Sasuke (TV series)

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Sasuke

The title card for Sasuke.
Also known as Ninja Warrior
Sasuke Rising
Genre Sports Entertainment,
Obstacle Course
Narrated by Furutachi Ichiro
Hatsuta Keisuke
Matoba Koji
Ito Ryusuke
Jinnai Takanori
Komada Kengo
Country of origin Japan
Original language(s) Japanese;
English subtitles and dubbed contestant profiles in United States broadcast;
English voice-over in United Kingdom broadcast.
No. of seasons 29 competitions
Production
Executive producer(s) Ushio Higuchi
Producer(s) Yoshiyuki Kogake
Makoto Fujii
Location(s) Midoriyama, Aoba-ku, Yokohama[1]
Running time 180 to 360-minute specials in Japan;
30-minute episodes (United States, France, Finland, Estonia, United Kingdom, New Zealand, and others);
30- or 60-minute episodes (Singapore);
50-minute episodes (Czech Republic, Serbia)
Production company(s) Monster9
(1997–2011)
Tokyo Broadcasting System
(2012–present)
Broadcast
Original channel Tokyo Broadcasting System
Original run 26 September 1997 (1997-09-26) – present
Chronology
Preceded by Kinniku Banzuke (Muscle Ranking)
Related shows KUNOICHI,
Pro Sportsman No.1,
Viking: The Ultimate Obstacle Course
External links
Website

Sasuke is a Japanese sports entertainment television special in which 100 competitors attempt to complete a four stage obstacle course. An edited version, named Ninja Warrior, is screened in at least 18 other countries. To date, Sasuke content has been aired in 157 countries.

Shot on location at Midoriyama studio in Yokohama, it airs on the Tokyo Broadcasting System (TBS) between Japanese television drama seasons. Each 3-hour special covers an entire competition; there are normally 100 participants. There have been 29 specials produced, approximately one new special per season (twice per year). The show is produced by Monster9 and is one of the spin-offs of Muscle Ranking (筋肉番付 Kinniku Banzuke), another sports entertainment competition, which airs on G4 under the name Unbeatable Banzuke. Until the 10th competition, Sasuke was broadcast as a special part of Muscle Ranking, but it became an independent program when Muscle Ranking was discontinued. The first competition was held indoors, marking the only time Sasuke did not take place outside. Competitions generally start in the daytime and continue until completed regardless of weather or darkness.[2] After Monster9's bankruptcy on November 2011, all rights to the show fell completely into the hands of its broadcaster, Tokyo Broadcasting System. Following their acquisition of all rights to Sasuke, TBS renamed the show Sasuke Rising.

There have been several programs related to Sasuke. Kunoichi, perhaps the most well-known spin off, is a version of Sasuke restricted to female competitors only. There have also been competitions held for children and the elderly.

Applicants are interviewed or auditioned and trial rounds are held to test their physical ability until the field is narrowed to 100 competitors. Sasuke consists of four stages of increasing difficulty; competitors must complete a stage to advance. Before the 18th tournament, a 1200-meter run was held in order to determine the competitors' starting positions. Each competition is taped prior to the air date, edited for time, and broadcast as a 3-hour show.

An online game based on G4's edit of the show has been made and is available on the network's website. It is G4's highest rated show.[3]

Competitors

The show hosts a broad spectrum of participants. While most are amateur athletes from Japan, national television personalities and Olympians from other countries, including the USA, Bulgaria, China and Korea, have taken part in the competition. Some of the more enthusiastic competitors dress up in costumes, bring props to the starting stage, or show off some of their talents.

Sasuke All-Stars

The Sasuke All-Stars are a group of six favored competitors, established by the TBS network, thought to possess the greatest opportunities to clear all four stages. It includes two of the men to complete the Sasuke course, Makoto Nagano (2006, 17th Tournament) and Kazuhiko Akiyama (1999, 4th tournament). In the 24th and 27th tournament, a third man, Yuuji Urushihara, cleared all four stages, but he is not considered an All-Star. They are no longer referred as All-Stars, starting the 29th tournament.although it says not compete instead they watch

The six consist of:

  • Kazuhiko Akiyama, a crab fisherman. Known for being the first contestant to ever achieve Total Victory. He has not been able to repeat his success, due to an eye condition known as degenerative reintosis that has been haunting him for years.
Akiyama's results
Competition Start position Obstacle Stage
2nd 100 Timed Out Wall Lifting Second
3rd 99 Timed Out Wall Lifting Second
4th 86 Total Victory (6.00 seconds to spare) Final
5th Did not compete
6th 100 Failed Jump Hang First
7th 99 Failed Jump Hang First
8th 99 Failed Jump Hang First
9th 100 Failed Quintuple Step First
10th 981 Timed Out Warped Wall First
11th 99 Failed Body Prop Third
12th 97 Failed Pipe Slider Third
13th 91 Failed Crooked Wall First
14th 71 Timed Out Warped Wall First
15th 81 Timed Out Warped Wall First
16th 71 Failed Metal Spin Second
17th 71 Failed Circle Slider First
18th Did not compete
19th Did Not Compete
20th 1901 Failed Halfpipe Attack First
21st Did not compete
22nd 20 Failed Halfpipe Attack First
23rd Did Not Compete
24th 62 Timed Out Warped Wall First
25th 98 Timed Out Warped Wall First
26th Did not compete
27th Did not compete
28th 96 Failed Spinning Bridge First
  • Makoto Nagano, a fisherman. Known for reaching the final stage more than anyone else.
Nagano's results
Competition Start position Obstacle Stage
7th 87 Timed Out Warped Wall First
8th 41 Timed Out Warped Wall First
9th 61 Failed Pipe Slider Third
10th 999 Failed Jump Hang First
11th 96 Timed Out Rope Climb Final
12th 100 Timed Out Rope Climb (by 0.11 seconds) Final
13th 100 Timed Out Rope Climb Final
14th 100 Failed Jumping Bars Third
15th 100 Failed Metal Spin Second
16th 100 Failed Devil Swing Third
17th 99 Total Victory (2.56 seconds to spare) Final
18th 96 Disqualified on Shin-Cliff Hanger† Third
19th 100 Failed Flying Chute First
20th 2000 Failed Downhill Jump Second
21st 100 Failed Gliding Ring Third
22nd 100 Failed Slider Jump First
23rd 100 Timed Out G-Rope* Final
24th 100 Failed Jumping Spider First
25th 99 Failed Circle Slider First
26th 99 Failed Jumping Spider First
27th 100 Failed Ultimate Cliff Hanger Third
28th 100 Timed Out Second Warped Wall First
29th 100 Timed Out Second Warped Wall (injured) First

† – Nagano touched the top of the Shin-Cliff Hanger after swinging from the second to the third ledge. He disqualified himself, admitting his error and bowing out after he reached the next platform.

*- Nagano was granted a mulligan on the First Stage due to the malfunction of the Slider Jump.

  • Toshihiro Takeda, a firefighter. Known for reaching the third stage more than anyone else.
Takeda's results
Competition Start position Obstacle Stage
5th 74 Failed Spider Walk Second
6th 93 Failed Body Prop Third
7th 96 Timed Out Rope Climb First
8th 71 Failed Pipe Slider Third
9th 97 Failed Globe Grasp Third
10th 997 Failed Jump Hang First
11th 97 Failed Body Prop Third
12th 95 Failed Pipe Slider Third
13th 98 Failed Cliff Hanger Third
14th 97 Failed Cliff Hanger Third
15th 96 Failed Devil Swing Third
16th 98 Failed Cliff Hanger Third
17th 91 Failed Pipe Slider Third
18th † Failed Salmon Ladder Second
19th 96 Timed Out Flying Chute First
20th 1995 Timed Out Rope Ladder First
21st 98 Failed Ascending Climb Third
22nd 92 Failed Jumping Spider First
23rd 97 Failed Spider Flip Third
24th 98 Failed Spider Flip Third
25th 70 Failed Double Salmon Ladder Second
26th Did not compete
27th Did not compete
28th 97 Failed Rolling Escargot First
29th 95 Failed Hedgehog First

† – Takeda had no number in the 18th tournament. He was around the 86th person to run the course.

Yamamoto's results:
Competition Start position Obstacle Stage
1st 7 Failed Dodging Hammer Second
2nd 20 Failed Pipe Slider Third
3rd 13 Timed Out Rope Climb Final
4th 98 Failed Balance Bridge First
5th 98 Failed Pipe Slider Third
6th 96 Failed Rolling Log First
7th 97 Failed Spider Climb (injured†) Final
8th 98 Timed Out Rope Climb First
9th 98 Failed Rumbling Dice Third
10th 998 Timed Out Rope Climb First
11th 98 Failed Cliff Hanger Third
12th 96 Failed Cliff Hanger Third
13th 76 Timed Out Wall Lifting Second
14th 98 Failed Curtain Cling Third
15th 95 Failed Body Prop Third
16th 97 Failed Jump Hang First
17th 98 Failed Body Prop Third
18th 61 Failed Flying Chute First
19th 81 Failed Jumping Spider First
20th 1981 Failed Halfpipe Attack First
21st 71 Failed Flying Chute First
22nd 31 Failed Halfpipe Attack First
23rd 93 Failed/Withdrew Arm Rings (injured†) Third
24th 96 Timed Out Tarzan Rope First
25th 90 Failed Balance Tank Second
26th 94 Failed Rolling Escargot First
27th 81 Failed Spinning Bridge First
28th 98 Failed Spinning Bridge First
29th 36 Timed Out Backstream Second

† – Yamamoto was hurt in the 7th competition when he dislocated his shoulder and in the 23rd he re-injured his shoulder.

