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Kane Kosugi (ケイン・コスギ) is an Actor specializing in Action films, who was born in Los Angeles, California, but travelled to Japan during his younger days. He has competed in SASUKE six times and is notable for being the only competitor with a 100% clear rate on First Stage with six appearances in SASUKE.

SASUKE Career[]

Kane began his SASUKE career as the only non-Japanese-born competitor in SASUKE 1. Given position #89, he struggled a lot on the First Stage: he almost failed the Burasagari Maruta, slipped on the dismount of Taki Kudari, and was unable to find a good grip on the Free Climbing and Kabe Nobori. Despite his struggles, he still cleared the First Stage with only two seconds left, the second slowest time that day. He maintained a slow approach in Second Stage, but Kane was able to clear with 4.9 seconds left. However, his luck ended in Third Stage, when he rushed the Pole Bridge and fell down to the mats below.

After missing the next two tournaments, Kane returned in SASUKE 4, competing alongside his younger brother Shane Kosugi. Despite the fact that the course had changed quite significantly since his last appearance, Kane didn't seem affected. He went even faster compared to his last appearance, clearing the stage with over 14 seconds left. Shane did not have the same result, as he struggled and timed out at the Rope Climb. Kane had a scare on the Second Stage when he touched the Goren Hammer's first pendulum, but he managed to clear the stage with 2.3 seconds left. In the Third Stage, things went smoothly until he faced the brand new Cliffhanger. Despite maintaining a steady pace throughout the course, and not being visibly fatigued, he lost his grip when transitioning to the third ledge, ending his run.

After another hiatus, he returned in SASUKE 6 with Shane. He once again cleared the First Stage without any problem, doing so with 14.75 seconds left on the clock: the fastest that day. Like everyone who attempted the Second Stage that tournament, he cleared with 2.61 seconds left on the clock. Many expected him to get far into the Third Stage given his prior performances. Unfortunately, he struggled with the Body Prop, having never attempted it before, and eventually failed about halfway through. Shane also failed at the same obstacle, but because he could not reach the halfway point, his performance was worse than that of Kane's. This was his only time reaching stage 3 with Shane.

In SASUKE 7, Kane and Shane competed together once again, and the former performed well once more as expected, clearing the First Stage with 16.66 seconds left. In fact, he missed out on the fastest time by only a tenth of a second. However, he shockingly went out on the redesigned Spider Walk on the Second Stage; he started the obstacle without using the provided sticky spray against his brother's advice to use it. As a result, he struggled to move across the obstacle and ultimately fell into the water below. Even if he was able to complete the obstacle, time would have run out before he would have succeeded anyways. On the other hand, Shane easily cleared the Second Stage. This is the only tournament in which Kane performed worse than his brother.

In SASUKE 8, he and his brother competed again. Despite a downpour that beset the course, Kane was not discouraged. He cleared the First Stage with 10.5 seconds left on the clock, while Shane timed out at Soritatsu Kabe due to the slipperiness of the wall. Thanks to the Second Stage's increased time limit, Kane could afford to be more cautious, applying the sticky spray before the Spider Walk and clearing it. He went on to defeat the Second Stage with 5.2 seconds left on the clock. In the Third Stage, he avenged his past Body Prop failure and cleared the even more difficult Cliffhanger Dansa. He then completed the Pipe Slider, advancing all the way to the Final Stage. Due to adverse weather conditions, Kane had some problems on the Spider Climb, barely passing through before the walls separated. He used only his hands on the Tsuna Nobori, which led to him running out of time and crying as he was dropped down to the mats below. This was one of the most emotional moments in SASUKE.

Kinniku Banzuke and Sportsman Career[]

Prior to competing in SASUKE, Kosugi competed in various shows that predate SASUKE, such as the Kinniku Banzuke events and Sportsman.

