Yamamoto Shingo

Yamamoto Shingo (山本 進悟) is a Training Gym Owner and a former Gas Station Manager from Tokyo. He is part of the SASUKE All-Stars. He is notable for being the only person to have competed in every SASUKE tournament and the only person to have attempted both the first and second version of the Final Stage.

Personal History
Much note is made of Yamamoto's career and personal successes. These include his promotions at the Hasegawa service station, where he started as a Gas Jockey in the first tournament. He became Manager before the sixth and was announced as a District Manager at the 17th. His personal achievements include his marriage after the fifth tournament (which, strangely, was at the same date of his birthday) and the building of his home in Tokyo, complete with a SASUKE training course. He also love his dogs a lot, even went as far as naming one of it SASUKE back in SASUKE 11. As he switch career later on in his life, he is now currently a Training Gym Owner that he named Bariante, which he already owned since June 2015.

Of the 39 tournaments he has entered, he has passed the First Stage 16 times, the Second Stage 11 times, and the Third Stage twice. He has worn high numbers numerous times after reaching the Final Stage in SASUKE 3. Yamamoto also competed on VIKING, failing the Swing Mast in the First Marine Stage after his feet touched the water.

Early Tournaments
In SASUKE 1, he blazed through the First Stage and finished with 29 seconds left, but in the Second Stage he came up short at the very end of the Goren Hammer. He would return in SASUKE 2 and advance all the way to the Third Stage for the first time in his career. However, on the new Pipe Slider, he ran out of gas midway across the second track. In SASUKE 3 he took his revenge on the Pipe Slider and made it to the Final Stage, running out of time about two metres short of the goal. Expectations for his performance in SASUKE 4 were high given his recent track record, but he stumbled early on the Yureru Hashi (an obstacle he had never struggled with) and dropped out on the First Stage.

Mixed Success
Following Akiyama Kazuhiko's Kanzenseiha in the previous tournament, the First Stage saw two major additions in the Jump Hang and the Soritatsu Kabe. These obstacles played significant roles in the harsh clear drought experienced throughout the stage, but Yamamoto put up an expert performance, becoming one of just three challengers to defeat it, even went on to be the only competitor to complete the Second Stage. All eyes were on Yamamoto in the Third Stage as he had to attempt it in pain due to the shoulder injury he sustained in First Stage. He was slow through the course (even not obeying 30 seconds rest rule during the majority of the stage) and while he completed the new Body Prop and redesigned Cliffhanger (now named Cliffhanger Dansa) on his first attempt at each, the Pipe Slider attained its revenge when he was unable to make the jump to the final platform, ending the tournament. Shortly before SASUKE 6, Yamamoto had reason to hold his spirits high after being promoted to a managerial position at the gas station he was employed at. However, this positivity proved itself to be short-lived when Yamamoto shockingly lost his grip on the Rolling Maruta in the First Stage. Yamamoto seemed to return with a vengeance in SASUKE 7, taking down the first two stages once more and achieving victory in a rematch against the Pipe Slider, becoming the first competitor to ever attempt the second version of the Final Stage. However, shortly after beginning his climb, he dislocated his shoulder in the walls of the new Spider Climb, foreshadowing recurring issues for years to come and dropping back to the start, effectively ending his run.

Excepting to repeat this success in SASUKE 8, he was met by rain that was pouring down the course. Despite that, he is still able to reach the very end of the First Stage, but in his rush to reach the top of the Rope Climb, his feet slipped out from under him, causing him to fall backwards as time expired. Yamamoto continued to push himself to improve, returning once more to the Third Stage in the next tournament, but this run, too, came up short when he dismounted the new Rumbling Dice awkwardly and fell into the water. In SASUKE 10 he overcame the significant difficulty increase of the Jump Hang only to get caught up on the Tarzan Rope, resulting in time expiring on the Rope Climb for a second time.