Shiratori's results
Competition Start position Obstacle Stage
9th 79 Timed Out Warped Wall First
10th Did Not Compete
11th 66 Timed Out Wall Lifting Second
12th 77 Timed Out Rope Climb Final
13th 99 Failed Pipe Slider Third
14th 96 Failed Balance Tank Second
15th 94 Failed Climbing Bars Third
16th 96 Failed Pipe Slider Third
17th 81 Failed Body Prop Third
18th 95 Failed Jumping Spider First
19th 82 Timed Out Flying Chute First
20th Did not compete (injured)
21st 83 Failed Downhill Jump Second

He hasn't competed since the 22nd competition due to injury.

  • Katsumi Yamada, a steel worker known as "Mr. Sasuke" or "Mr. Ninja Warrior". He was once thought to be the one most likely to complete the entire course by the tournament's producers, but has not passed the first stage in over nine years.
Yamada's results
Competition Start position Obstacle Stage
1st 92 Failed Dodging Hammer Second
2nd 91 Failed Spider Walk Second
3rd 89 Timed Out Rope Climb Final
4th 100 Failed Cliff Hanger Third
5th 100 Failed Spider Walk Second
6th 99 Failed Pipe Slider Third
7th 100 Timed Out Rope Climb First
8th 100 Timed Out Warped Wall First
9th 99 Timed Out Wall Lifting Second
10th 1000 Failed Pipe Slider Third
11th 100 Failed Balance Tank Second
12th 98 Disqualified on Spider Walk† Second
13th Did not compete
14th 99 Failed Jump Hang First
15th 99 Failed Cross Bridge First
16th 99 Timed Out Rope Climb First
17th 100 Timed Out Warped Wall First
18th 73 Timed Out Rope Ladder First
19th 91 Failed Jumping Spider First
20th 1999 Failed Jumping Spider First
21st 96 Timed Out Warped Wall (injured) First
22nd 81 Failed Jumping Spider First
23rd 71 Failed Slider Jump First
24th 80 Timed Out Warped Wall First
25th Did not compete
26th 90 Failed Jumping Spider First
27th 91 Timed Out Warped Wall First
28th 99 Timed Out First Warped Wall First

† – Although Yamada completed the entire course, he forgot to take off his gloves before the Spider Walk.

Sasuke New Stars

The Sasuke New Stars are recent competitors who have made a name for themselves.

  • Yuuji Urushihara, a shoe salesman and an Unlimited Cliffer member and the only man to achieve total victory twice.
Competition Start Position Obstacle Stage
21st 72 Failed Flying Chute First
22nd 77 Timed Out G-Rope Final
23rd 99 Failed Unstable Bridge Second
24th 93 Total Victory (3.57 seconds to spare) Final
25th 100 Failed Double Salmon Ladder Second
26th 100 Failed Half-Pipe Attack First
27th 99 Total Victory (6.71 seconds to spare) Final
28th 88 Failed Crazy Cliffhanger Third
29th 99 Timed Out Backstream Second
Competition Start Position Obstacle Stage
21st 42 Timed Out Warped Wall First
22nd 76 Failed Slider Jump First
23rd 47 Failed Salmon Ladder Second
24th 85 Timed Out G-Rope Final
25th 60 Failed Ultimate Cliffhanger Third
26th 98 Failed Metal Spin Second
27th 20 Failed Chain SeeSaw Third
28th 40 Failed Spinning Bridge First
29th 41 Timed Out Backstream Second
Competition Start Position Obstacle Stage
20th 1976 Failed Jumping Spider First
22nd 49 Disqualified on Spider Flip † Third
23rd 96 Timed Out G-Rope Final
24th 99 Timed Out Tarzan Rope First
25th 89 Failed Balance Tank Second
26th 93 Failed Rolling Escargot First
27th 1 Withdrew on Double Salmon Ladder ‡ Second
28th 89 Failed Crazy Cliffhanger Third
29th 97 Failed Crazy Cliffhanger Third

† – Kanno touched part of the frame with his foot and climbed along the side of the platform, thereby going off the course.
‡ - Kanno withdrew before Double Salmon Ladder because of a shoulder injury.

Competition Start Position Obstacle Stage
23rd 45 Failed Salmon Ladder Second
24th 73 Failed Gliding Ring Third
25th 49 Failed Circle Slider First
26th 86 Failed Jumping Spider First
27th 29 Failed Slider Drop Second
Competition Start Position Obstacle Stage
21st 44 Failed Log Grip First
23rd 50 Failed Salmon Ladder Second
24th 78 Failed Salmon Ladder Second
25th 18 Failed Unstable Bridge Second
Competition Start Position Obstacle Stage
21st 46 Failed Flying Chute First
25th 6 Failed Circle Slider First
26th 63 Failed Rolling Escargot First
27th 62 Timed Out Rope Climb Final
28th 87 Timed Out Passing Wall Second
29th 98 Timed Out Backstream Second
  • Kazuma Asa, a hedge trimmer.
Competition Start Position Obstacle Stage
21st 45 Timed Out Warped Wall First
27th 55 Failed Double Salmon Ladder Second
28th 58 Failed Crazy Cliffhanger Third
29th 96 Failed Crazy Cliffhanger Third

Notable Competitors

  • Hiroyuki Asaoka, a former elementary school teacher turned illustrator. Commonly known as "Sasuke Sensei" or Professor Ninja Warrior.
Asaoka's results
Competition Start position Obstacle Stage
3rd 34 Failed Hammer Dodge Second
4th 3 Failed Pipe Slider Third
5th 27 Failed Jump Hang First
6th 15 Failed Jump Hang First
7th 29 Failed Jump Hang First
8th Did not compete
9th Did not compete
10th 954 Failed Body Prop Third
11th 58 Failed Chain Reaction Second
12th 72 Failed Rope Climb (12 metres up) Final
13th Did not compete
14th 80 Failed Cliff Hanger Third
15th 91 Failed Rope Climb First
  • Naoki Iketani, a former gymnast, sports talent, and World Record Holder in Monster Box at 23 boxes.
Iketani's results
Competition Start position Obstacle Stage
2nd 90 Failed Spinning Log First
3rd Did not compete
4th 81 Failed Pipe Slider Third
5th 81 Failed Warped Wall First
6th Did not compete
7th Did not compete
8th 61 Failed Rolling Log First
9th 81 Failed Wall Lifting Second
10th 961 Failed Cliff Hanger Third
11th 61 Failed Cliff Hanger Third
12th 81 Failed Rope Climb First
13th 90 Failed Body Prop Third
14th 81 Failed Body Prop Third
15th 90 Failed Warped Wall First
16th 90 Failed Body Prop Third
17th Did not compete
18th Did not compete
19th Did not compete
20th 1983 Failed Jumping Spider First
21st 93 Failed Flying Chute First
22nd 97 Failed Warped Wall First
23rd Did not compete
24th 90 Failed Warped Wall First
25th Did not compete
26th 87 Failed Double Salmon Ladder Second
27th 93 Failed Double Salmon Ladder Second
28th 76 Failed Rolling Escargot First
Nagasaki's results
Competition Start position Obstacle Stage
14th 67 Failed Wall Lifting Second
15th 65 Failed Cliff Hanger Third
16th 89 Failed Cliff Hanger Third
17th 87 Failed Rope Climb Final
18th 97 Failed Shin-Cliffhanger Third
19th 97 Failed Flying Chute First
20th-28th Did not compete
29th 93 Failed Passing Wall Second
Nakata's results
Competition Start position Obstacle Stage
8th 46 Failed Wall Lift Second
9th 71 Failed Globe Grasp Third
10th 940 Failed Globe Grasp Third
11th 95 Failed Globe Grasp Third
12th 94 Failed Rolling Log First
13th 71 Failed Wall Lifting Second
14th Did not compete
15th Did not compete
16th 65 Failed Rope Climb First
17th 96 Failed Arm Rings Third
18th Did not compete
19th Did not compete
20th Did not compete
21st 88 Failed Salmon Ladder Second
Yamada's results
Competition Start position Obstacle Stage
12th 1 Failed Cliff Hanger Third
13th 88 First Jump Hang First
14th 57 Failed Warped Wall First
15th 70 Failed Jumping Bars Third
16th 91 Failed Pipe Slider Third
17th 95 Failed Metal Spin Second
18th Did not compete
19th 79 Failed Salmon Ladder Second
Kobayashi's results
Competition Start position Obstacle Stage
11th 74 Failed Pipe Slider Third
12th 93 Failed Jump Hang First
13th 86 Failed Jump Hang First
14th 68 Failed Devil's Swing Third
15th 98 Failed Crooked Wall First
16th 92 Failed Metal Spin Second
17th Did not compete
18th 44 Failed Flying Chute First
19th 76 Failed Flying Chute First
20th 1985 Failed Jumping Spider First
21st 79 Unknown First
Kobayashi's results
Competition Start position Obstacle Stage
12th 92 Failed Body Prop Third
13th 97 Failed Curtain Cling Third
14th 87 Failed Body Prop Third
15th 71 Failed Warped Wall First
16th 93 Failed Metal Spin Second
17th-28th Did not compete
29th 58 Failed Jump Hang Kai First
Morimoto's results
Competition Start position Obstacle Stage
18th 91 Failed Jumping Spider First
19th 71 Failed Halfpipe Attack First
20th Did not compete
21st 52 Failed Jumping Spider First
22nd 27 Failed Warped Wall First
23rd-26th Did not compete
27th 84 Failed Metal Spin Second
28th Did not compete
29th 79 Failed Pipe Slider Third
Takahashi's results
Competition Start position Obstacle Stage
5th ?? Failed Rolling Log First
6th ?? Failed Warped Wall First
7th 46 Failed Cliff Hanger Third
8th-15th Did not compete
16th 66 Failed Cliff Hanger Third
17th Did not compete
18th 98 Failed Shin-Cliff Hanger Third
19th 84 Failed Jumping Spider First
20th 1988 Failed Flying Chute First
21st 85 Failed Jumping Spider First
22nd 80 Failed Rope Ladder First
23rd 84 Failed Gliding Ring Third
24th 94 Failed G-Rope Final
25th 40 Failed Ultimate Cliff Hanger Third
26th 96 Failed Rolling Escargot First
27th 15 Failed Spinning Bridge First
28th Did not compete
29th 87 Failed Crazy Cliff Hanger Third
  • Yuji Washimi, a mechanic, formerly a Motocross star.
Washimi's results
Competition Start position Obstacle Stage
17th 68 Failed Warped Wall First
18th 70 Failed Salmon Ladder Second
19th 86 Failed Salmon Ladder Second
20th 1991 Failed Halfpipe Attack First
21st 89 Failed Flying Chute First
22nd Did not compete
23rd Did not compete
24th 84 Failed Metal Spin Second
25th-28th Did not compete
29th 74 Failed Hedgehog First

