Stage One
One hundred participants must first take on Stage One, a test primarily of speed. The object of the course is to reach the other side and hit the buzzer before time runs out, while not touching the water below. Even if a competitor remains on the course after his foot touches the water, he is automatically disqualified. Typically, around 90 to 95 of the 100 original entrants are eliminated in this first stage. The exact time limit varies depending on which obstacles have been placed into Stage One at each specific competition, but is usually between 85 seconds and 105 seconds. In 2007 the time has been increased to 130 seconds.
Among the most notable (and most often recurring) obstacles are:
Quintuple Step
The competitor must jump across 4 platforms that are angled 45 degrees toward the center.
Rolling Log
The competitor must grab onto a large log and hold on to it as it rolls down an incline. Later, drops were implemented onto the track in an attempt to jar the competitor off.
Jump Hang
The competitor must bound off a trampoline onto a large cargo net, then either climb up and over the net or under it, taking care not to touch the water below if they choose the latter route.
Warped Wall
The competitor needs to scale a 15-foot concave wall by running up its side and grasping the top. This obstacle has proven to be the nemesis of many entrants striving to complete the first stage; even SASUKE veteran Makoto Nagano met his match on the Warped Wall twice before finally completing it and advancing to the later stages. In the 18th tournament, another wall, now known as the Great Wall, was added and made higher with a rope hanging down to aid competitors in climbing over it.
Rope Swing/Climb
This final obstacle of Stage One immediately follows the Warped Wall. The competitor must swing to a wall and climb up a rope to press the buzzer before time expires. The 2007 version of this obstacle is the Tarzan Rope in which the wall has been replaced by a rope net.
Stage Two
Stage Two consists of a lowered number of participants and grueling obstacles. Fewer than 200 competitors have ever reached Stage Two. Stage Two's obstacles, like Stage One's, alter throughout the competitions, but all hold to the same principle: if you make a single mistake, you fall into the water below. Stage Two's obstacles determine the time limit, so there is no exact number, but it is usually between 60 seconds and 70 seconds.
Stage Two's most infamous obstacles include:
Spider Walk
The competitor must use his hands and feet to climb up, across, and back down two parallel walls.
Metal Spin
An array of chains dangle from a rotatable horizontal wheel, resembling a chandelier, over a water hazard; the competitor must jump to grasp one of the chains, spinning the wheel to the other side.
Lifting Walls
Three walls of 30kg, 40kg, and 50kg block the competitor, who must lift and cross under them to advance.
Stage Three
Stage Three, unlike the previous two, has no time limit. Contestants are allowed short rest periods between obstacles during which they can apply "sticky-spray" to improve their grip. Instead of focusing on speed or agility, this course almost exclusively tests one's upper body strength and stamina. The regular obstacles consist of the following:
Rumbling Dice
The entrant uses a monkey bar-like box frame to cross a water pit. By grabbing the upper bar and pulling it down, the box rolls its way across the pit.
Body Prop
The competitor must traverse a 5-meter expanse, holding his body parallel to the ground below as he does so. Along the way there are breaks in both the hand and foot platforms, requiring the entrant to negotiate those as he moves across.
Globe Grasp
The competitor crosses yet another pool of water by grabbing onto a series of small spheres attached to the ceiling.
Curtain Cling
The competitor must grapple across a wide hanging curtain to reach the other side. This was changed in the 18th tournament to a Curtain Swing made up of 4 diagonally-placed curtains on which competitors must swing from one to the next to proceed.
Cliff Hanger
Competitors must navigate yet another chasm using only a narrow ledge to make their way across. At two points, the ledge breaks - once going a foot up, and again going 18 inches down. The ledge is barely wide enough for competitors to fit their fingertips. In 2007, the Cliff Hanger underwent a change to make it even more difficult. The middle section was shortened and the ledge inclined upwards. Moreover, the third section develops an even smaller profile, giving the competitor about half as much space for their fingers.
Bridge of Destiny
Competitors must climb across an inclined ladder while hanging underneath it. This obstacle is typically preceeded by a more difficult obstacle, thereby straining what little endurance contestants have remaining.
Pipe Slider
The last obstacle on the course, the entrant must hang from a pipe and, by undulating his body, move that pipe across a track to the other side. Once there, the competitor needs to swing off the pipe and onto the finishing platform. On numerous occasions, competitors have reached the end of the Pipe Slider, only to miss the final platform by failing to build enough momentum when swinging off, rendering all their efforts for naught.
Stage Four
Those who manage to clear the first three stages are presented one final challenge. Stage Four consists of only two obstacles: a 20-meter wall climb (similar to the Spider Climb from Stage Two) and a 15-meter rope climb. However, the competitor has only 30 seconds to complete both obstacles and hit the button at the top of the tower. After 15 seconds, the Spider Climb walls pull apart, causing anyone who had not yet cleared the climb to fall. If the competitor is still climbing the rope when time runs out, it detaches from its mooring, again resulting in a sudden drop by the competitor. (The competitor wears a safety rig in case of a long fall.)
Champions
Those who complete all four stages are awarded a cash prize of 2 million yen. To date, only two men have completed all four stages: crab diver Kazuhiko Akiyama and commercial fisherman Makoto Nagano. Nagano had been to the final stage a number of times before finally clearing, including reaching the buzzer just eleven hundredths of a second too late. A handful of others have reached the final stage only to come up short; one of them, gas station manager Shingo Yamamoto, dislocated his shoulder at the very beginning of the wall climb and had to withdraw from the competition.
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