He competed in Daruma 7 with his brother, showboating every time he cleared a level. However, his luck ended after clearing only two levels. He also competed in Trampoline, clearing the first level and showboating heavily after clearing, only to fail the next jump. In addition, he and other SASUKE competitors participated in a similar event from Mt. Midoriyama called ESCAPE.

Kane is also well known for competing on Pro Sportsman No. 1. He was one of the most iconic and dominant competitors on the show, particularly in the celebrity version. He also had a well-known friendly rivalry with Iketani Naoki on Sportsman No.1.

He has competed in five Pro Sportsman No. 1 tournaments. His best result came in the 2000 competition, where he was crowned as Winner that year. He finished as Runner-Up in 2001 and 2002, and he finished fourth in 1999 and 2004.

However, Celebrity Sportsman No. 1 was where Kane truly shined, as he won five tournaments during his time on the show, tying with Nakayama Kinnikun for most wins on this version of Sportsman. He won three tournaments in a row between the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Celebrity Sportsman No. 1 editions, followed by 2 consecutive wins in the 6th and 7th Celebrity Sportsman No. 1.

Kosugi continue to compete in Sportsman until Pro Sportsman No. 1 2002, which marked the 20th Sportsman tournament, and Pro Sportsman No. 1 2004; he lost in both tournaments and marked his last appearance in any events at that time.

Return to SASUKE and Sports Danshi Grand Prix[]

Around SASUKE 11, in an interview with the Kinniku Banzuke successor, Taiku Ookoku, Kane said, "私は訓練に時間があれば、私は競争したいと思います。", which roughly translates to, "If I have time to train, I would like to compete." Due to his acting career demanding more focus, he was never able to get the time needed.

In 2014, Kane was invited to compete in SASUKE 30, but he declined. On September 2016, Acko Mladenovic of The SASUKE Nerds asked Kane on Instagram if he will return for SASUKE. Kane replied with, ”No, I don’t have any plans yet, but maybe in the future." Many fans took this as a sign that he still had hope for a future in SASUKE despite his long absence.

During his hiatus from SASUKE, Kane appeared in various films and television series in America and Japan. He married his wife around 2009 and had a daughter in 2019.

In 2022, Kane set out on a resurgence not just in Sportsman but also in SASUKE. Kane made a surprise appearance in Sports Danshi Grand Prix 10, which is a reboot show of the Sportsman series. He competed in the Monster Box and Shot-Gun Touch event. He made an appearance in the next tournament alongside fellow rival Iketani Naoki. Kosugi reached the Top 8 of that tournament, but he was eliminated in the Power Wall event.

The first official trailer for SASUKE 40, confirmed Kane Kosugi's participation, his first appearance on SASUKE in 21 years. He wore #3991, a homage to the number he wore in SASUKE 8. In preparation for the tournament, Kosugi trained with Hioki Masashi and Matachi Ryo for five months. His training paid off as he nearly failed the Dragon Glider, but he held onto the second bar with just one hand, and impressively cleared the First Stage with 3.87 seconds left in his return, which kept his 100% First Stage clear rate alive. He also broke the record of the oldest competitor to clear the First Stage, doing so at the age of 48. Just four runs later, Yamamoto Shingo tied that record with his First Stage clear. Kane cleared most of the Second Stage, but timed out after climbing out of the Backstream because he maintained a slow pace throughout the course. Even though his impressive return came to an end, many fans applauded his run.

Kane was expected to compete in SASUKE 41, but had suffered an Achilles tendon injury whilst training days before the tournament, forcing him to abstain from competing.

Even though he missed SASUKE 41, it was announced on July 10th, 2024 that he would be competing in the first ever SASUKE World Cup as a part of Team Japan Legend, marking his first ever appearance in an international competition. Competing in the second heat, he was shockingly failed the Wing Silder. This is the first instance where Kane failed the First Stage in any competition.

After missing Sports Danshi Grand Prix 12, he will be competing in Sports Danshi Grand Prix 13.