Athletes

World-class athletes, including Olympians, have attempted Sasuke:

Japanese athletes

Several Japanese athletes have competed in Sasuke over the years including, professional team handball player, Daisuke Miyazaki, who was featured in the 20th, 21st, 22nd and 26th competitions. In his debut, the 20th competition, he failed on the Halfpipe Attack. His best performance was in the Sasuke 21, where he made it all the way to the third stage devil steps. In Sasuke 22, he timed out on the net climb in stage 1, and in Sasuke 26, he failed the first stage Rolling Escargot.

After the 27th competition, 3 Japanese olympians competed: Tomoko Hagiwara, Koki Sakamoto, and Daisuke Nakano. Hagiwara competed in the 28th competition, but she failed the Quintuple Step. She also competed in the 29th competition, but she failed the Hedgehog. Sakamoto competed in the 28th competition, wearing #95 (the highest # for non all-stars that tournament), but he timed out on the second Warped Wall. Nakano competed in the 29th competition, but he failed the Jump Hang Kai, while trying to grab both nets.

American athletes

Various American athletes, including gymnasts (and twin brothers) Paul and Morgan Hamm, have competed in Sasuke. Paul made it to the second stage in the 14th and 16th competitions but failed to make it further – in the 14th, he cleared Wall Lifting but forgot to hit the button at the end before time ran out, and in the 16th, he was eliminated by the Metal Spin. He competed in the 15th competition as well, but he failed to make it past the first stage's Warped Wall. Morgan timed out in the first stage before he could attempt the Rope Climb in the 14th competition, but he made it to the third stage in the 15th, failing on the Curtain Cling. In the 16th competition, he failed the first stage's Warped Wall.

Decathlete Paul Terek competed four times. He first appeared in the 17th competition, making it to the third stage before failing on the Cliff Hanger. The announcer pointed to his immense size (6 foot 3 and 215 pounds) as a barrier to his advancement. After earning the title of Pro Sportsman No. 1 in 2007, Terek appeared in the 19th competition but failed the first stage's Jumping Spider. He helped G4 oversee the 2nd American Ninja Challenge competition in early 2008, but he did not compete in Sasuke's 20th competition due to his training for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing (though he eventually had to drop out of the running for the Olympics after suffering a torn meniscus in his left knee). He made his return to Sasuke in the 22nd competition but failed on a new obstacle in the first stage, the Slider Jump. He failed the same obstacle in Sasuke 24. In 2010, Paul Terek announced his retirement from international competition, so it is likely he will never compete again.

Henry Cejudo, gold medal-winning wrestler at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, competed in the 21st competition, but failed the first stage's Halfpipe Attack.

Levi Meeuwenberg, a free runner from G4's American Ninja Challenge 2, first competed in Sasuke 20, where he was one of only three people to clear the first stage and the only person to clear the second stage. He cleared stage 2 with a record time of 38.5 second left. He failed the third stage's Shin-Cliff Hanger. In the 21st competition, he failed the Salmon Ladder in the second stage; in the 22nd, he failed the new Slider Jump; in the 23rd, he made it back to the third stage but again failed the Shin-Cliff Hanger. He missed the 24th competition but returned for the 25th, where he failed the first obstacle of the second stage, the Slider Drop. However, he couldn't compete in the 26th competition after breaking his wrist while participating in Jump City: Seattle, a televised professional parkour tournament. In the four times he completed the first stage, he had the fastest time out of everyone else, usually around 16 to 30 seconds to spare.

Brian Orosco, also a free runner, debuted in Sasuke 20 only to fail on the Flying Chute. In his next two appearances he failed the Salmon Ladder and Unstable Bridge. In the 25th competition, he made it to the third stage for the first time, only to fail the Doorknob Grasper. In the 26th competition, he was one of the four Americans to make it to the third stage but ultimately failed on the Roulette Cylinder.

Result
Hamm's results
Competition Start position Obstacle Stage
14th 82 Failed Tarzan Jump First
15th 93 Failed Curtain Cling Third
Hamm's results
Competition Start position Obstacle Stage
14th 82 Failed Wall Lift† Second
15th 92 Failed Warped Wall First
16th 94 Failed Metal Spin Second

† - Hamm cleared the Second Stage with 3 seconds left, but forgot to hit the buzzer at the end of the obstacles.

Terek's results
Competition Start position Obstacle Stage
17th 86 Failed Cliff Hanger Third
18th Did not compete
19th 98 Failed Jumping Spider First
20th Did not compete
21st Did not compete
22nd 98 Failed Slider Jump First
23rd Did not compete
24th 82 Failed Slider Jump First
Meeuwenberg's results
Competition Start position Obstacle Stage
20th 1989 Failed Shin-Cliffhanger Third
21st 99 Failed Salmon Ladder Second
22nd 91 Failed Slider Jump First
23rd 95 Failed Shin-Cliffhanger Third
24th Did not compete
25th 48 Failed Slider Drop Second

Bulgarian athletes

Bulgarian gymnast and six-time Olympian (1992, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012) Yordan Yovchev (spelled on G4 as Jordan Jovtchev) first competed in the 8th competition. During that competition he reached the final stage but became the only competitor to suffer a 15-second timeout on the initial Spider Climb portion, falling when it spread apart. Rain and a two-second late start also hurt his performance. He made it to the third stage three more times in competitions 12, 14, and 16, failing the Cliff Hanger each time. He competed in the 15th competition but failed the Warped Wall in the first stage. He later came back to compete in Sasuke 20, where he failed the Warped Wall again. He also competed in Sasuke 23, where he managed to pass all of the other obstacles but timed out on the final rope ladder.

Result
Jovtchev's results
Competition Start position Obstacle Stage
8th 59 Failed Spider Climb Final
9th Did not compete
10th Did not compete
11th Did not compete
12th 99 Failed Cliff Hanger Third
13th Did not compete
14th 91 Failed Cliff Hanger Third
15th 97 Failed Warped Wall First
16th 95 Failed Cliff Hanger Third
17th Did not compete
18th Did not compete
19th Did not compete
20th 1993 Failed Warped Wall First
21st Did not compete
22nd Did not compete
23rd 79 Failed Rope Ladder First

Korean athletes

South Korean gymnast Yeo Hong Chul, silver medalist in the men's vault at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, competed three times but has never gotten past the first stage. In the 7th competition, he was unable to beat the Rolling Log; In the 8th, he failed the Quintuple Step; in the 11th, he timed out on the Warped Wall.

Spanish athletes

Spanish gymnast Gervasio Deferr, 2000 and 2004 Olympic Champion in the vault and 2008 silver medalist in the floor exercise, competed in the 10th competition but timed out a few feet from the buzzer on the first stage's Rope Climb.

