The Hashigo Heki (梯子壁) is an obstacle that was first introduced in KUNOICHI 2003 as the first obstacle of the redesigned Final Stage. The obstacle's concept involves the competitors having to climb up a series of parallel ladders in order to reach the next obstacle, thus acting as a parallel to SASUKE's Spider Climb. The obstacle has gone through several versions.
First Version (KUNOICHI 2003/2004)[]
The first version of the Hashigo Heki was introduced as part of the revamped Final Stage in KUNOICHI 2003. The obstacle was 10 meters in height, and consisted of two parallel metal ladders that competitors would have to climb simultaneously, not unlike how one would attempt the Spider Climb.
Similar to the Spider Climb at the time, the mountings for the ladders would split, but unlike the Spider Climb, there was no set time limit separate from the overall 35 seconds given to complete the Final Stage; competitors simply had to complete the obstacle before the mountings started to separate. Once cleared, they would move on to the Tenkubou.
Designed mostly as a time waster, the most struggle that came from completing the obstacle was stumbling whilst climbing the two ladders, and no-one failed it. Due to Miyake Ayako's kanzenseiha in KUNOICHI 2004, the obstacle would be renovated in the next tournament.
Second Version (KUNOICHI 2006 New Year)[]
The second version of the Hashigo Heki was named as the Hashigo Tobi (梯子跳び), and was introduced in KUNOICHI 2006 New Year.
This new version of the obstacle split the parallel ladders so that there were six individual ones, three on each side, that had to be climbed up individually, forcing competitors to swap between each side of the mounts as they climbed. The height remained unchanged at 10 meters. In addition, just like the previous version, there was no specific time limit; once they cleared, the mounts would split. The time limit remained the same from the previous tournament, at 35 seconds, and once again, competitors would proceed to the Tenkubou after finishing the obstacle.
Due to the placement of the ladders at the end, competitors could still use both ends to support themselves in order to make the transition to the Tenkubou.
Despite being designed to be a harder version, neither of the two competitors who attempted this version; Komiya Rie and Miyake Ayako, showed no issue with doing so; Miyake even going on to not only achieve a second kanzenseiha in a row, but with an even larger amount of time remaining, 7.7 seconds compared to the previous tournament's 4.1 seconds. As such, the obstacle was replaced with the Dai Zeppeki in the next tournament.
Third Version (KUNOICHI 2017 Spring)[]
For the course revival/reboot, the Hashigo Heki was revived once more, being renamed as the Sayu Hashigo (左右はしご) for the newly redesigned FINAL STAGE.
This version of the obstacle saw the height reduced to 8 meters, but returned to the purpose of the first version as having to climb up two parallel ladders simultaneously. In addition, similar to how the Spider Climb had been revived for SASUKE 29 onwards, the Sayu Hashigo no longer split upon completion.
The reduction in height came from accommodating the Tsuna Nobori, which had been brought from SASUKE/revived from the Tenkunawa of KUNOICHI 2007, which was 7 meters in height and was the new obstacle competitors had to transfer to as opposed to the Tenkubou. The time limit was also restored to 35 seconds.
Only one competitor, Izumi Hikari, attempted this version, and cleared it easily, going on to very nearly complete the FINAL STAGE before timing out on the Tsuna Nobori.
Due to her near-miss, the Sayu Hashigo was replaced with the Spider Climb in the next tournament, not unlike how it had previously replaced the Tenkudou without the impetus of kanzenseiha when it had first been introduced back in 2003.
Competitors' Success Rate[]
KUNOICHI | Clears | Attempts | Percentage |
---|---|---|---|
2003 | 3 | 3 | 100% |
2004 | 1 | 1 | 100% |
2006 | 2 | 2 | 100% |
2017 | 1 | 1 | 100% |
Total | 7 | 7 | 100% |