Satō Jun

Satō Jun (佐藤 惇) is a current Parkour Instructor for children and a SASUKE competitor who has competed 11 times. He is one of the many known speedsters in SASUKE and showcases this speed mainly in First and on occasion Second Stage. While consistent, he may be better known for his still ongoing streak of Cliffhanger fails.

Trial Qualifications and Initial Appearances (SASUKE 21-25)
He qualified for SASUKE 21 and SASUKE 23 via SASUKE Trials.

Satō first qualified for SASUKE 21 by placing fifth in SASUKE 21 Trials. In the tournament, he failed First Stage's Log Grip and went the shortest of all the SASUKE Trial Qualifiers that day.

He once again competed in the trials for SASUKE 23 and took the #1 spot. His second go around went much better as he was one of four Trials qualifiers to clear First Stage that day with him finishing with 19.42 seconds remaining on the clock. However, in the Second Stage, all of SASUKE Trials Qualifiers would up going out on Salmon Ladder. In Satō's case, he missed the second rung and pulled the bar off of the ladder altogether. This performance earned him an invite to SASUKE 24, where he once again cleared First Stage. However, he hurt his arm on the framing following Log Grip and later failed Salmon Ladder again.

Satō was once again invited to SASUKE 25, drawing #18 from the lottery. In First Stage, he cleared most of the obstacles with ease, but on Circle Slider, he missed the ring with his left hand but hung on with his right to clear the obstacle. He became the first person to conquer the redesigned First Stage. In Second Stage, he defeated his nemesis (now Double Salmon Ladder) but was quickly defeated between the boards of the Unstable Bridge. After that competition, he went to college in the UK and after a 6-tournament absence, he returned for SASUKE 32.

Return to SASUKE
In SASUKE 32, he wore #76 and his whole run was digested. It was shown that he cleared First Stage with 15.17 seconds remaining, the third fastest time of that day. He then cleared Second Stage for the first time ever and after three consecutive Second Stage fails, with 10.49 seconds remaining. On his first attempt at Third Stage, he failed the first jump transition of Ultra Crazy Cliffhanger. He made the jump and managed to reach the opposite ledge, however did not have a grip and fell. However, he came joint second in that tournament (Brent Steffensen failed in exactly the same way) only to Drew Drechsel. He made it the farthest out of any Japanese competitor.

SASUKE 33 saw Satō compete with his highest number to date, as he was given #97. He successfully lived up to high placing as he cleared First Stage again, before cleared Second Stage with 7.35 seconds left to spare. In Third Stage for a second time in a row, Satō successfully navigate through Drum Hopper Kai, however, his attempt quickly came to an end as he was felled by Flying Bar.

In SASUKE 34 he received #96 and he squeezed through the first two stages. In Third Stage he took his revenge on the Flying Bar but he was unable to overcome Ultra Crazy Cliffhanger again.

In SASUKE 35 he wore #97 and passed the first two stages without any problem, but he failed on Ultra Crazy Cliffhanger for a third time, again on the first jump.

In SASUKE 36 he got #96 and being a well-known speed demon at this stage, he show that as he blazed through First Stage, clearing with over 23 seconds left. He had no trouble in Second Stage as well. In Third Stage, he finally beat the first jump of Ultra Crazy Cliffhanger only to fail the transition on the moving ledge.

In SASUKE 37, wearing #94, he once again blazed through the first two stages, but failed the second transition on the newly modified Cliffhanger Dimension; however, this did mean that he cleared First Stage for the ninth time consecutively (in terms of the tournaments he competed in), beating Takeda Toshihiro and Nagano Makoto's record of eight straight clears from SASUKE 11-18.