Taiwanese athletes

Li En-Chih (who was incorrectly listed as Lee Yen Chi in the US version and was mistakenly called Lee Enchi or Li En Zhi for years), is a professional rock climber from Taiwan. In his first attempt in the 17th competition, he cleared the first stage but failed the second stage's Metal Spin. In the 18th competition, he failed the Jumping Spider in first stage. After a two tournament absence, he competed in Sasuke 21 and was one of only nine competitors to make it to the second stage, timing out on Wall Lifting. In the 22nd competition, he was one of four people to make it to the third stage, ultimately failing the Shin-Cliff Hanger. In Sasuke 23, he failed the second stage's Metal Spin. In Sasuke 24, he made it to the Final Stage for the first time but timed out 19 meters up. Li became the third foreigner to reach the Final Stage since Yordan Yovchev and Kane Kosugi in SASUKE 8. In Sasuke 25, he went to the third stage, but he failed the Ultimate Cliff Hanger. He made it back to the Ultimate Cliff Hanger in Sasuke 26, but again failed there. In Sasuke 25 and 26, Li finished overall first, becoming the only foreigner to have progressed further than any competitor in consecutive tournaments. After making it to the Ultimate Cliff Hanger 2 times, it looked like Li would go all the way in Sasuke 27. However, he shocked many when his feet dipped the water on the Step Slider in stage 1. This was his earliest defeat, and first time failing stage 1 since Sasuke 18. He failed the first stage yet again in Sasuke 28, on the Spinning Bridge. He finally cleared the First Stage again in Sasuke 29, but timed out on the Passing Wall. He is also the only foreigner to clear Stage One 6 times in a row (Sasuke 21-26).

Result
En-Chi's results
Competition Start position Obstacle Stage
17th 92 Failed Metal Spin Second
18th 26 Failed Jumping Spider First
19th Did not compete
20th Did not compete
21st 49 Failed Wall Lifting Second
22nd 79 Failed Shin-Cliff Hanger Third
23rd 94 Failed Metal Spin Second
24th 92 Failed G-Rope Final
25th 80 Failed Ultimate Cliff Hanger Third
26th 95 Failed Ultimate Cliff Hanger Third
27th 97 Failed Step Slider First
28th 83 Failed Spinning Bridge First
29th 56 Failed Passing Wall Second

Mixed martial artists and wrestlers

K-1 mixed martial artist Genki Sudo has competed in five tournaments, failing at the Jump Hang (6th, 12th), the Rolling Log (13th), Duodectuple Step (23rd), and the Log Grip (24th). Another mixed martial artist, Sanae Kikuta competed in the 8th and 10th tournaments, where he fell off of the Rolling Log in the first stage; in the 12th tournament, he fell on the Plank Bridge in the first stage. Other K-1 fighters who have competed include Tatsuji (19th competition, failed the Jumping Spider), Yudai (20th competition, failed the Rokudantobi), Andy Ologun (18th competition, failed the Rope Glider; 20th Competition, failed the Log Grip), Bobby Ologun (22nd Competition, failed the Log Grip), and Bernard Ackah (19th competition, failed the Jumping Spider).

Former Pride Fighting Championships and Pancrase Japanese mixed martial artist and pro wrestler Ikuhisa Minowa, competing in DREAM known as "Minowaman", was featured in the 26th competition wearing red wrestling tights, pads, and boots. He failed the second obstacle, "Hazard Swing" after jumping from the swing, and missing the rope on the platform, falling into the water below. He also competed in the 29th competition, but failed the first obstacle, the "Long Jump", where he landed feet first onto the sandbox and jumped backwards into the water. Japanese featherweight mixed martial artist from DREAM Hideo Tokoro, (announced as a "freelance fighter") was featured right after Minowaman in the 26th competition where he failed to grab the rope to swing himself to the other side in the first obstacle "Step Slider".

Several professional wrestlers have also competed, including Tiger Mask IV, The Great Sasuke (referred to as Great Ninja Warrior in the US and UK versions), Minoru Suzuki, Hiroshi Tanahashi and Naohiro Hoshikawa. Suzuki and Tanahashi were the All Japan Triple Crown champion and IWGP Heavyweight Champion, respectively, during their runs in the course.

Japanese entertainers

Several Japanese or Japan-based entertainers have taken part in Sasuke, including action movie star Kane Kosugi and his brother Shane. Kane made the third stage in the 1st, 4th and 6th competitions, failing on the Pole Bridge, Cliff Hanger and Body Prop, respectively. In the 7th competition, he made the second stage but failed the Spider Walk. He reached the final stage in the 8th Competition, becoming, alongside Yordan Yovchev, the first foreigner to make it that far. Competing in heavy rain, Kane timed out on the rope climb; he has not competed since. Shane timed out on the second stage's Wall Lift in the 2nd competition, then failed the first stage's Rolling Log in the 3rd competition. In the 4th, he came close to completing the first stage but timed out on the Rope Climb. In the 6th and 7th competitions, he made it to the third stage, failing both times on the Body Prop. In the 8th competition, he failed to get past the first stage's Warped Wall. Unlike his brother, Shane competed in the 9th competition, where he failed the Big Boulder in the first stage.

Other entertainers who have competed include Hiromichi Sato, host of several NHK children's programs; Shigeyuki Nakamura, a champion of the Muscle Gym event in Kinniku Banzuke; actor-singer Kazumi Morohoshi, a former member of the band Hikaru Genji who is now a solo artist; actor/announcer Kenjirō Ishimaru; and actors Masaki Nomura and Shōei. Sato debuted in the 18th tournament and failed the first stage's Flying Chute. In the 19th tournament, he failed the Log Grip. In the 20th competition, he timed out before he attempted the Tarzan Rope. In the 21st competition, he timed out on the Warped Wall. In the 22nd, Sato finally cleared the first stage but failed the Metal Spin in the second. In Sasuke 23, he failed the Jumping Spider. In Sasuke 24, he failed the Metal Spin again. He missed Sasuke 25, but failed the Jumping Spider again in Sasuke 26. He missed Sasuke 27 and 28 but competed in 29, where he shocked the crowd by unexpectedly going out on the first obstacle, the Long Jump. Nakamura made it to the third stage in the 2nd competition, failing there on the Pipe Slider, but in the 6th competition he was eliminated by the first stage's Jump Hang. Morohoshi debuted in the 20th tournament but failed the Log Grip in the first stage. Ishimaru has never made it past the first stage; his two closest attempts, in the 16th and 17th competitions, timed out on the Rope Climb. Shōei competed 3 times. He competed in Sasuke 6, and failed the Jump Hang when he tried to go under using only his arms. He timed out on the rope climb in stage 1 in Sasuke 7. He finally made it pass the first stage and second stage in Sasuke 8. He struggled in stage 3 on the Propeller bars, and failed the Body Prop. Actor James Okada, a graduate from a martial arts academy, competed in the 6th and 7th competitions. In his first attempt, he failed the Jump Hang in the first stage, but in the next tournament, he made it all the way to the third, where he was defeated by the first obstacle, the Propeller Bars.

Japanese comedians

Several Japanese comedians have taken part in Sasuke, including Akira Omori ("The Monkey"), Koriki Choshu ("the most famous gut in Japan" and 2nd on G4's Craziest Contestants Poll), Passion Yara ("screaming wacko" and 5th on G4s craziest contestants poll), Masaki Sumitani ("Razor Ramon H.G." or "Hard Gay"), Yoku Hata ("Guitar Samurai"), Tetsurō Degawa, and Kinnikun Nakayama. Most of these compete for entertainment value and do not represent serious challenges – for example, Choshu's only accomplishment was being the first person to clear the Rope Glider in the 18th competition. However, some have seen success. Omori made it to the final stage three times in a row (1st–3rd competitions), a record that is shared with Sasuke all-star Makoto Nagano, but since then he has not been able to clear the first stage. Nakayama made it to the second stage in the 9th and 11th competitions; in the 9th, Nakayama failed the Spider Walk, and in the 11th, he missed hitting the second stage's final button by a split-second. He competed in Sasuke 27. He had footage showing himself training for the new course. He wore #30, and despite his training, he failed the Rolling Escargot when he could not get enough mommentum to get the structure spinning, and fell into the water when trying to restart the obstacle. He got revenge on it in the 28th tournament, but timed out on the second Warped Wall. In the 29th tournament, he almost cleared the first stage for the first time in 10 years, but ultimately, timed out at the top of the Rope Ladder. Recent comedians include, Yoshio Kojima, who competed in 5 competitions (22, 24, 26-28), where he failed at the Log Grip twice, Hazard Swing, Step Slider, and Rolling Escargot respectively. Funnyman Masumi Yagi was featured in the 26th competition but failed on the Step Slider. Cocky comedian, Eiko Kano (aka "Mr. Narcissus") was featured in the 25th competition and failed at the Dome Steps, but got past the first obstacle in the 26th competition and failed at the Rolling Escargot. Penalty comedian Wakky competed 8 times in Sasuke. He debuted in Sasuke 20 and failed the Halfpipe Attack. In Sasuke 21 and 22, he failed the Jumping Spider. In Sasuke 23, he got revenge on both the Jumping Spider and the Halfpipe Attack, only to fail the Slider Jump. In Sasuke 24, he failed the Halfpipe Attack again. He returned for Sasuke 27 and cleared the First Stage for the first time. In the Second Stage, he failed the Double Salmon Ladder. In Sasuke 28, he timed out on the Rope Ladder. He returned to the Second Stage in Sasuke 29, but failed the Swap Salmon Ladder.

