Kanno Hitoshi ~ Sasuke Ninja Warrior

Kanno Hitoshi (菅野仁志) is a maintenance man at a pachinko hall. According to his mixi and the japanese wiki page, Kanno's first appearance was in SASUKE 20, where he wore #1976. He failed the Jumping Spider and his run was all cut.

He then qualified for SASUKE 22 during the Sasuke 22 Trials. He wore #49 and was one of seven SASUKE Trial qualifiers that day. During his run, he showed great speed but was also a bit sloppy as well. For example, he barely stuck the landing on the Jumping Spider. He was only the second person that day to beat the Slider Jump and while he almost got disqualified for touching the water with his foot, he managed to clear and eventually cleared the stage with 3.74 seconds left. In the Second Stage, Kanno was flawless. He easily cleared the Salmon Ladder with no troubles and finished with 18.4 seconds left on the clock. In the Third Stage, his training really paid off. He was able to crush the first three obstacles. On the Shin-Cliffhanger, he became only the third person to clear it, joining All-Stars Takeda Toshihiro and Nagano Makoto. Then, he was able to clear the Jumping Bars and Hang Climbing without any trouble. However, on the Spider Flip, his stamina seemed to run out, and he could not reach the vertical part of the of the obstacle. Instead of falling into the water, Kanno touched part of the support beams with his foot and climbed along the side of the platform, therefore going off the course.

Kanno got an automatic bid in SASUKE 23 based on his previous performance. In the First Stage, he struggled at times, coming close to failing the Curtain Slider, Half-Pipe Attack, and Slider Jump. However, he still managed to clear the First Stage with 6.21 seconds remaining. In the Second Stage, he almost failed the Salmon Ladder when the bar dropped two levels on the left side, leaving him holding onto the bar with one hand. Amazingly, he was able to recover and cleared the Second Stage. In the Third Stage, the Spider Flip was modified in order to hide the metal supports. Due to this, he was able to clear the obstacle and the Third Stage. In the Final Stage, he struggled to grab the rope and was several meters away from the button as time expired.

Because of this great performance, he was given #99 in SASUKE 24. In the First Stage, he cleared the first four obstacles very quickly. On the Half Pipe Attack, he had to swing back to the half pipe twice causing him to lose lots of time. It also took multiple attempts to scale the Soritatsu Kabe, and even though he eventually cleared it and the Slider Jump, he timed out before attempting the Tarzan Rope.

Biographical Info

Age: 28

Home: Tokyo, Japan

Job: Maintenance

Height: 167 cm

Weight: 61 kg

SASUKE Competitions

Song: Wataru no Shinjitsu from Kamen Rider Kiva OST 2

First: SASUKE 20

Last: SASUKE 28

Total: 8 Competitions

Best: SASUKE 23, Final Stage, G-Rope

Kanzen Renewal

Kanno entered SASUKE 25 and drew #89 in the lottery. He beat Stage One with 10.84 seconds left. In Stage Two, he failed the Balance Tank, losing his balance on the rolling portion of the obstacle about halfway through. This marked the first time he failed the Second Stage.

He returned in SASUKE 26, but was digested. He failed the Rolling Escargot. In SASUKE 27, strong competitors were spread across the field of 100. Kanno was no exception, receiving #1. He became the third person to wear #1 and clear the First Stage, doing so with ease. However, he dislocated his shoulder on the Spin Bridge in the First Stage and after the Slider Drop he ultimately chose to withdraw before attempting the Double Salmon Ladder. In the next tournament, Kanno cleared the new First Stage with over 10 seconds remaining. He then went on to clear the redesigned Second Stage (for the first time in 5 tournaments) with little trouble, posting the fastest time of 27.16 seconds. On the new Third Stage however, he suffered the same problems as the two previous competitors who had attempted it that tournament. He ran into trouble on the Iron Paddler, nearly slipping off towards the end where the bar rolled back, and ultimately failed the Crazy Cliffhanger when he couldn't land the jump with a good grip. He was the last man standing in the tournament.