Yamada Kōji (山田 康司) is a former SASUKE competitor and a firefighter from Gifu (same prefecture as Takeda Toshihiro). Both competed in their orange firefighter pants, although unlike Takeda, Yamada competed shirtless; he claims to have 3% body fat. He also holds the second-highest start position jump in SASUKE's history, going from #1 to #88.
Beginnings[]
Yamada competed in the SASUKE 11 Monkey Bar Trials but failed the final stretch of Monkey Bars.
He was able to compete in the next competition, where he was the first competitor to ran that day. He impressed all by clearing the First Stage with 13.70 seconds remaining, becoming just the second competitor wearing #1 to clear the First Stage. Unlike the other two competitors who managed to do this feat, he also cleared the Second Stage with just 1.9 secs left, after a miraculous save on the Balance Tank, where he lost his balance but the log, continuing his roll, saved him from falling into the water. His incredible run comes to an end on the Cliffhanger Kai on Stage Three, where he failed the transition to the second ledge.
During the SASUKE 13 Trials he finished with a good 8th place, and so he was given an high number, #88, in SASUKE 13. But he surprisingly failed the redesigned Jump Hang, where mis-hit the trampoline failing to grab any rope.
In SASUKE 14 he had a promising run until he reached the Soritatsu Kabe. Here he struggled and timed out. Unbeknowst to all, this will be last time that Yamada failed the First Stage.
Resurgence[]
Finally, in SASUKE 15 Yamada cleared the First Stage with relative ease, as well the Second Stage. In the Third Stage, he managed to beat the Cliffhanger Kai that defeated him last time, but he will ultimately fail the next obstacle, the Jumping Bars, after losing his grip after the final jump. He still finish with an impressive 3rd place, only behind All-Stars Shiratori Bunpei and Takeda Toshihiro.
In SASUKE 16, he will perform even better. After smoothly clearing the first two stages, including the deadly Metal Spin in Stage Two, he will take his revenge on a nerfed Jumping Bars, and reach the Devil Balanço. After many swings he was able to perform the transition on the Pipe Slider, becoming the first competitor to clear the obstacle, but this cost him too much stamina as he was unable to move the pipe of the Pipe Slider. Ultimately he fell into water, obtaining a 2nd overall place, just behind Shiratori.
He returned in SASUKE 17 with expectations to reach the Final Stage. He looked in good form and another Third Stage trip seemed imminent, but he shocked everybody by failing the Metal Spin, where he was only able to touch the chain with one hand after a poor jump. This was the first time he suffered a Second Stage defeat.
He made his final appearance in SASUKE 19, where in spite of a completely new and hardened course, he impressed everybody by becoming the first to clear the First Stage, with only just another competitor, Washimi Yūji, advancing with him in the Second Stage. Here, he started strong but after failing the final transition on the Salmon Ladder, he began to struggle and lose energy, and ultimately he timed out here. Despite this he is the joint-best performer in SASUKE 19, because Washimi also failed here.
Later, Lee En-Chih reported on his blog that Yamada no longer wishes to compete in SASUKE. So, his short but impressive SASUKE career comes to an end.
Kōji → Yasushi[]
Ninja Warrior refers to him as Yasushi Yamada. No reason has been given, although some speculate that it is to avoid confusion with Yamada Katsumi. Or perhaps because the kanji (康司) has 4 possible pronunciations, is commonly pronounced Yasushi. When applied to google translate, the kanji translates as such, meaning G4 likely used it to translate his name, hence the error. However, following a commercial break in a SASUKE 12 episode, American announcer Dave Wittenberg uses his correct name, Kōji.
Results[]
| SASUKE | # | Result | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12 | 1 | Failed Cliff Hanger (Third Stage) | |
| 13 | 88 | Failed Jump Hang (First Stage) | |
| 14 | 57 | Failed Soritatsu Kabe (First Stage) | Time Out. |
| 15 | 70 | Failed Jumping Bars (Third Stage) | Sixth Bar. |
| 16 | 91 | Failed Pipe Slider (Third Stage) | After struggling on the Devil Balanço, he reached the Pipe Slider but fell before he could begin moving the pipe. |
| 17 | 95 | Failed Metal Spin (Second Stage) | Bad run-up and jump causing failure. |
| 19 | 79 | Failed Salmon Ladder (Second Stage) | Time Out. Sixth Level. |
Gallery[]