Other notable competitors

Some other participants notable for their success in Sasuke include Shinji Kobayashi, a 42-year-old garbage man from Matsumoto, Nagano Prefecture, who has competed ten times and made it to the third stage in the 11th competition (failing on the Pipe Slider) as well as the 14th (where he failed the Devil's Swing). In Sasuke 15, he failed the Crooked Wall. Since his debut in the 11th tournament, he has only missed the 17th; however, much of his footage has been cut from the TBS broadcast. He usually competes in a blue or gray garbage man's uniform. In the 16th competition, when the G4 commentator commented on his wipeout on the Metal Spin, Kobayashi was mistakenly called an All-Star. He failed the Metal Spin in stage 2 in Sasuke 16. He also competed in Sasuke 20, where he wore the number 1985, and failed the jumping spider.

Former elementary school teacher Hiroyuki Asaoka, previously known as the "Sasuke Sensei" (in America: "Professor Ninja Warrior", in the UK: "The Professor"), has competed in several tournaments. He first competed in the 3rd competition, failing the second stage's Hammer Dodge. Asaoka was one of the three men to reach the final stage in the 12th competition, failing on the Rope Climb. He also reached the third stage in the 4th, 10th, and 14th competitions. In the 20th tournament, which was his last, he failed the first stage's Rope Ladder. Asaoka works as an illustrator for graphic novels.

Kenji Takahashi (aka Kongu), a 37-year-old delivery man from Saitama Prefecture, has competed fifteen times, with a 5-year break between his third and fourth attempts. He reached the third stage in competitions 7, 16, and 18 but failed the Cliff Hanger each time. He then failed the first stage four times, in the 19th through 22nd tournaments. In the 23rd competition, Takahashi failed the Gliding Ring. In the 24th, he made it to the final stage for the first time, but his support cable got tangled with the G-Rope, and he timed out a few meters short of completion. In the 25th competition, he made it to the third stage but failed the Ultimate Cliff Hanger. He returned in Sasuke 26, but failed the Rolling Escargot. He also competed in Sasuke 27, but failed the new Spinning Bridge in Stage 1. He returned to the Third Stage in Sasuke 29, but ultimately, slipped up on the transition to the second ledge of the Crazy Cliffhanger.

American Navy salvage diver Travis Schraeder made his debut in the 4th competition, making it to the third stage. There, he reached the Pipe Slider, but he pushed the pipe too hard, and it fell off its tracks, resulting in his disqualification. He was the first American competitor to reach the third stage. In his only other appearance in the 5th competition, he ran out of time on the first stage's Rope Climb.

Schraeder's partner, Kevin Lee, competed in the 6th competition but failed the Jump Hang.

Another notable competitor is Tomihiro Tatsukawa, the "Japanese Clark Kent", an insurance salesman who usually dressed in a Superman costume. He competed in the first ten tournaments but never cleared the first stage. He is No. 4 on the G4 Wardrobe Malfunction poll.

A dancer named Goku who competed in many of the earlier competitions is known for removing almost all of his clothes, except for an old-fashioned white thong, before he begins. He has never made it past the first stage. In the G4 Broadcast of the 12th competition, he was honored on the "Warrior Wipeout" for his failure on the Jump Hang, but was mistakenly listed as Sou Takei, who also failed that obstacle. Goku is No. 5 on the G4 Wardrobe Malfunction poll.

65-year-old Minoru Kuramochi, known as "the Octopus" because he usually brings an octopus with him, is the owner of the Edokko Izakaya octopus bar in Tokyo and is one of the oldest competitors. He has competed several times, never making it very far into the first stage. Despite this, he seems to be a fan favorite. In the 20th Competition's preview special, he welcomed the G4 American Ninja Challengers to his bar, served them his special octopus meal, and showed off to them his physical skills. He is No. 4 on G4's Craziest Contestant poll. His best performance was in Sasuke 26, where he managed to make it to the Rolling Escargot. He got further than in Sasuke 19, when he timed out on the Pole Maze.

Toyohisa Ijima, a martial arts dance instructor and former member of the Japan Self-Defense Forces, competed in the first several tournaments. He is known as the "Japanese Bruce Lee" because of his resemblance to the late action star, which extends to dressing and acting like him. He has only made it past the first stage in the 1st tournament; in the 11th tournament, he missed hitting the final button on the Rope Climb by a split second because he had wasted time posing for the crowd after completing each obstacle. He is No. 3 on G4's Craziest Contestant poll.

Hibari Igano, a transsexual who is a former dancer-turned-action star, usually referred to simply as Hibari and known as the "World's Toughest Transsexual", also competed in several early tournaments. She never made it past the first stage. She is No. 2 on G4's Wardrobe Malfunction poll for her appearance in the 7th competition.

The 2nd youngest competitor to pass the first stage, Kota Honma, was 16 years old during the 17th competition. He was also the youngest participant – 13 years old in the 13th Competition – until Sasuke 24. Kota has built a model of the full Sasuke course, including a qualifying round. He has also demonstrated his hobby of juggling on the first stage starting platform. Before the 17th competition, he trained six days per week with his school's track and field team. The youngest competitor to complete the first stage was Ryūgo Suzuka, another 16 year old high school student who did so in the 4th competition.

Tien Dinh, a background dancer for Ashanti who appeared on the Soul Train Music Awards, competed on Sasuke in 2004.

Ken Yasuda, coach of the Tokyo Sabres of the IFL, competed in the 4th, 5th, and 13th tournaments. He failed the Balance Bridge in his first attempt. In his other two tries, he fell off the Rolling Log.

A President Barack Obama look-alike, called Nocchi, competed on Sasuke three times. In Sasuke 18, he failed the Rope Glider. He then competed in Sasuke 22 and 24, where he failed the Log Grip both times.

Koji Yamada is a 40-year-old fireman from the Gifu Prefecture with just three percent body fat. In his debut in the 12th competition, he wore No. 1 and became the only person to wear that number and make it to the third stage. In that competition, he made it all the way to the third stage obstacle, the Cliffhanger, before failing. In the 13th competition, he failed the redesigned Jump Hang, and in the 14th, he timed out on the Warped Wall. He made it to the third stage in the 15th and 16th competitions, failing the Jumping Bars and the Pipe Slider, respectively. In the 17th, he failed a second stage obstacle, the Metal Spin. He was one of two competitors to pass the first stage of the 19th competition, ultimately timing out on the Salmon Ladder. G4 dubs his first name as Yasushi, possibly to avoid confusion with Katsumi Yamada or because of translation issues.[citation needed]

Yusuke Morimoto is a 21-year old student who competed 6 times in Sasuke. He debuted in Sasuke 18, at the young age of 15, but failed the Jumping Spider. In Sasuke 19, he was still 15, and he got revenge on the Jumping Spider but failed the next obstacle, the Halfpipe Attack. He also competed in Sasuke 21 and 22, but was cut both times. He returned for Sasuke 27, at age 19, and cleared the First Stage. But in the Second Stage, the Metal Spin was his downfall. He made his best run on Sasuke 29, at age 21. In that tournament, he cleared the First Stage with 9.69 seconds left. He got revenge on the Second Stage, clearing with a slim 0.81 seconds left. In the Third Stage, despite almost failing the Iron Paddler, he cleared it and became the first person ever to beat the Crazy Cliffhanger. He almost made it to the Final Stage, but fell inches short on the Pipe Slider. He went further than everybody else that tournament and earned himself the #1 seat of Japan for the Sasuke ASEAN Open Cup.

Tomokazu Tanaka was the show's first competitor. He put on an impressive run but had trouble at the Wicked Wall/Hill Climb and ran out of time at the Subduction Zone/Mountain Climb.

Women in Sasuke

The only woman to have completed the first stage is former Super Sentai stuntwoman Chie Nishimura, who did so in the 2nd tournament.[4] She attempted the second stage's Spider Walk in a non-optimal fashion, because her legs were too short to reach across the obstacle the proper way, and failed. She also competed in Sasuke 3 but failed the Rolling Log. She hasn't competed in Sasuke since.

Masami Yusa (G4 mislists her first name as "Miyabi" in some tournaments), a beach flag champion, has competed 7 times. She debuted in Sasuke 6 but failed the Barrel Climb. In the Sasuke 13 trials, she became the first woman to beat the Jump Hang, although she timed out there. During the actual competition, she was able to grab on to the redesigned Jump Hang, but she misjudged her jump, slammed face-first onto the platform, and fell into the water; this failure earned her a "Warrior Wipeout" during G4's broadcasting of this tournament. In Sasuke 14, she became the first woman to beat the Jump Hang and the Crooked Wall in competition, but she ultimately timed out on the Warped Wall.

Rie Komiya has competed several times. She is a Kunoichi (women of ninja warrior) 8 champion. She first competed in Sasuke 22, where she was disqualified on the jumping spider for falling on the safety mat just after the trampoline. She got her revenge in Sasuke 23, but she fell on the halfpipe attack. In Sasuke 24, she surprised many by failing the log grip. She did not compete in Sasuke 25, but did compete in Sasuke 26, and failed the Rolling Escargot.

American Ninja Challenges

Main article: American Ninja Challenge

In Fall 2007, the G4 network held a contest called the American Ninja Challenge, whose grand prize was a trip to Japan to compete in Sasuke's 19th competition. Ten semifinalist videos were selected on August 3 via internet poll to determine three finalists who would appear on G4's Attack of the Show! on August 28–30 to demonstrate their Ninja Warrior skills. On August 31, Michigan State University Economics student Colin Bell and the runner-up, Greenville, South Carolina native Brett Sims, were both selected, and they became the subjects of an hour-long G4 special on November 14 during G4's Ninjafest. Ultimately, both Colin and Brett qualified for the course thanks to their impressive physical abilities, but they both failed the Jumping Spider.

