had to withdraw from the competition.
[edit] 2007
The first SASUKE of 2007, entitled 新SASUKE 2007春[2] (New SASUKE 2007 Spring) was aired in Japan on Wednesday March 21st, 2007 on Tokyo Broadcasting System from 6:55 PM to 9:48 PM JST. Due to the completion of the course in 2006 SASUKE has been overhauled and the new course has many new obstacles, including a completely new first stage. The names of the first stage obstacles in order are: Rope Glider, Log Grip, Pole Maze, Jumping Spider, Bungee Bridge, Great Wall, Flying Chute and Tarzan Rope.
[edit] Participants
One particular point of interest is the broad spectrum of participants. Most are amateur athletes hailing from Japan, although some national television personalities and Olympians from other countries - most notably gymnast Paul Hamm and his brother Morgan Hamm - take part in the competition from time to time. Others dress up in costumes or bring mementos of their work with them (such as a hang glider or ramen pot) - the large majority of these entrants often get eliminated on the first few obstacles.
A number of competitors have been deemed "Ninja Warrior All-Stars" for their numerous appearances in the tournament. They include Toshihiro Takeda, a fire rescue worker; Daisuke Nakata, a trampolinist; Shingo Yamamoto, a gas station manager; Bunpei Shiratori, a government worker; Hiroyuki Asaoka, an elementary school teacher; and Katsumi Yamada, a steelworker. Yamada is particularly notable for his unusual devotion to the Ninja Warrior competition; many times he has sworn to retire from the tournament only to resurface again, at one point even alienating his family in the process.
The youngest competitor to pass the First Stage, Kouta Honma, was only 16.
[edit] Broadcast
Currently, the program can be seen in the United States as Ninja Warrior on the G4 channel every weeknight at 6:30 and 10:30 EST and each Tuesday at midnight EST.[3] There have also been occasional marathons of the program on weekends. The play-by-play commentary and interviews with participants are subtitled in English while the introduction and player profiles have been dubbed by voice actor Dave Wittenberg. Each episode is a 30-minute portion of the Japanese broadcast.
[edit] Results
The following is a list of the people who went the farthest in each competition. If there is more than one person in a given competition the results go in order of who went the farthest first. All air dates are of the Japanese broadcast on TBS.
2nd Competition (Aired September 26, 1998)
No. 89 田中光 Tanaka Hikaru - Final Stage
3rd Competition (Aired March 13, 1999)
No. 89 山田勝己 Yamada Katsumi - Final Stage
4th Competition (Aired October 16, 1999)
No. 86 秋山和彦 Kazuhiko Akiyama - Final Stage (Finished)
5th Competition (Aired March 18, 2000)
No. 98 山本進悟 Yamamoto Shingo - 3rd Stage
6th Competition (Aired September 9, 2000)
No. 99 山田勝己 Yamada Katsumi - 3rd Stage
No. 83 畠田好章 Hatakeda Yoshiaki - 3rd Stage
No. 93 竹田敏浩 Takeda Toshihiro - 3rd Stage
7th Competition (Aired March 17, 2001)
No. 97 山本進悟 Yamamoto Shingo - Final Stage
8th Competition (Aired September 29, 2001)
No. 91 ケイン・コスギ Kane Kosugi - Final Stage
No. 59 ヨルダン・ヨブチェフ Jordan Jovtchev - Final Stage
9th Competition (Aired March 16, 2002)
No. 61 長野誠 Nagano Makoto - Failed Pipe Slider - 3rd Stage
No. 97 竹田敏浩 Takeda Toshihiro - Failed Globe Grasp - 3rd Stage
No. 71 中田大輔 Nakata Daisuke - Failed Globe Grasp - 3rd Stage
No. 98 山本進悟 Yamamoto Shingo - Failed Rumbling Dice - 3rd Stage
10th Competition (Aired September 25, 2002)
No. 1000 山田勝己 Yamada Katsumi - Failed Pipe Slider - 3rd Stage
No. 961 池谷直樹 Iketani Naoki - Failed Cliff Hanger - 3rd Stage
No. 940 中田大輔 Nakata Daisuke - Failed Globe Grasp - 3rd Stage