Consistency
Another strong run in SASUKE 11 led him back to the Third Stage once again. However, facing off with the third version of the Cliffhanger for the first time (called Cliffhanger Kai) as he was unable to complete the transfer to the third ledge. Cliffhanger Kai would catch him again in the next tournament, this time where he could not reach the second ledge. This regression was largely due to the struggle on the Lamp Grasper, where he almost slipped off towards the end of the obstacle. Yamamoto's attempt at the SASUKE 13 Trials would see him failing on the Soritatsu Kabe for the first time in his career due to heavy rains causing the wall to be too slippery to get traction on. Despite not placing in the top 30, he still was allowed to compete in the tournament. SASUKE 13's redesigned First Stage posed few issues to the veteran Yamamoto, but after getting caught up on the Chain Reaction and having to make a huge dive for the landing platform on the Balance Tank, his rush to the finish was ultimately fruitless when his foot got trapped at the end of Wall Lifting as the clock ran out. Yamamoto would defeat the Second Stage again, even overcoming the new Metal Spin, in SASUKE 14 to make his eighth Third Stage appearance. His lack of experience on the Curtain Cling was prevalent in this attempt and he lost his grip. The brutal heat of SASUKE 15 bared its teeth in the First Stage as Yamamoto narrowly won a battle with the time limit, then went on to claim the fastest finish in the Second Stage to return to the Third Stage for the second time in a row. On the Body Prop an obstacle he had completed in his six previous attempts, Yamamoto began to struggle before suddenly dropping out of the walls into the water. Yamamoto returned as expected in the 16th tournament, but after nearly fatal errors on the Sandan Rolling Maruta and Cross Bridge, a poor jump on the Jump Hang resulted in failure when his feet skimmed the water and ended his run. His struggles with the Body Prop returned in SASUKE 17, as he failed there again after returning to the Third Stage. Yamamoto ended the first major era of tournament unable to achieve victory and the years seemed to be creeping up on him. Still, though, his passion and love for SASUKE drove him to continue, even if his body was no longer in its prime.

Shin-SASUKE
Yamamoto's time with Shin-SASUKE, the era that began after Nagano Makoto's Kanzenseiha in SASUKE 17, was turbulent. His First Stage run in SASUKE 18 started strongly, but on the new Flying Chute, he never got a decent grip on the rope and tumbled into the water. SASUKE 19's notoriety affected Yamamoto as much as every other competitor, and after getting hung up on the Pole Maze, he was unable to overcome the significantly larger jump into the walls of the Jumping Spider.

In SASUKE 20, his run was perfect up until the Half-Pipe Attack. He reached the rope, but when landing, he failed to steady himself and fell off the side of the mat. Determined to avenge recent shortcomings, he fought back to the Flying Chute in SASUKE 21 with over a minute remaining and finally caught the rope. This time, however, he failed to commit to grabbing the net underneath the slide and got stranded on the rope without hope of recovery until he ultimately hit the water.

SASUKE 22 is home to one of Shingo's most infamous failures. Wearing the #31 bib, he ran abnormally early. In a return to the Half-Pipe Attack, he once again caught the rope and landed on the finish platform. Getting up to run across the bridge to the Soritatsu Kabe, however, he failed to take note of a modification to the angle of the ramp from previous tournaments. Because of this, he lost his balance and fell off the side of the platform. Despite his efforts to hang onto the platform and potentially hold himself up to stay dry, his legs dragged through the water, much to the frustration of his fellow All-Stars.

In SASUKE 23, Yamamoto at long last broke through, defeating the First Stage for the first time since the 17th tournament. Adding onto this success, his inexperience with the Shin-SASUKE layout of the Second Stage could not stand in his way as he completed the Salmon Ladder, Metal Spin, and everything else to finish the course narrowly within the time limit. In his eleventh appearance in the Third Stage, Yamamoto was determined to get as far as he could, but as it turned out, that would not equate to a deep run. At the end of the Second Stage, he had gotten caught under the third wall of Wall Lifting and though he had managed to make it under, his shoulder was noticeably taped up following the run. On the first obstacle of the Third Stage, the Arm Rings, Yamamoto got hung up and was almost immediately overcome with pain. His shoulder had been re-injured, again. Heeding his fellow competitors' advice, Yamamoto deemed it was in his best interest to let go and drop into the water in order to prevent further injury. This is the last time Yamamoto has made it to the Third Stage in SASUKE to date.

Yamamoto had a strong run in SASUKE 24 until the Half-Pipe Attack bore down on his chances of clearing once more. Unable to commit to dismounting to the landing platform, Yamamoto retreated to the half-pipe twice before finally letting go of the rope and draining the clock. The timer continued to tick down further as he struggled to scale the Soritatsu Kabe, and while he was able to eventually reach the top and complete the Slider Jump, his pace was visibly affected by fatigue, and he ran out of time before reaching the Rope Ladder. Yamamoto ended the era of Shin-SASUKE having failed the First Stage eleven times in his career.