The second contest by G4 wrapped up in March 2008 and aired as part of G4's Ninjafest 2 on May 18, 2008. Levi Meeuwenberg of Ann Arbor, Michigan and Brian Orosco of San Francisco, California were both chosen to compete in Sasuke's 20th tournament; both are free runners. They competed alongside surprise guest Brett Sims, who was given the opportunity to return by G4. Sims failed the first stage's Warped Wall, while Orosco failed the Flying Chute. Meeuwenberg, however, made it to the third stage before he ultimately failed the Shin-Cliff Hanger.

The third contest by G4 wrapped up in August 2008 and aired as part of G4's Ninjafest 3 on November 12, 2008. Viewers voted for their favorite competitors, the top three of whom would be flown to Japan to compete in Sasuke's 21st tournament. The winners were Brian Orosco (who qualified with a different video), gymnast Mark Witmer of Minneapolis, Minnesota, and free runner/stuntwoman Luci Romberg – the first woman to qualify – of Valley Village, California. They joined American Ninja Challenge 2 winner Levi Meeuwenberg and both hosts from Attack of the Show!, Olivia Munn and Kevin Pereira, to compete in Sasuke 21. In that tournament, Munn failed the Sextuple Step, while Pereira's run ended after his feet hit the water on the Log Grip; on the TBS broadcast, Munn's run was shown only in part while Pereira's run was cut completely. Romberg failed the Halfpipe Attack, while Witmer failed the Log Grip due to a severe ulnar nerve injury that he suffered while warming up. Orosco completed the first stage with just 0.6 seconds left on the clock but failed the second stage's Salmon Ladder. Meeuwenberg cleared Stage 1 with the fastest time, with 21.5 seconds remaining, but similarly failed the Salmon Ladder.

The fourth contest by G4 wrapped up in March 2009 and aired on June 21, 2009 on G4 as part of Ninjafest 4. The competitors' videos were judged by Attack of the Show's Olivia Munn. The winner, David Campbell, was joined by Munn and previous competitors Levi Meeuwenberg and Luci Romberg. Munn failed the new Circle Hammer in the first stage; Romberg failed the first stage's Jumping Spider; Campbell timed out on the final first stage obstacle, the Rope Ladder, and later told the sideline reporter that he "underestimated the cardio" involved in the course. Meeuwenberg failed a new first stage obstacle, the Slider Jump.

Results

Main article: List of Sasuke competitions

The following is a list of available information of people who achieved the best results in each competition and also the number of competitors who failed in the lower stages. Under each competition, the results are listed in order of best performance. Their names are listed along with their number (1-100) from the competition, and the stage/obstacle they failed to complete (or Total Victory). In the 10th competition the number system ran from 901-1000 to indicate that 1000 competitors had attempted the First Stage, and then ran from 1901-2000 in the 20th competition to indicate that 2000 competitors had attempted the First Stage, and will most likely run from 2901-3000 during the 30th competition. All air dates are of the Japanese broadcast on TBS.

SASUKE 1

Aired: September 26, 1997

Competitor Stage Obstacle
No. 97 Ōmori Akira Final Failed Rope Climb (about 11m up)
No. 96 Hasegawa Ken Final Failed Rope Climb (about 8m up)
No. 72 Yo Takashi Final Failed Rope Climb (about 8m up)
No. 49 Kawashima Takayuki Final Failed Rope Climb (about 10m up)
No. 89 Kane Kosugi Third Failed Pole Bridge
No. 18 Yoshihito Yamamoto Third Failed Pole Bridge
17 competitors Second Failed
77 competitors First Failed

SASUKE 2

Aired: September 27, 1998

Competitor Stage Obstacle
No. 97 Tanaka Hikaru Final Failed Rope Climb (about 12m up)
No. 99 Ōmori Akira Final Failed Rope Climb (about 7m up)
7 competitors Third Failed
25 competitors Second Failed
66 competitors First Failed

SASUKE 3

Aired: March 13, 1999

Competitor Stage Obstacle
No. 89 Yamada Katsumi Final Failed Rope Climb (about 14.5m up)
No. 13 Yamamoto Shingo Final Failed Rope Climb (about 12m up)
No. 49 Matsumoto Minoru Final Failed Rope Climb (about 8m up)
No. 100 Ōmori Akira Final Failed Rope Climb (about 8m up)
No. 54 Yamamoto Tatsuya Final Failed Rope Climb (about 8m up)
1 competitor Third Failed
7 competitors Second Failed
87 competitors First Failed

SASUKE 4

Aired: October 16, 1999

Competitor Stage Obstacle
No. 86 Akiyama Kazuhiko Final Total Victory (6.0 seconds to spare)
10 competitors Third Failed
26 competitors Second Failed
63 competitors First Failed

SASUKE 5

Aired: March 18, 2000

Competitor Stage Obstacle
No. 98 Yamamoto Shingo Third Failed Pipe Slider
2 competitors Second Failed
97 competitors First Failed

SASUKE 6

Aired: September 9, 2000

Competitor Stage Obstacle
5 competitors Third Failed
95 competitors First Failed

Note: This is the only tournament to date where no one failed the Second Stage.

SASUKE 7

Aired: March 17, 2001

Competitor Stage Obstacle
No. 97 Shingo Yamamoto Final Failed Spider Climb (injured)^
4 competitors Third Failed
3 competitors Second Failed
92 competitors First Failed

^Went 2 1/2 Meters up then fell down.

SASUKE 8

Aired: September 29, 2001

Competitor Stage Obstacle
No. 91 Kane Kosugi Final Failed Rope Climb (about 18m up)
No. 59 Jordan Jovtchev Final Failed Spider Climb (about 11.5m up)^
2 competitors Third Failed
2 competitors Second Failed
94 competitors First Failed

^ Jovtchev fell off the Spider Climb after the walls split at the 15 second limit.

SASUKE 9

Aired: March 16, 2002

Competitor Stage Obstacle
4 competitors Third Failed
3 competitors Second Failed
93 competitors First Failed

SASUKE 10

Aired: September 25, 2002

Competitor Stage Obstacle
4 competitors Third Failed
1 competitor Second Failed
95 competitors First Failed

SASUKE 11

Aired: March 21, 2003

Competitor Stage Obstacle
No. 96 Nagano Makoto Final Failed Rope Climb (about 20m up)
6 competitors Third Failed
4 competitors Second Failed
89 competitors First Failed

SASUKE 12

Aired: October 1, 2003

Competitor Stage Obstacle
No. 100 Nagano Makoto Final Failed Rope Climb (by 0.11 [1/9] seconds)
No. 77 Shiratori Bunpei Final Failed Rope Climb (about 21m up)
No. 72 Asaoka Hiroyuki Final Failed Rope Climb (about 20m up)
7 competitors Third Failed
1 competitor Second Failed
89 competitors First Failed

SASUKE 13

Aired: April 6, 2004

Competitor Stage Obstacle
No. 100 Nagano Makoto Final Failed Rope Climb (about 22.4m up)
4 competitors Third Failed
5 competitors Second Failed
90 competitors First Failed

SASUKE 14

Aired: January 4, 2005

Competitor Stage Obstacle
10 competitors Third Failed
4 competitors Second Failed
86 competitors First Failed

SASUKE 15

Aired: July 20, 2005

Competitor Stage Obstacle
6 competitors Third Failed
1 competitor Second Failed
93 competitors First Failed

SASUKE 16

Aired: December 30, 2005

Competitor Stage Obstacle
8 competitors Third Failed
8 competitors Second Failed
84 competitors First Failed

SASUKE 17

Aired: October 11, 2006

Competitor Stage Obstacle
No. 99 Nagano Makoto Final Total Victory (2.56 seconds to spare)
No. 87 Nagasaki Shunsuke Final Failed Rope Climb (about 18m up)
6 competitors Third Failed
3 competitors Second Failed
89 competitors First Failed

SASUKE 18

Aired: March 21, 2007

Competitor Stage Obstacle
3 competitors Third Failed
3 competitors Second Failed
95 competitors First Failed

SASUKE 19

Aired: September 19, 2007

Competitor Stage Obstacle
2 competitors Second Failed
98 competitors First Failed

SASUKE 20

Aired: March 26, 2008

Competitor Stage Obstacle
No. 1989 Levi Meeuwenberg Third Failed Shin-Cliff Hanger
2 competitors Second Failed
97 competitors First Failed

SASUKE 21

Aired: September 17, 2008

Competitor Stage Obstacle
3 competitors Third Failed
6 competitors Second Failed
92 competitors First Failed

SASUKE 22

Aired: March 30, 2009

Competitor Stage Obstacle
No. 77 Urushihara Yuuji Final Failed G-Rope (about 22m up)
3 competitors Third Failed
1 competitor Second Failed
96 competitors First Failed

SASUKE 23

Aired: September 27, 2009

Competitor Stage Obstacle
No. 100 Nagano Makoto Final Failed G-Rope (reached the top)
No. 96 Kanno Hitoshi Final Failed G-Rope (about 18m up)
5 competitors Third Failed
9 competitors Second Failed
84 competitors First Failed

SASUKE 24

Aired: January 1, 2010

Competitor Stage Obstacle
No. 93 Urushihara Yuuji Final Total Victory (3.57 seconds to spare)
No. 85 Hashimoto Koji Final Failed G-Rope (about 22m up)
No. 94 Takahashi Kenji Final Failed G-Rope (about 20m up)

Twisted up the G-Rope and got the safety wire tangled, causing him to stop.

