Sasuke

First and only competition to be held indoors at Tokyo Bay NK Hall.

Sasuke is a Japanese sports entertainment television special in which 100 competitors attempt to complete a four stage obstacle course. An edited version, renamed Ninja Warrior, is screened in at least 18 other countries. Shot on location at Midoriyama, Aoba-ku, Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan, it airs on the Tokyo Broadcasting System (TBS) between Japanese television drama seasons. Each 3-hour special covers an entire competition. There have been 26 specials, 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 currently 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.

SASUKE RISING (or SASUKE 28) was the first SASUKE tournament in over a year due to Monster9's bankruptcy and the first since Urushihara Yuuji's second kanzenseiha. It taped in October 2012 and aired on December 27, 2012. Inui Masato returned as director for his first tournament since SASUKE 14. From Inui's tenure, the black mats from SASUKE 13 to 17 were used and many old obstacles, such as the Godantobi, returned. However, many new obstacles also premiered, most notably the Backstream, SASUKE's first swimming obstacle. SASUKE RISING was notable as the final competition of the SASUKE All-Stars. Five of the six All-Stars (excluding Shiratori Bunpei who was injured) competed together for the final time, but all five failed the First Stage. In their place, a new group, Shin Sedai, was formed with Urushihara Yuuji, Matachi Ryo, Kanno Hitoshi, and Asa Kazuma. The four New Stars were the last four men standing in this tournament.

SASUKE 29, also known as SASUKE RISING 2013 Summer, took place in the beginning of June and aired on June 27. This competition serves as the Japanese qualifier for the 2013 SASUKE ASEAN Open Cup. This will be the second tournament aired in summer. The first one was SASUKE 15. Several competitors, who have not competed in SASUKE for many years, finally returned to SASUKE for this tournament, including fan favorite Nagasaki Shunsuke, who competed for the first time since SASUKE 19; 3-time Second Stage survivor Kobayashi Masaaki, who competed for the first time since SASUKE 16; and finally, Tatayama Masaaki, who set a new hiatus record at 25 tournaments, who competed for the first time since SASUKE 3. The field was almost all Japanese competitors with the only foreigner being Taiwan's Li En Zhi. 21 people completed the First Stage, the 5th best result in SASUKE history (SASUKE 1 had 23, SASUKE 2 had 34, SASUKE 4 had 37, SASUKE 27 had 27). In the Second Stage, the obstacles were the same as SASUKE 28, however the time limit was reduced from 135 to 90 seconds. The Backstream was modified to be harder and proved to be a challenge as more than a half of the remaining competitors failed or timed out there. SASUKE 27 finalists Urushihara Yuuji and Matachi Ryo both had over 40 seconds remaining when they attempted the obstacle but both could not clear it. Ultimately, 4 out of the 21 people to attempt the stage, cleared it. In the Third Stage, Morimoto Yūsuke became the first man to clear the Crazy Cliffhanger. He went on to beat the Curtain Cling and Vertical Limit and made it all the way to the end of the Pipe Slider. However, he missed the mat and fell backwards into the water. The remaining three competitors: Takahashi Kenji, Asa Kazuma, and Kanno Hitoshi all failed the Crazy Cliffhanger.