Following Urushihara Yuji's Kanzenseiha, the First Stage was outfitted with numerous obstacles from tournaments past. This played greatly to the advantage of the only man to compete in every tournament, as Yamamoto's struggles with the course were few, leading him to defeat the stage with 6.85 seconds to spare. Progressing further into the Second Stage than even the returning Champions, Yamamoto returned to the Balance Tank which had been redesigned in the previous tournament. Trying to use past experience to guide him through the obstacle, he attempted to jump off the tank midway through the track. This proved itself to be a lapse in judgement, as he was unable to grab the hanging rope and fell. This would be the first time Yamamoto had gone the farthest of all six All-Stars since his last Final Stage attempt in SASUKE 7, and the first time he had failed the Second Stage since SASUKE 13.

In SASUKE 26, Yamamoto wore #94 and was one of just three All-Stars to attend. During the tournament, he cleared the first two obstacles easily. However, on the Rolling Escargot, he lost his footing and failed there.

In SASUKE 27 Yamamoto wore #81. He took his revenge on the Rolling Escargot and made it all the way to the Spin Bridge where he fell at the last ball.

SASUKE RISING and Afterwards
In SASUKE 28, as part of All-Stars' retirement in that tournament, all the competing All-Stars were given the last five numbers, with Yamamoto wearing yet another #98 in his career. He failed the Spin Bridge for the second time in a row.

Before SASUKE 29, there was a rumour that the All-Stars would no longer compete, but the rumour was proven to be false, as Yamamoto competed again, wearing #36 alongside his fellow former All-Stars, Takeda Toshihiro and Nagano Makoto. He managed to clear the First Stage. However, on the Second stage, he was unfamiliar with many obstacles and he fell victim of the reduced time limit. He made it to the middle of the Backstream before retreating and stopping there due to the force of the jets. Ultimately, he timed out. In his post-run interview he stated that he was surprised by the power of the Backstream's current as he is a good swimmer.

In SASUKE 30, Yamamoto cleared the First Stage despite being digested. In the Second Stage, Yamamoto tired himself out on the first four obstacles and for the second straight tournament failed the Backstream when he involuntarily sucked in some water and had to retreat to the side of the pool to catch his breath, ultimately timing out.

In SASUKE 31, Yamamoto tried to jump from the top barrel of the Rolling Hill, but failed. This would inevitably start a new streak of First Stage failures.

In SASUKE 32, Yamamoto competed with the #99 (wore this number for the first time). His run was digested (although his full run was shown on Challenge), but he failed the Double Pendulum when he attempted to transition to the sandbag on his first swing and could not get a grip.

In SASUKE 33, he was once again stopped by the Double Pendulum yet again, as he failed to reached the trapeze bar ending his run.

His streak of failing the Double Pendulum continued in SASUKE 34, as he failed the obstacle for the third consecutive time. This time he got a grip on the trapeze bar, but his right hand missed and he slipped off.

In SASUKE 35, Yamamoto competed with #74. This time he failed the Fish Bone as he fell on the last step.

In SASUKE 36, Yamamoto competed with #81. This time he failed the Wing Slider when his foot slipped.

In SASUKE 37, Yamamoto wore #84 and he avenged his past two defeats by completing the Wing Slider and the Fish Bone. However he was unable to jump far enough on the Dragon Glider and missed the first bar with his right hand, resulting in failure.

In SASUKE 38, Yamamoto managed to make it to the Dragon Glider once more, this time he was able to successfully catch the first bar, but ended up jumping too high on the transition to the second bar, which cause his wrists to hit the second bar and he was unable to catch it. By doing this, he finally able to broke a 3.5-year curse in which he wasn't able to complete a trampoline jump.

In SASUKE 39, he wore #92 once more and came dangerously close to failing the Silk Slider when he landed awkwardly. Although he appeared to hit the water, he was allowed to keep going. Sadly, he subsequently fell on the Fish Bone when he attempted to rush it and lost his balance. It is unknown if he did in fact hit the water, however given that he failed subsequently, it is possible that the producers did not bother to review the footage as he had failed regardless.

