Toshihiro Takeda (竹田 敏浩), a sport trainer/former firefighter from Gifu Prefecture, Japan, is a SASUKE All-Star, best known for his incredibly consistent performances and his trademark orange pants. He has advanced to the Third Stage a total of 13 times, a SASUKE record, including 7 consecutive times from SASUKE 11 to SASUKE 17. His height and weight are recorded at 171 cm and 63 kg respectively. Despite his impressive Third Stage advance rate, he has never managed to advance to the Final Stage, the only one of six All-Stars to have this dubious distinction, and he is the only All-Stars never to have worn #99 or #100. Despite never making it past the Pipe Slider, it has been speculated that he would have been a strong competitor in the Final Stage due to the amount of climbing his job requires. Though he has never reached the Final Stage, he is arguably the most consistent All-Star, having the smallest chain of consecutive First Stage defeats (2), the most First Stage clears (16) and tying with Makoto Nagano for the most consecutive First Stage clears (8). He is also the only All-Star to make consecutive Shin-Sasuke Third Stage appearances, doing so in SASUKE 23 and SASUKE 24.
SASUKE 5 - 10
Takeda made his debut in the 5th competition, immediately after the large-scale renewal caused by Kazuhiko Akiyama's total victory. With the 73 competitors before him having all failed, Takeda impressed all by being the 1st to clear the First Stage, with 1.08 seconds left to spare. Only two other competitors cleared that day:Yamamoto Shingo and Yamada Katsumi,further making a lasting impression on fellow competitors and the audience. However, in the Second Stage he failed immediately after starting the Spider Walk. In the 6th competition, Takeda cleared the First Stage with 10 seconds to spare. He took his revenge on the Spider Walk, and cleared the Second Stage as well, but ran out of energy on the Body Prop, and failed there after a long struggle. However, in the 7th competition, due to catching a cold before the competition, he struggled at the Warped Wall and timed out in the First Stage inches before the goal. In the 8th competition, though the rain affected his run, he made his way successfully to the Pipe Slider. Though he slipped and lost his grip before he could attempt a jump, after this tournament he was considered a member of the All-Stars. In the 9th competition, though he took two attempts at the Soritatsu Kabe, he safely made it back to the Third Stage. Everything having been smooth sailing up to the Lamp Grasper, he slipped and lost his grip with only several globes left to go. Though he recovered, and managed to advance a little more, he lost his grip with 2 globes left and fell into the water below. In the 10th anniversary competition, he failed the Jump Hang in the First Stage, an obstacle he had never failed before. In an interview after his run, he said that he "knew it [that he was going to fail] the moment [he] stepped on the trampoline.
SASUKE 11 - 17
From SASUKE 11 to SASUKE 17, Takeda always cleared the First and Second Stage. In SASUKE 11 he surpisingly failed the Body Prop. In SASUKE 12 he made all way to the Pipe Slider but he failed the jump and injured his right shoulder. In SASUKE 13 he failed for the first time the Cliffhanger losing his grip at the third ledge. In SASUKE 14 he failed again the Cliffhanger, this time the transition to the third ledge. In SASUKE 15 he finally beat the Cliffhanger but at the Devil Balanço he failed the transition to the pipe of the Pipe Slider. In SASUKE 16 he failed once again the Cliffhanger. In SASUKE 17 he was able to beat both Cliffhanger and Devil Balanço but unfortunately he failed for the third time the Pipe Slider.
Shin-SASUKE
After SASUKE 17, originally Takeda had considered retiring from SASUKE, but was convinced otherwise by his children. In SASUKE 18 he arrived late to the competition. As a result, he had no bib and ran between #86 and #87. He successfully cleared the newly-redesigned First Stage and was out of breath afterwords. With this, he extended his record of consecutive First Stage clears to 8. However, he struggled at the new Salmon Ladder in the Second Stage, and fell before the last, largest gap due to making a fatal mistake of not throwing enough momentum. It was the first time he had failed the Second Stage since his debut.
In SASUKE 19, he had to attempt the Pole Maze twice, wasting valuable time. Though he made it to the warped wall, he failed to scale it multiple times (perhaps because of the added height), and though he eventually cleared it, he timed out immediately after. It was his first time he had failed the First Stage since SASUKE 10. In SASUKE 20, though he had no problems for most of the course, he lost a lot of time trying to transfer to the cargo rope in the Flying Chute. He timed out on the Rope Ladder, marking the first time he failed the First Stage twice in a row.
In SASUKE 21, he cleared the First Stage with 15.79 seconds to spare. He exacted his revenge on the Salmon Ladder, passing it with ease, and made his way for a record 11th time to the Third Stage. He became the first to clear the Shin-Cliffhanger, and ultimately failed the Hang Climbing. In SASUKE 22, he misstep the trampoline on the Jumping Spider in the First Stage, and failed there for the first time. He was able to return to the Third Stage in SASUKE 23 and was able to clear the Hang Climbing that eliminated him before, but failed the very next obstacle, the Spider Flip.
