Tajima Naoya

Tajima Naoya (田島 直弥) qualified for SASUKE 23 via the SASUKE Trials. He was one of four SASUKE Trials qualifiers to clear the First Stage that day, clearing with over 11 seconds left on the clock. However, all of them would end up going out on the Salmon Ladder. For Tajima, he looked strong on the Salmon Ladder moving up the first few rungs without trouble. When he tried to reach the seventh and final level, he failed to get both sides of the bar up. First the right side and then the left side missed. Finally, he moved back down to the sixth level but didn't get enough height on one final swing and his grip gave way.

Because of his performance, he and the other Trials qualifiers who cleared the First Stage were invited back by TBS. Here, he proved his full potential by clearing Stage One with over 20 seconds left on the clock. He beat the Salmon Ladder and as a result the Second Stage. He easily made it to the end of the Third Stage, climbing the Spider Flip's first wall without using his legs. He made it to the Gliding Ring, where he slipped off the obstacle before taking it off of the stopper.

He returned in SASUKE 25 and received #49 in the lottery. On the new obstacles, he performed sloppily. On the Rolling Maruta, he did not set his feet properly and just was able to hold on by his hands. On the Jump Hang, he barely hit the trampoline with enough force and almost did not make the net. He caught the net low and barely got to safety without touching water. On the Soritatsu Kabe he slipped and it took him two tries to scale it. He managed to make it all the way to the Circle Slider but did not get enough height on the jump and could only touch the ring with one hand.

Tajima never regained his success from Shin-SASUKE. In SASUKE 26, he failed the Jumping Spider and was cut from broadcast. In SASUKE 27, he cleared the first stage, but failed the Slider Drop. He stopped competing after that likely due to the pressure of his past stage 3 moment.