Asa Kazuma is a carpenter who debuted in SASUKE 21 as the #4SASUKE Trials qualifier. In the competition, he was able to make his way through most of the obstacles in the First Stage, but ended up timing out on the Soritatsu Kabe when he was unable to scale it. He participated in the SASUKE 22 Trials, but failed to qualify for SASUKE 22. In SASUKE 27 he got his revenge on the Soritatsu Kabe and went on to complete the First Stage. In the Second Stage, however, he went out on the Double Salmon Ladder when he failed to clear its final rung.

For SASUKE 28, Asa became one of the four New Stars, along with Urushihara Yuuji, Matachi Ryo, and Kanno Hitoshi. He became only the second of five to clear the First Stage, doing so with over 16 seconds left. In the Second Stage, he had no trouble with any of the new obstacles, and reached the Passing Wall with 50 seconds, and though he struggled there, he still cleared with 25.13 seconds left. On the Third Stage, he cleared the first two obstacles with little trouble. However, his strength was sapped by the time he had got to the third ledge of the new Crazy Cliffhanger, and he slipped and fell into the water before he could attempt a swing to the final ledge.It is arguable that Asa's impressive performance in SASUKE 28 was predictable even before the broadcast, as in the Navi he was addressed as one of the New Stars, despite previously having only reached the Second Stage whereas the other three were all former finalists. Other strong competitors such as Hashimoto Kouji were not included as New Stars in the Navi, perhaps due to his First Stage failure.

Biographical Info

Born: February 6, 1982

Age: 31

Home: Amami-shi, Kagoshima, Japan

Job: Hedge Trimmer

Height: 172cm

Weight: 62kg

SASUKE Competitions

First: SASUKE 21

Last: SASUKE 28

Total: 5 Competitions

Best: SASUKE 27, Final Stage, Rope Climb

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Matachi Ryo (又地 諒) is a painter and Unlimited Cliffer No. 2.

His first appearance was in SASUKE 21, where he was the third fastest qualifier in the SASUKE 21 Trials. During the tournament, he showed great speed, clearing many of the obstacles quickly, including the Jumping Spider. On the Soritatsu Kabe, he was able to scale the wall on his second attempt. However, on the Flying Chute, he was able to grab the rope but couldn't reach the net and fell into the water there. Out of the eight qualifiers that day, he made it the farthest

He participated in the SASUKE 22 Trials, but did not make it past the 800m race part of the first round.

He continues to train today with his fellow cliffers. From his profile in SASUKE 21, he is shown to have the Shin-Cliffhanger jump in his room. Recently, he has practiced with fellow competitors, Arai Kenichi, Nagasawa Hidenori, and Takahashi Kenji.

He returned in SASUKE 25 by winning the pull up event in the Trials, with a result of 42 pull-ups. He drew #6 in the lottery and was the first real threat to the First Stage. He was the first to attempt and beat the new Bridge Jump. However, he mis-hit the springboard on the re-designed Circle Slider and fell there.

Due to his past performance, he was invited to SASUKE 26, failing the Rolling Escargot in an all-cut performance.

He earned a spot in SASUKE 27 after qualifying from the trials. Although he took 2 attempts at the Warped Wall, He cleared the First Stage for the first time. In the Second Stage, he struggled on the Wall Lifting and eventually went under the third wall after barely lifting it. He still cleared with 3.43 seconds left. In the Third Stage, he would clear all the obstacles with ease and became the first person to make it to the Final Stage after Urushihara Yuuji's Kanzenseiha, and more impressively the first person to clear both the Second and Third Stage on his first attempt on those specific stages since Urushihara Yuuji in SASUKE 22. In the Final Stage, he climbed about 18 meters up the Tsuna Nobori before timing out.

Matachi returned in the next tournament, and was one of only five to clear the First Stage, doing so with a narrow window of 1.47 seconds left. In the Second Stage, he easily cleared the Swap Salmon Ladder and Unstable Bridge, however he wasted almost 20 seconds drying his hands and applying adhesive spray before the Spider Walk and was majorly slowed down by the Backstream. He reached the Passing Wall with around 20 seconds left, however struggled to lift the first wall and timed out just after squeezing under. This was a strange defeat, as all the competitors that cleared that stage in that tournament finished with over 10 seconds left.