No. 95 Okuyama Yoshiyuki Final Failed G-Rope (about 19m up)
No. 92 Lee Yen Chi Final Failed G-Rope (about 19m up)
2 competitors Third Failed
5 competitors Second Failed
88 competitors First Failed

SASUKE 25

Aired: March 28, 2010

Competitor Stage Obstacle
5 competitors Third Failed
6 competitors Second Failed
89 competitors First Failed

SASUKE 26

Aired: January 2, 2011

Competitor Stage Obstacle
6 competitors Third Failed
4 competitors Second Failed
91 competitors First Failed

SASUKE 27

Aired: October 3, 2011

Competitor Stage Obstacle
No. 99 Urushihara Yuuji Final Total Victory(6.71 seconds to spare)
No. 62 Matachi Ryo Final Failed Rope Climb (18.8 meters up)
8 competitors Third Failed
17 competitors Second Failed
73 competitors First Failed

SASUKE 28 (RISING 1)

Aired: December 27, 2012

Competitor Stage Obstacle
3 competitors Third Failed
2 competitors Second Failed
95 competitors First Failed

SASUKE 29 (RISING 2)

Aired: June 27, 2013

Competitor Stage Obstacle
4 competitors Third Failed
17 competitors Second Failed
79 competitors First Failed

Stages and obstacles

Main article: List of Sasuke stages

Broadcast

The logo for Ninja Warrior that is broadcast in various countries around the world.

United States

Main article: American Ninja Warrior

The program previously aired on G4 in the United States under the name Ninja Warrior. Each episode now lasts thirty minutes and it also includes some minor changes in the on-screen graphics. Throughout the episode, there's the "Ninja Killer" (for the obstacle that took out the most competitors) and "Warrior Wipeout" (honors the best wipeout) segments. The Japanese play-by-play commentary and interviews with the competitors have English subtitles, while the competitor profiles, replays, and introductions were dubbed by voice actor Dave Wittenberg. The show became the highest rated program on the network since its debut. Aside from a few sporadic occurrences, reruns of Ninja Warrior stopped airing regularly sometime in December 2012 in wake of G4 slated to be rebranded as the Esquire Network on September 23, 2013. The last four episodes to air on G4 appeared as a 2-hour block on April 10, 2013. It is unknown if Ninja Warrior would return to the network's schedule or if some other channel would acquire the series. Commercials on G4 show American Ninja Warrior to air on G4 in July, marking it the last program being advertised on the network as a G4 program, and not an Esquire channel presentation.

American Ninja Warrior

The popularity of the American Ninja Challenge has led G4 to produce a version of the series featuring American contestants. The program, American Ninja Warrior, is produced by Pilgrim Films and Television, Inc. Auditions on G4's website ended on August 18, 2009. Open tryouts were held in Los Angeles on August 29 and 30, 2009, and were taped for the show, with ten finalists competing on the 23rd tournament of the original Ninja Warrior course in Japan in September 2009. The eight-episode series began airing on December 12, 2009.

The qualifying round consists of over 300 competitors, running an obstacle course strongly influenced by Sasuke's first stage. The course consists of the Quintuple Step, a Rope Swing, the Jumping Spider, a modified version of the pipe slider, and a much smaller Warped Wall. The preliminaries used a leader board, and the 30 fastest times moved on to the semi-finals, which included the preliminary course plus three obstacles, the Tarzan Jump, the Jumping Bars, and a Net Climb.

American Ninja Warrior aired only the American finalists during the Sasuke obstacle course. The Japanese competitors were later aired on April 10, 2010.

A second season was cast on G4's website as of April 10, 2010 and aired in hour long specials starting December 8, 2010. The top 10 contestants would participate in Sasuke 26. Three episodes were run for the first two weeks. The first three episodes covered the opening round of the competition, the fourth covered the semifinals. This was followed by four days of a "boot camp" where the fifteen winners of the semifinals were divided into three five-man teams and put through several different Pressure Challenges, with the losing team having to complete a punishment while the other two teams got extra training time on models of some of the Sasuke obstacles (The Warped Wall, Double Salmon Ladder, Balance Tank, and Circle Slider). The teams would then run through a grouping of the obstacles with some sort of hindrance (Usually carrying something heavy between obstacles). The teams with the worst time would be forced to send two members to an elimination challenge, with the losing person forced to leave.

After boot camp, the ten final winners traveled to the Sasuke course to compete. Once again, only the American competitors were aired during the special, with the rest of the Sasuke competition to air later. The most successful of the American competitors in the past, Levi Meeuwenberg, withdrew from the competition due to a fractured wrist, giving his spot to Adam LaPlante. Five members failed in the First Stage: Patrick Cusic and former American Gladiators champion and gladiator Evan "Rocket" Dollard both fell from the new Rolling Escargot obstacle, LaPlante fell on the Halfpipe Attack and Adam Truesdell fell from the Giant Swing, a new variation of the Jump Hang, the only one out of all 100 competitors to do so in the whole tournament. In addition, veteran Shane Daniels once again timed out on the Cargo Net. In the Second Stage, four of the remaining five cleared, while Travis Furlanic fell on the Balance Tank, an obstacle he struggled on during Boot Camp. In the Third Stage, Paul Kasemir failed the Doorknob Grasper. Brent Steffensen made it to the Ultimate Cliffhanger before falling into the water. David Campbell, despite having the fastest times of all the competitors to complete (finishing the second stage with over 24 seconds left) failed at the Ultimate Cliffhanger as well. Brian Orosco fell at the very first obstacle, the Roulette Cylinder, which he had passed easily in the previous competition. While the $250,000 prize went unclaimed, Sasuke 26 was the start of a successful showing by a collection of American competitors.

The third season of American Ninja Warrior debuted on July 31 on G4, again with 300 competitors at the tryouts in Venice Beach. While many top competitors were absent including Levi Meeuwenberg, Rich King and Luci Romberg, a talented crop of new competitors took their place including Denver Broncos wide receiver Matt Willis, who finished the course but did not qualify for boot camp. Other notable competitors who failed to advance to boot camp included two-time Sasuke veteran Shane Daniels, season two veterans Evan "Rocket" Dollard, Adam Truesdell, Adam LaPlante and Patrick Cusic, top first round qualifiers from the previous season Trevor Vaughn and David Money, and former world freerunning champion Tim Shieff. In addition, professional freerunner and Survivor: China competitor Michael "Frosti" Zernow ranked in the top fifteen and was invited to boot camp, but injured himself and was replaced with fellow Jump City: Seattle competitor Jake Smith. Other competitors from Jump City who advanced to boot camp also included Brian Orasco, Drew Dreschel and David "Young Flip" Rodriguez. The level of competition in boot camp was noticeably higher in the third season, as competitors were only given one attempt at each obstacle in challenges, leading to large increase in time penalties. Promising competitors Dustin Rocho, Brandon Douglass, Alan Connealy, second-seeded qualifier Chris Wilczewski and five-time Sasuke veteran Brian Orosco all saw their Sasuke dreams come to an end at boot camp.

Of the ten who advanced to Sasuke, nine easily cleared the First Stage. The only exception was Dreschel, who injured his knee landing on the Halfpipe Attack, and despite a valiant attempt at the Warped Wall, was unable to put any weight on his leg and stated on his Facebook that he will not be available for Sasuke 28. The high hopes of the remaining nine took a major hit in the Second Stage, as five more were eliminated including Rodriguez on the Slider Drop, Smith on the Double Salmon Ladder, and newcomer Travis Rosen and veterans Travis Furlanic and Brent Steffensen on the Metal Spin. The remaining four competitors made it to the Third Stage only to be outdone by the Ultimate Cliffhanger. Ryan Stratis failed to make the fourth ledge while James McGrath and fan favorite Paul Kasemir failed the transition to the fifth ledge. The last competitor, David Campbell almost made it through the entire obstacle but on the final ledge his grip gave out. Even though no one earned a $500,000 K-Swiss Endorsement Deal, the competitors at Sasuke 27 were by far the strongest group of Americans to date. The final episode of the third season aired on NBC on August 29, 2011 as a two-hour special in prime-time.

A fourth season of the program began airing on May 20, 2012 and the show aired on both G4 and NBC for the Regionals and the Championship with the grand prize of $500,000 and the coveted American Ninja Warrior title. The entire format was changed to include regional qualifiers in different parts of the country as well as the entire course from Japan recreated in Las Vegas for the Championship round. Regional qualifiers would narrow down its selections down to 30 contestants who finished its qualifying course in the fastest time as well as the contestants who finished the furthest the fastest. Qualifying obstacles would include common first stage obstacles such as the quintuple steps and the warped wall and its contents would change from city to city. The 30 contestants are then cut in half in the regional finals where the course would extend to include common second and third stage obstacles such as the Salmon Ladder and the Cliffhanger. The 100 contestants who qualify are then sent to Las Vegas to tackle the course itself. The show returned for its fifth season on July 1, 2013 in the same format. This season, if a contestant were to finish the course, that player would be guaranteed a spot in the next round. So far in these two seasons, no one has earned the money and the title.

