Hariyama (針山), called Eye of the Needle in English broadcasts, was the third and final obstacle of Third Stage in SASUKE 1. It consisted of a series of elastic poles (specifically used for pole vaulting), in which the competitors must latch onto the first pole, then cross to the second and so on, until they could use their feet to reach the landing platform. It didn't eliminate anyone and was replaced in the next tournament by Hang Move and Pipe Slider.
Hariyama was notable for being the only obstacle in English broadcasts that didn't have symbol. It was also the first obstacle ever to only appear in one tournament.
In an interview, Masato Inui, the current producer of SASUKE, mentioned that the obstacle was made in response to a limited budget for the course at that time. For this tournament, they planned to make a final obstacle for the stage that has minimal costs, which is why they rented out multiple elastic poles just to build this obstacle. In addition, with the fact that the combination of Taki Nobori and Maruta Kudari took out almost half of all the competitors in that tournament, the obstacle was added to lessen the difficulty of the entire course. As a side note, Inui dubbed this as a "boring obstacle".
A similar obstacle, called Pole Grasper, would later appear on American Ninja Warrior and several of SASUKE's international formats such as Ninja Warrior UK, Australian Ninja Warrior, SASUKE Vietnam (as a part of Hang Climbing), SASUKE Ninja Warrior Indonesia, Ninja Warrior Germany, Ninja Warrior Poland, and Ninja Israel, except the poles were not elastic.
Competitors' Success Rate[]
- All results based on the TBS broadcast and external information found.
SASUKE | Clears | Attempts | Percentage |
---|---|---|---|
1 | 4 | 4 | 100% |
Total | 4 | 4 | 100% |