Usually he supports on Urushihara Yuuji in every tournament.

Biographical Info

Born: May 29, 1989

Age: 24

Home: Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan

Job: Painter

Height: 162cm

Weight: 50kg

SASUKE Competitions

First: SASUKE 21

Last: SASUKE 28

Total: 5 Competitions

Best: SASUKE 27, Final Stage, Rope Climb

Matachi complete his run on 1st stage at SASUKE 27 

Matachi and Urushihara as a finalist at SASUKE 27

Matachi ready to face the 'Tsuna Nobori'

Matachi during SASUKE RISING

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Hashimoto Koji (橋本 亘司) is a sports instructor who was the one of the eight qualifiers in the SASUKE 21 Trials. In the trials, he cleared the "Final Stage" in 49.91 seconds, and managed to get the #7 qualifying spot.

During the tournament, he showed great speed, clearing most of the obstacles quickly. He reached the Soritatsu Kabe in great time, with about a minute left. However, he could not scale the wall and timed out there. He participated in the SASUKE 22 Trials, and successfully became one of the seven qualifiers for SASUKE 22.

In the tournament, he wore #76 but his run was digested. It is shown that he made it to the Slider Jump and successfully reached the net. However, when he was moving down the net, his foot accidentally touched the water and he was disqualified. From what the announcer was saying, he had about 30 seconds left at that time, so he was in great position to clear the First Stage.

He then participated in the SASUKE 23 Trials, and for the third time became a qualifier for SASUKE 23.

In the tournament, he wore #47 but his run was digested. He was finally able to complete the 1st stage with 15 seconds remaining. In the 2nd stage, he completed the Downhill Jump with ease, but when attempting the Salmon Ladder he underestimated the distance between the first and second rungs, landed forcibly back on the first rung and lost his grip.

He then returned for SASUKE 24 and wore #85. There, he cleared the First Stage with 11 seconds remaining. Then, in the Second Stage, he cleared the Salmon Ladder that defeated him last time and the rest of the course. He then demolished the Third Stage, clearing every obstacle without any problems (he is one of the only three people to clear the Third Stage on their first try since SASUKE 4). In the Final Stage, he lost too much time on the Heavenly Ladder and even though he kept a fast pace on the G-Rope, he still timed out inches away from the button.

Biographical Info

Age: 29

Home: Shimane Prefecture, Japan

Job: Sports Instructor

Height: 169 cm

Weight: 60 kg

SASUKE Competitions

Song: Yusei Fudo's Theme from YU-GI-OH 5Ds

First: SASUKE 21

Last: SASUKE 28

Total: 8 Competitions

Best: SASUKE 24, Final Stage, G-Rope

Kanzen Renewal

In SASUKE 25 Hashimoto drew #60 from the lottery. He cleared the First and Second Stages with little time to spare. In the Third Stage he failed to grab the third ledge of the new Ultimate Cliffhanger and fell in the water.

Hashimoto returned in SASUKE 26 with his highest number ever, #98. There, he easily passed the First Stage with over 10 seconds remaining. In the Second Stage Hashimoto managed to beat the first four obstacles easily, however on the Metal Spin Hashimoto grabbed the chain too low and he slipped off when the chain stretched.

Returning for SASUKE 27, he had little trouble clearing the First Stage and was the first to clear the Second Stage. In the Third Stage, he became the first man to clear the Ultimate Cliffhanger after 8 previous attempts between the two previous tournaments. He cleared the Jumping Ring, however he fell on the Chain See-Sawwhen he didn't grab the ends of the chain evenly and was forced into the water.

Hashimoto returned in SASUKE 28, but surprisingly failed on the Spin Bridge, his first First Stage fail since SASUKE 22.

Hashimoto clear the 'Wall Lifting' with 8.2 second remaining

Hashimoto as the finalist at SASUKE 24

Hashimoto failing the 'Ultimate Cliffhanger' during SASUKE 25

Hashimoto take his revenge by defeat the 'Ultimate Cliffhanger' at SASUKE 27. However, he fail the next obstacles 'Chain See Saw' shortly after clearing the 'Ultimate Cliffhanger'.