No. 954 朝岡弘行 Asaoka Hiroyuki - Failed Body Prop - 3rd Stage
11th Competition (Aired March 21, 2003)
No. 96 長野誠 Nagano Makoto - Failed Final Stage
No. ?? 小林信治 Kobayashi Shinji - Failed Pipe Slider - 3rd Stage
No. ?? 池谷直樹 Iketani Naoki - Failed Cliff Hanger - 3rd Stage
No. ?? 山本進悟 Yamamoto Shingo - Failed Cliff Hanger - 3rd Stage
No. ?? 中田大輔 Nakata Daisuke - Failed Globe Grasp - 3rd Stage
No. ?? 竹田敏浩 Takeda Toshihiro - Failed Body Prop - 3rd Stage
No. ?? 秋山和彦 Kazuhiko Akiyama - Failed Body Prop - 3rd Stage
12th Competition (Aired October 1, 2003)
No. 100 長野誠 Nagano Makoto - Failed Final Stage (by .11 seconds)
No. 77 白鳥文平 Shiratori Bunpei - Failed Final Stage
No. ?? 朝岡弘行 Asaoka Hiroyuki - Failed Final Stage
13th Competition (Aired April 6, 2004)
No. 100 長野誠 Nagano Makoto - Final Stage
14th Competition (Aired January 4, 2005)
No. 68 小林信治 Kobayashi Shinji - 3rd Stage
No. 100 長野誠 Nagano Makoto - 3rd Stage
No. 97 竹田敏浩 Takeda Toshihiro - 3rd Stage
No. 91 ヨルダン・ヨブチェフ Jordan Jovtchev - 3rd Stage
No. 80 朝岡弘行 Asaoka Hiroyuki - 3rd Stage
15th Competition (Aired July 7, 2005)
No. 96 竹田敏浩 Takeda Toshihiro - Failed Devil's Swing - 3rd Stage
No. 93 白鳥文平 Shiratori Bunpei - Failed Bridge of Destiny - 3rd Stage
No. 70 山田康司 Yamada Koji - Failed Jumping Bars - 3rd Stage
No. 65 長崎峻侑 Nagasaki Shunsuke - Failed Cliffhanger - 3rd Stage
16th Competition (Aired December 30, 2005)
No. 96 白鳥文平 Shiratori Bunpei - 3rd Stage
No. 91 山田康司 Yamada Koji - 3rd Stage
No. 100 長野誠 Nagano Makoto - 3rd Stage
No. 95 ヨルダン・ヨブチェフ Jordan Jovtchev - 3rd Stage
No. 98 竹田敏浩 Takeda Toshihiro - 3rd Stage
17th Competition (Aired October 11, 2006)
No. 99 長野誠 Nagano Makoto - Final Stage (Finished)
No. 87 長崎峻侑 Nagasaki Shunsuke - Final Stage (Youngest to reach the final stage (19 years old))
18th Competition (Aired March 21, 2007)
No. 96 長野誠 Nagano Makoto - Failed Cliff Hanger - 3rd Stage
No. 97 長崎峻侑 Nagasaki Shunsuke - Failed Cliff Hanger - 3rd Stage
No. 98 高橋賢次 Takahashi Kenji - Failed Cliff Hanger- 3rd Stage
[edit] Related programs
- SASUKE also has a female only version known as KUNOICHI which has not been aired in the United States yet.
- Special Old People and Children editions of SASUKE have aired. It appears to have been only one stage being shown over a number of episodes. Around 8 competitors per episode were shown. The course was practically the same for each edition, however the Old People course was slightly tougher featuring steeper inclines and treadmills.
- The show Viking: The Ultimate Obstacle Course which airs on ESPN2 is also produced by Monster9 for Fuji TV and also features many of the same competitors as SASUKE.
- The makers of SASUKE have also created The Muscle Musical [4] which features SASUKE competitors as well.
- Every January 1st TBS also airs the Pro Sportsman No.1 competition which is produced by Monster9. Several people who have competed on SASUKE have participated in this competition which is a series of events contested by celebrities and professional athletes. In 2007 Paul Terek took the title of Pro Sportsman No. 1.
- In Tokyo, Monster 9 has built Muscle Park [5], an indoor theme park based on events from SASUKE and other Muscle Ranking related programs. Some well-known SASUKE participants such as Yamada Katsumi have made live appearances there. [6]
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Sasuke program homepage - Tokyo Broadcasting System (TBS)
- Sasuke 2006 Autumn - Tokyo Broadcasting System
- 11th Sasuke homepage - Tokyo Broadcasting System
- Ninja Warrior - G4
- G4 press release for its premiere of Ninja Warrior
- G4 announces new episodes and a new schedule for Ninja Warrior starting Mar 19, 2007
- 新SASUKE 2007春 - Tokyo Broadcasting System
