Hishouchu

Hishouchu (飛翔柱) was a First Stage obstacle in KUNOICHI 6 and KUNOICHI 7. The obstacle consisted of a large yellow pillar that was stationed on a tower above the main course. To attempt it, competitors had to press a button to force the pillar downward so that it would slide down a long wire, about six meters in length. Competitors then had to jump on a springboard to grab onto the pillar before letting go to land on a floating mat in the water at which the track ended at.

In it's first appearance, the button and the pillar was placed right before the obstacle, competitors just need to time correctly, run-up then get to the pillar. However, in the next tournament, the button and the pillar were placed way earlier, before the previous obstacle Danchigaibou. Competitors now not only have to complete Danchigaibou but also have to do it fast, in order to match the pace of the pillar. This changes made the previous obstacle extremely dangerous, as it's estimated upwards of fifty people failed due to losing the balance as they were trying to rush, or being too slow and making the pillar too far from them. With the Hishouchu itself, even competitors that reached fast enough, some still failed it by not grabbing the pillar correctly, or by touching the water by releasing too early or too late.

Despite it's difficulty, it was removed for the eighth tournament, due to the new KUNOICHI 8 format.

Outside KUNOICHI
While the obstacle never appeared anywhere outside KUNOICHI, its concept of having competitors catch up in attempting the obstacle by attempting the obstacle before it has been adopted on American Ninja Warrior 13 with the appearance of the Dipping Birds and The High Road in Stage One.