United Kingdom

The American-edited Ninja Warrior episodes are broadcast in the United Kingdom on Challenge. The show has been re-edited to remove the subtitles. The "Ninja Killer" and "Warrior Wipeout" sections remain, but there is only one advertisement break halfway through the show. The show was voiced-over by Stuart Hall for its first three series, aired between 2007 and 2008. In the fourth UK series, aired in 2011, the subtitles were retained for contestant interviews. Jim North took over as the voice-over for this series. As of July 2012, all tournaments up to Sasuke 27 have aired in the UK. Challenge has now removed Hall's commentary from the first three series, following his imprisonment in June 2013 and re-dubbed them with new commentary by North.

Greece

The program can be seen in Greece as Sasuke on the Skai TV network every Saturday at 16:00 (GMT + 2). The show is voiced-over by Akindynos Gikas and Kostas Papageorgiou.

Serbia

The program can be seen in the Serbia as Nindža Ratnici (Ninja Warriors) every day from Monday until Friday at 19:00 (GMT+1) on B92 (from 13 August 2012). The program was previously seen on Fox TV (now Prva TV), narrated by Igor Brakus and Vladimir Đorđević.

Singapore

The program broadcast in Singapore is the non-edited version of Ninja Warrior, with the exception of the subtitles being white instead of yellow. The program will be broadcast on MediaCorp Channel 5 every Wednesday at 20:30 (GMT + 8) and screened two episodes back to back. It was later moved to Thursday at 20:30 (GMT + 8), airing one episode. The show's run ended with the 17th competition on the Sasuke series.

The show returned on December 23, 2009, airing Wednesdays at 20:00, showing at various times two episodes, three episodes, or a single episode. The show's run ended with the 24th run.

Singapore has its own edition of Sasuke, which aired on August 9, 2012 at 8:10 pm, after the National Day Parade. It started airing August 15, 2012, and has its own winner going to Japan to take on the Sasuke course.

Season 1 was won by 22 year old SAF's Naval Officer, Isaiah How Jia Jie, he was placed 9th in the first stage but managed to beat 21 year old NUS student, Jenson Ngoh by 0.1 seconds in the season's 20 meter rope climb in the second stage to win.

Season 2 began with a new twist in its first episode, 5 Singaporean contenders will compete with 5 Malaysians contenders, whichever country score the first 3 points will make it to the end. Eventually Team Singapore beat Team Malaysia with a score of 3-2. For the competition, 26 year old gymnastics trainer edge out the other 12 contenders for the season with the timing of 23.9 seconds, just 2.4 seconds shy by breaking Isaiah How's timing, he accompanied Isaiah to Japan in supporting him. However in a twist of events, the production crew brought good luck to Alan Zhang in allowing him in participating it.

The series concluded in its 13th and final episode with Isaiah How & Alan Zhang conquering the obstacle course in Mount Midoriyama, Japan, both crashed out in the fourth obstacle (Jump Hang Kai) and third obstacle (Spinning Bridge) in the 1st stage respectively.

Russia

The program is broadcast in Russia on Sony Turbo as Путь нинзи (Ninja Warrior) daily at 16:10

Indonesia

The program broadcast in Indonesia is the G4 version of Ninja Warrior, including the "Ninja Killer" and "Warrior Wipeout" sections. The show is dubbed in Indonesian language and broadcast daily at 09:00 (GMT + 7). Usually two thirty-minute episodes are aired. in TPI (Now MNC TV) Now this show in Indonesia is over.

Italy

The Ninja Warrior version of the program is broadcast in Italy on GXT or on GXT +1. The Italian version includes "Ninja Killer" and "Warrior Wipeout".

South Africa

The program broadcast in South Africa is the Sony MAX CHANNEL version of Ninja Warrior, with the "Ninja Killer" and "Warrior Wipeout" sections.

Germany

The Ninja Warrior version of the program is broadcast in Germany on RTL II and DSF.

Turkey

The Ninja Warrior version of the program is broadcasting in Turkey on Fox TV narrated by Hayri Hiçler and Hopdedik Ayhan.

Bulgaria

The program is broadcast in Bulgaria on bTV Comedy as Най-добрият нинджа (The Best Ninja) weekends at 16:00 (GMT + 2).

Czech Republic

The program is broadcast in the Czech Republic on Prima Cool as Ninja faktor (Ninja Factor). Episodes are 50 minutes long and split in two parts.

Croatia

The program can be seen in Croatia on Nova TV (Croatia) as Ninja Ratnici (Ninja Warriors) from Monday to Friday at 13:30 (GMT+1) and 16:00 (GMT+1) narrated by Davor Jurkotić and Mario Lipovšek Battifiaca.

Slovak Republic

The program is broadcast in the Slovak Republic on JOJ Plus as Ninja faktor (Ninja Factor).

Australia

The American Ninja Warrior is broadcast in Australia on SBS Two. The play-by-play commentary and interviews with participants are subtitled in English, while the introduction, player profiles, and replays have been dubbed by a voice actor.

Bosnia

The program can be seen in the Bosnia as Nindža Ratnici (Ninja Warriors) every day from Monday until Friday at 18:20 (GMT+1) on the Hayat TV channel and on Mreža Plus syndicated TV program.

Estonia

The program was aired in Estonia as Ninjasõdalane (Ninja Warrior) on the TV6 channel every Saturday and Sunday at 19:00 pm to 20.00 pm. Running time was 30-minute per episode.

Lithuania

Kovotojas Nindzė on TV6.

Latvia

The program is broadcast in Latvia on LNT every day from Tuesday to Friday at 13.00 local time (GMT+3 - summer time). Every day on LMK at 20.00 o'clock.

Middle East

The program can be seen in the Middle East as محارب النينجا (Ninja Warriors) on MBC Action every Monday at (20:00 Mecca local time / 17:00 GMT / 12:00 EST). The whole program is dubbed into Arabic

Poland

The program can be seen in Poland as Wojownicy Ninja (Ninja Warriors) on MTV.

Romania

The program is broadcast in Romania on Sport.ro as Ku Ninja In Atak (When Ninjas Attack). The show is commented by two color commentators

Malaysia

The program is broadcast in Malaysia on Disney XD and TV9 as Ninja Warrior

In 2011, Malaysia did a qualifier for Sasuke 27, which Farid Isham won.

In 2013, Malaysia organized the Sasuke ASEAN Open Cup, a match between Japan and the 10 ASEAN nations. (there will be 7 Japanese representatives who qualified for their performance in Sasuke 29.)

Thailand

The program is broadcast in Thailand on Modernine TV as Ninja Warrior on Tuesday 8.35 PM

Related events

The show Viking: The Ultimate Obstacle Course airs on ESPN2 and is also produced by Monster9 for Fuji TV. Many of the competitors from Sasuke also compete in the Viking competition.

Sasuke executive producer Ushio Higuchi co-created Muscle Musical, a live athletic and comedy-oriented performance featuring several notable Sasuke and Kunoichi competitors, who have included Ayako Miyake, Naoki Iketani, Sayaka Asami, Terukazu Ishikawa, Kayo Haga, Daisuke Nakata, and Rie Komiya, as well as other Japanese athletes and entertainers. Its popularity in Japan and its growing popularity in the United States has resulted in a long-term run at the Sahara Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.

Every January TBS airs the Pro Sportsman No.1 competition, also produced by Monster9. Several people who have competed on Sasuke have participated in this competition.

On Odaiba island, Monster9 has built Muscle Park, an indoor theme park based on events from Sasuke and other Muscle Ranking related programs. Some well-known Sasuke participants, such as Katsumi Yamada, have made live appearances there. Sasuke champion Makoto Nagano was honored in a celebration where he participated in the ribbon cutting there.[5] Since April 2007, Monster9 has been airing episodes of Muscle Channel,[6] a show to promote Muscle Park, the Muscle Musical, and people and events related to Sasuke. Muscle Channel usually airs on BS-i on Thursdays from 8:00 to 9:53 JST and is hosted by Hiromichi Sato. Past guests include Katsumi Yamada[7] and Shunsuke Nagasaki.[8]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Sasuke 2005". Tbs.co.jp. Retrieved 2011-10-12. 
  2. ↑ Corkill, Edan, "Average Joes become champions on 'Sasuke'". Japan Times. September 30, 2011. p. 15.
  3. ↑ Levin, Gary. "Americans latch onto G4's intense 'Ninja Warrior'". USA Today. December 7, 2010.
  4. ↑ In that tournament, her last name was listed as Tanabe because at the time she was single.
  5. ↑ "Held a raffle!" (in Japanese). Blog.livedoor.jp. Retrieved 2011-10-12. 
  6. ↑ "Muscle Channel Program Details" (in Japanese). Bs-i.co.jp. Archived from the original on 2007-04-25. Retrieved 2011-10-12. 
  7. ↑ "TV News" (in Japanese). Musclemusical.com. Retrieved 2011-10-12. 
  8. ↑ "TV News" (in Japanese). Musclemusical.com. Retrieved 2011-10-12. 

External links

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