Trivia[]

  • Kane was the first American and the first non-Japanese-born competitor to attempt SASUKE, doing so in SASUKE 1. His participation preventing that tournament from an all-Japanese roster.
  • Kane is the only competitor who has competed at least six times and never failed the First Stage.
  • Kane is one of only four people who could reach the top support bar of Jump Hang, achieving that feat in SASUKE 7.
  • Kane is the first (and only) American to make it to the Final Stage in SASUKE.
  • Kane is one of the four foreigners who attempted the Final Stage, along with Jordan Jovtchev in SASUKE 8, Lee En-Chih in SASUKE 24, and Rene Kaselowsky in SASUKE 37.
    • However, during the SASUKE 37 broadcast, there was no mention of Kane's Final Stage attempt during SASUKE 8, even though the broadcast showed footage of him attempting the Final Stage. In addition, the broadcast did not consider him to be a foreigner: it declared that Rene was the third foreigner to attempt the Final Stage, with Jordan being the first and Lee being the second. This was possibly due to the fact that Kane lives in America but has Japanese heritage. On the other hand, Jovtchev is Bulgarian, Lee is Taiwanese, and Kaselowsky is German and resides in Hungary.
  • Kane competed with his brother, Shane Kosugi, on four occasions (SASUKE 2 and SASUKE 6 until SASUKE 8).
  • In JET broadcasts, Kosugi is referred in the subtitles as KEN.
  • During his Spider Walk's attempt in SASUKE 6, a cameraman accidentally tripped by the supporting metal of the obstacle, marking one of the few funny instances in which a cameraman did something wrong and it was caught on camera.
  • Kane is also the first Tokusatsu actor to appear on SASUKE. He's best known as Kenichi Kai aka the human host of Ultraman Powered, which was filmed in the United States, and Ninja Black Jiraiya on Ninja Sentai Kakuranger.
    • He's the first Ultraman actor to appear in SASUKE. Raiga Terasaka who portrayed Kengo Manaka aka Ultraman Trigger was the latest.
  • In an interview with The SASUKE Nerds, Kane revealed that he was originally invited to return for SASUKE 39, as it was the 20th anniversary since the last time he had been on the show, which was SASUKE 8 in 2001. However, he declined because he wanted more time to train for the course; he was invited one month prior to filming of SASUKE 39.
    • The same video also addressed a long-standing rumor that was very popular in the SASUKE community. It was the rumor that Kane had retired from SASUKE after SASUKE 8 because he was used as a character for the video game Kinniku Banzuke - Kimero! Kiseki no Kanzen Seiha without his permission. However, this rumor was not only addressed but also dispelled, as Kane himself stated that his actual hiatus from SASUKE had absolutely nothing to do with this kind of theory and that he was in fact happy to be a part of a video game.
  • Kane's appearance in SASUKE 40 currently holds the record of having the longest hiatus for a competitor in SASUKE, beating Yoshinaga Katsumi and Tatayama Masaaki's record with 31 tournaments after 21 years of absence.
    • Based on the tweet replied to one of Kane's Twitter posts, Mishima Ryuhei would have its record broken by Kane in terms of tournament hiatus with 30 tournaments, with him competed in SASUKE 6 in 2000 and would compete in SASUKE 37 in 2019 after 19 years of absence.
  • Kane, along with Yamamoto completed the First Stage at the age of 48, beating Inoue Kiyomi's record set in SASUKE 1, a record that stood for 25 years.

Results[]

SASUKE # Result Notes
1 89 Failed Pole Bridge (Third Stage)
4 97 Failed Cliffhanger (Third Stage)
6 98 Failed Body Prop (Third Stage)
7 98 Failed Spider Walk (Second Stage) Injure his left hand in the process of falling down.
8 91 Failed Tsuna Nobori (Final Stage) Time Out. About 17 metres up. Last Man Standing.
40 3991 Failed Backstream (Second Stage) Time Out.


Gallery[]

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