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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.

Kanno and Nagano  as a two finalist at SASUKE 23

Kanno to the top of Midoriyama at SASUKE 23

Kanno at the top of Midoriyama but fail to achieve 'Kanzenseiha' at SASUKE 23

Kanno failing the 'Balance Tank' at SASUKE 25

Kanno at 2nd Stage's starting line at SASUKE 27

Kanno withdraw from SASUKE 27 due to his shoulder injury after dislocated it on the 'Spin Bridge' in 1st Stage.

Kanno on the 1st Stage starting line at SASUKE RISING

Kanno on his attempt to clear the 'Rolling Escargot' at SASUKE RISING

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Urushihara Yuuji (漆原 裕治) is a shoe salesman who has attempted SASUKE eight times. In just his fourth attempt, he beat all the obstacles and became the third person and first non-All-Star to achieve 'Kanzenseiha'. He is a member of Shin Sedai and is also an Unlimited Cliffer. Urushihara is the only champion to have cleared all four stages twice, having performed the feat for the second time in SASUKE 27. He is also the only champion to wear the number #100 the tournament after his victory, as Akiyama Kazuhiko was absent the tournament after his victory, and Nagano Makoto wore #96 in the competition after his 'Kanzenseiha'.

Biographical Info

Born: August 21, 1978 (age 34)

Home: Tokyo, Japan

Job: Shoe Salesman

Height: 163 cm

Weight: 53 kg

SASUKE Competitions

Nickname: Shin Sedai no Rida (Leader of the New Generation)

Song: Grand Theme from Blood+ OST1

First: SASUKE 21

Last: SASUKE 28

Total: 8 Competitions

Best: SASUKE 24 and SASUKE 27, Kanzenseiha

Qualifying

Urushihara had been trying to get on SASUKE since 2003. He first competed in the Monkey Bars event in Taiku Ookoku, a successor to Kinniku Banzuke. (A finish in the top three would have awarded him a spot in SASUKE 11.)He then competed in the SASUKE 13 Trials, but failed the Jump Hang. He also competed (again unsuccessfully) in the SASUKE 19 and SASUKE 20 trials. Before SASUKE 21, he competed in the SASUKE ATTACK course at the BUG IN MIKI Festival, a course set up with severalSASUKE obstacles with the last one being the Shin-Cliffhanger. Urushihara and fellow Unlimited Cliffer Tomino Keita completed the course, while none of the SASUKE All-Stars did. Urushihara had the faster time of the two, and was thus awarded a berth in SASUKE 21.

Early Tournaments

In SASUKE 21, he wore #72. Although his run was fully cut during the TBS broadcast, parts of it were shown onSASUKE Maniac. In his run, he showed great speed. On the Flying Chute, he was able to grab onto the rope, but while trying to reach the net, he lost his grip and he fell into the water.

He returned in SASUKE 22 after going through the SASUKE Trials and earning a spot to compete. He wore #77 and completed the First Stage with the fastest time of the day, 7.51 seconds remaining. In the Second Stage, his training at Muscle Park paid off, as he beat the Salmon Ladder with little trouble. While he had some trouble lifting the last wall of the Wall Lifting obstacle, he still completed the Second Stage with 19.27 seconds left. In the Third Stage, his training especially paid off. He was able to fly through most of the obstacles. When he made it to the Gliding Ring, he attacked the obstacle perfectly and became the first person to clear it, thus becoming the first person to reach the redesigned Final Stage. In the Final Stage, he showed great speed on the Heavenly Ladder, reaching the G-Rope with 28 seconds left. Unfortunately, he struggled there, and came up half a meter short of winning. After this failure, he spent most of his training rope climbing.

Because of his near-'Kanzenseiha', he was granted #99 in SASUKE 23. While it was clear he was under a lot of pressure, he was able to clear the First Stage despite stumbling on the Half-Pipe Attack and Soritatsu Kabe. In the Second Stage, he was able to clear the first few obstacles. Unfortunately, he went out on a new obstacle, the Unstable Bridge, when he failed to get a solid landing.