In SASUKE 38, once again wearing #94, he blazed through First Stage with over 30 seconds left. He had some trouble with Second Stage, but he still cleared with over three seconds left. During his preview video, it was shown that he practiced Cliffhanger by using two sets of bars, notably one higher than the other. This technique would be on display during his attempt of the now functioning Cliffhanger Dimension, as he was trying to time it so that he would be higher than the third ledge, unfortunately his plan ended sour as he couldn't hang on once he did the transition and would fail again in a familiar spot. However, this did mean that he cleared First Stage for the tenth time consecutively (in terms of the tournaments he competed in) and he also matched Takeda's record for seven consecutive Third Stage attempts.

Sato did not compete in SASUKE 39 due to an injury. He was present during taping however and cheered on his fellow competitors.

Injury
In early April 2021, it was revealed on Satō's different social media accounts that he unfortanately suffered an Achilles tendon injury on his right leg that would lead him to undergo surgery. The surgery was deemed successful and he was discharged from the hospital two days earlier than what was planned. At the moment, he is currently undergoing rehabilitation and as such, it is unclear when he will be making his return, as he was unable to compete in the latest tournament (SASUKE 39.)

Trivia

 * Satō ties with Takeda Toshihiro for having the most consecutive Third Stage appearances, at seven, but unlike Takeda, he never gets past the Cliffhanger. Ironically, both of them never reached the Final Stage.
 * Satō also holds the record for the most consecutive First Stage clears, at 10, from SASUKE 23-25, then SASUKE 32-38 (he didn't compete in the tournaments in between).
 * Known as a speed demon, he has had the fastest clear time on at least one stage he's cleared since SASUKE 33 [First Stage= SASUKE 33, 35, 37 (Jessie Graff had more time left on the clock but was also given additional 32 seconds), and 38; Second Stage= SASUKE 34 and 36].
 * Sato now owns the dubious record for most consecutive Cliffhanger fails at 5.
 * Satō, Hioki Masashi, and Takahashi Kenji hold together the record for the highest number of fails on any Cliffhanger variant at six. Satō failed the Ultra Crazy Cliffhanger four times and Cliffhanger Dimension twice, Hioki has failed the last three cliffhanger variants twice each, and Takahashi failed each variant he attempted once each, except for the Crazy Cliffhanger, in which he failed it twice.
 * He and Nagasaki Shunsuke are the only Shin-Sedai who has never failed Soritatsu Kabe.
 * He is the only person to feature in two groups created by TBS, as he was considered a member of Shin-Sedai and Morimoto Sedai.
 * Since his hiatus return, every one of his Second Stage runs has been digested, except for SASUKE 35 and SASUKE 38.
 * In his career, he has only cleared a stage with less then 10 secs thrice, SASUKE 25's First Stage (7.21 seconds left), SASUKE 33's Second Stage (7.35 seconds left), and SASUKE 38's Second Stage (a career low 3.65 seconds left).
 * During his SASUKE 36's Third Stage run, his foot accidentally took a towel that landed on Flying Bar's cradle. While it didn't cost him much, it was one of few funny instances done by competitors on the course that was caught on camera.
 * From SASUKE 32 to 34, at least one of Sato's clears in either the first two stages, despite being impressive with fast clear times, - some of which where the fastest in those tournaments - would be digested. This would be the same for his Third Stage attempts, as in the case of 32 and 34 - both of which would also complete a triple digest. This was due to the producers assumption that Parkour - Sato's main profession outside of SASUKE - was dangerous and a bad influence to younger audience. This gradually began to change when Sato had his own VTR showing him teaching Parkour safely to kids.
 * He and Hioki Masashi are the only two competitors to have failed Ultra Crazy Cliffhanger or Cliffhanger Dimension four times or more. They have been able to clear the first transition, but still have never made the second one.
 * He has never failed by way of time up. All of his fails thus far have seen him entering the water.
 * He and Okuyama Yoshiyuki are the only competitors to have a 100% First and Second Stage clear rate in one era, Sato doing so from SASUKE 32 to 38, and Okuyama from SASUKE 25 to 27.
 * In a recent two-part interview, Jun mentions the Dragon Glider, Fish Bone, Flying Bar, Salmon Ladder, and Cliffhanger as the top five obstacles he dislikes attempting in SASUKE.