VIKING
Yamamoto made an appearance in the second VIKING tournament. Unfortunately, he failed the First Marine Stage on the Swing Mast obstacle, when he tried to rush his progress due to time running low and his jump was far off to his right, eventually ending with his feet touching the water.

Sportsman
In January of 2010, Yamamoto along with fellow SASUKE All-Stars Nagano Makoto and Takeda Toshihiro, made his debut in Pro Sportsman No. 1 with the 2010 Monster Box tournament. He cleared up to the 13th level, failing on the 14th level at 2 metres, 16 centimetres.

Trivia

 * Yamamoto is the only competitor to attempt the first two versions of Final Stage.
 * Yamamoto is the first of the All-Stars to attempt the Final Stage.
 * Yamamoto is the only competitor to have attempted and clear all four versions of the Spider Walk.
 * Yamamoto is the only competitor to have competed in every single SASUKE tournament, hence the name of Mr. Perfect Attendance known as Kaikinsho (皆勤賞) in Japanese.
 * He is one of only three competitors to have failed the First Stage 20 times (the other ones are Torisawa Katsuhide and Yamada Katsumi.)
 * Yamamoto is the only All-Star that never failed Soritatsu Kabe in any SASUKE tournament. However, he did fail this obstacle in the SASUKE 13 Trials and American Ninja Warrior: USA vs. Japan. Both of which were due to handicaps (rain on the course and losing his shoes respectively).
 * Yamamoto is the only All-Star to have never cleared Cliffhanger Kai.
 * Yamamoto was the first competitor to clear the Ugokukabe, Spider Climb, Hang Move, second version of Spider Walk, Body Prop and Cliffhanger Dansa.
 * Yamamoto is the only competitor to wear #90 to #99.
 * Yamamoto is the only All-Star to make it past the Swap Salmon Ladder.
 * Yamamoto had the lowest number to reach the Final Stage in SASUKE 3, with #13.
 * There is a running joke that every time Yamamoto wears his hat in the First Stage he fails.
 * However, there are three occasions Yamamoto's hat didn't fall off and he cleared. These being SASUKE 13, SASUKE 25, and SASUKE 30.
 * Coincidentally, those tournaments are where he failed the Second Stage with him failing the Wall Lifting, the Balance Tank, and the Backstream respectively.
 * From SASUKE 11-23, each time Yamamoto attempted the Third Stage, he would fail at an earlier position than previously.
 * Yamamoto is the only All-Star to attempt the Backstream.
 * From SASUKE 3-12, he would usually do better than before, then do worse the next tournament.
 * Yamamoto is the only All-Star to fail the Rolling Maruta and the Rumbling Dice.
 * Yamamoto and Akiyama Kazuhiko are the only All-Stars to fail the Half-Pipe Attack.
 * Yamamoto is one of only six competitors who have reached the Final Stage more than once (the others being Omori Akira, Nagano Makoto, Urushihara Yuuji, Matachi Ryo, and Morimoto Yusuke).
 * Yamamoto usually competed in his gas station uniform shirt and cap (always with Esso/Mobil branding) until SASUKE 28 when he changed careers.
 * Since owning Bariante, he always dressed up with orange Bariante shirt and a plain black cap.
 * Yamamoto, Nagano, and Takeda are the only All-Stars to have progressed the furthest out of any other All-Stars competing more than once consecutively, Yamamoto progressing the furthest in SASUKE 29 and 30, where he was the only All-Star to make it to the Second Stage, and pass the Swap Salmon Ladder, respectively.
 * Yamamoto has the most consecutive failures on any trampoline obstacles (Double Pendulum), along with Akiyama (Jump Hang, both with three failures).
 * Yamamoto has never failed the Salmon Ladder.
 * Yamamoto was the only All-Star to never had kid(s) from their marriage(s).
 * Yamamoto is one of 7 competitors to share the feat of clearing the First and Second stage in the fastest time in the same tournament during SASUKE 3 & 5. (The other 6 are Nagano Makoto, Levi Meeuwenberg, David Campbell, Asa Kazuma, Ragivaru Anastase, and Yamamoto Yoshiyuki)
 * Yamamoto, along with Nagano and Levi are the only ones out of the bunch to have done this twice.
 * Yamamoto was also the first person to accomplish both feats.