Kanzenseiha (Total Victory)

After his failure, he built a replica of the Unstable Bridge to train and returned for SASUKE 24, still receiving a high start position, #93. He blazed through the First Stage with 24.35 seconds left, the fastest time of the day. He then exacted his revenge on the Unstable Bridge but began to run low on time on the redesigned Balance Tank. He powered through the final obstacles and finished with 6.55 seconds to spare. In the Third Stage, he cleared all the obstacles for a second time. Despite the Gliding Ring ring sliding back at the end of the track, he recovered and became just the fourth person to clear the Third Stage on multiple occasions. Five cleared the third stage that day, which hadn't happened sinceSASUKE 3. Third in the running order, the first two fell short of the goal. He blazed through the Heavenly Ladder in record time but began to struggle on the transition to the G-Rope. He finally regained footing at the bottom of the rope with 21 seconds left. Putting his long hours of rope climb training to good use, he powered up the rope. With ten seconds left on the clock, he picked up his pace. He defeated the Final Stage with 3.57 seconds remaining, and became the third person to achieve kanzenseiha, joining SASUKE All-Stars Akiyama Kazuhiko and Nagano Makoto, who interestingly both failed the First Stage that day.

Urushihara Yuuji earning 'Kanzenseiha' in SASUKE 24

Kanzen Renewal

After his kanzenseiha, he was granted the coveted #100 in SASUKE 25. He again cleared the first stage with little trouble, but he failed the Double Salmon Ladder in an odd and unlikely fashion. The left side of the bar missed the rung, but the right side somehow latched onto one of the rungs, leaving Urushihara hanging onto the pole vertically, essentially rendering completion of the obstacle impossible. His foot grazed the water after a while, and his day was over.

In SASUKE 26, he once again wore #100. Throughout his run, he was sloppy. On the Rolling Escargot, he nearly lost his footing and had to stop the obstacle halfway to re-adjust. On the Jumping Spider, he was too short on the walls and dove back to the trampoline, giving himself a rare second chance at the obstacle; he completed it on his second attempt. Now in a time crunch, he was forced to rush through the remainder of the course. On the Half-Pipe Attack, he failed to land properly on the mat, but held onto the rope for another try, a mistake he's made multiple times in the past. Now desperate to complete the obstacle with any decent amount of time left, he landed awkwardly on the mat, lost his balance and hopped backwards into the water.

In SASUKE 27, he wore #99 despite being the current champion. Nevertheless, the starting position change may have been what he needed mentally as he would clear the First Stage in a much more fluid run than the previous tournament. He also conquered his demon on the Double Salmon Ladder, clearing the Second Stage with time to spare (as well as the stigma of failing at #99 in the same stage during SASUKE 23). Despite never attempting any of the obstacles of the Third Stage outside of replicas, he continued his perfect streak of clearing the stage (although there was a small scare of transitioning to the wooden ladder after clearing the Chain See-Saw), making it 3 for 3. On the Final Stage, Urushihara once again proved his rope climbing training paid off as he acheived Kanzenseiha with 6.71 seconds remaining, becoming not just the fastest to complete the Final Stage, but also the first person to acheive Kanzenseiha twice.

In SASUKE RISING (SASUKE 28) he wore #88. He is one of the only five to clear the first stage. His speed and strength are present as he blazed through the first stage with 21.37 seconds remaining. In the second stage he cleared the first five obstacles with ease, but after he cleared the Backstream, he seemed to be very tired. He lifted the wall in a slower pace but still cleared with 13.56 seconds left. In the third stage he cleared the Rumbling Dice easily, but struggle massively on the Iron Paddler. He was at that obstacle for over a minute but he cleared it with sheer determination. On the Crazy Cliffhanger he fell on the transition to the opposite side.

Urushihara Yuuji and Matach Ryo take on The Final Stage at SASUKE 27. Both Urushihara and Matachi were the last 2 person stood still on that Tournament.

Urushihara achieve the second 'Kanzenseiha' at SASUKE 27. He is the only person to achieved 'Kanzenseiha' twice in SASUKE History.

Urushihara Yuuji (SASUKE 24 & 27) is a SASUKE Grand Champion together with Nagano Makoto (SASUKE 17) and Akiyama Kazuhiko (SASUKE 4) 

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