In SASUKE 24 he performed well in the First Stage, and was even able to clear the Slider Jump without jumping and as a result the first stage, being the only All-Star to do so, while several Shin Sedai members advanced with him. In the Second Stage he was able to clear the Salmon Ladder to Unstable Bridge connection easily and the Second Stage. Takeda returned to the Third Stage for a record 13th time. Expectations for Takeda to make the Final Stage were high, as 5 subsequent competitors cleared the 3rd stage until it was Takeda's turn. Carrying the expectations of everyone and including the All-Stars, Takeda went into the Third Stage as the last challenger. He performed well on the new Rope Junction like the six competitors before him. On the Hang Climbing he lost some strength while climbing. When he reached the Spider Flip he struggled and was not able to pull himself up the first wall. In an interview he stated that Nagano had been doing a lot of work for the All-Stars to keep their name. It was a very emotional moment in SASUKE.
Kanzen Renewal
He returned in SASUKE 25 and he drew #70 from the lottery, his lowest start position ever and his lowest since SASUKE 8. In the First Stage, with Katsumi Yamada and Bunpei Shiratori absences he was the first All-Star to attempt the First Stage. He performed well, and cleared with 8 seconds to spare. In the Second Stage, he failed due to making the same error as he did in SASUKE 18, and unexpectedly failed on the last rung of the new Double Salmon Ladder. Due to a scheduling conflict, he was unable to attend SASUKE 26, ending his run of 21 competitions in succession. Takeda did attend SASUKE 27, but did compete but it was cut from broadcast and NAVI.
SASUKE RISING
Takeda returned in SASUKE 28, failing the Rolling Escargot, when he struggled on it and jumped to the ending platform, but his foot touched the water in the process. In his speech afterwards, he stated defiantly that he performed terribly and wanted to return. Ηe returned for SASUKE 29 wearing #95. He started in good shape, clearing the Long Jump and Log Grip with ease. However, on the Hedgehog, he lost his balance near the end of the obstacle and fell sideways, holding himself from the mat next to it. A few moments later, he could not hold on and failed there, marking his 2nd consecutive 1st Stage failure. In SASUKE 30 he was wearing #2980. He cleared stage 1 (Breaking his 2 consecutive stage 1 failures) however he was disqualified on the Swap Salmon Ladder when the bar missed the rung and fell to a lower level, making it the 3rd time that he failed a version of the Salmon Ladder. In SASUKE 31 he shocked everybody failing the very first obstacle, the Rolling Hill.
In SASUKE 32, Takeda wore #98. His run was digested along side Yamamoto Shingo, but was shown to make it all the way to the Soritatsu Kabe before timing out.
In SASUKE 33, Takeda wore #90. He became the 3rd All-Star to clear the First Stage in his forties, doing so at age 41 with 12.70 seconds to spare. He failed the Salmon Ladder Kudari in the Second Stage, making it the 4th time that he has failed a version of the Salmon Ladder.
Trivia
- Takeda debuted in SASUKE 5, where he became one of the only 3 people to clear the First Stage (along with Yamada Katsumi and Yamamoto Shingo)
- In SASUKE 6, Takeda made his first attempt at the Third Stage.
- Takeda is the only Sasuke All Star who never made it to the Final Stage.
- From Sasuke 11-17, Takeda consistently made it to the Third Stage.
- Despite making it to the Third Stage a record 13 times, he has never made it to the final stage.
- Takeda is the only All-Star who have never worn #99 or #100.
- Takeda is the all star with the lowest consecutive first stage failures,2, whereas Nagano Makoto has 3, Yamada Katsumi with 15, Akiyama Kazuhiko with 6 and Yamamoto Shingo with 5.
- Takeda is one of only three competitors to attempt all 4 versions of the Salmon Ladder and the only competitor to have failed all of them.
- Takeda has the highest clear ratio for the First Stage with 71% (18 out of 25 attempts).
- He is the only All-Star to attempt, and never fail the Shin-Cliffhanger.
- He is the only All-Star to attempt the Rope Junction.
- Only All-Star to never attempt the Spin Bridge.
- His only second stage failures came in his first attempt after a total victory
- He is the third All-Star to clear the First Stage in his forties (SASUKE 33) ,doing so at the age of 41,joining Nagano Makoto (SASUKE 30) and Shiratori Bunpei (SASUKE 21)
- He has failed all 4 versions of the Salmon Ladder. Interestingly, these failures happened on his first attempt on each version.
- He is the only All-Star to attempt the Ring Slider.
| SASUKE | # | Result | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | 74 | Failed Spider Walk (Second Stage) | |
| 6 | 93 | Failed Body Prop (Third Stage) | |
| 7 | 96 | Failed Rope Climb (First Stage) | Time Out. |
| 8 | 71 | Failed Pipe Slider (Third Stage) | |
| 9 | 97 | Failed Lamp Grasper (Third Stage) | |
| 10 | 997 | Failed Jump Hang (First Stage) | |
| 11 | 97 | Failed Body Prop (Third Stage) | |
| 12 | 95 | Failed Pipe Slider (Third Stage) | Failed Jump. |
| 13 | 98 | Failed Cliff Hanger (Third Stage) | Injury. |
| 14 | 97 | Failed Cliff Hanger (Third Stage) | Injury. |
| 15 | 96 | Failed Devil Balanço (Third Stage) | Had one hand on the Pipe Slider and one hand on Devil Balanco when he fell. Last Man Standing. |
| 16 | 98 | Failed Cliff Hanger (Third Stage) | |
| 17 | 91 | Failed Pipe Slider (Third Stage) | Failed Jump. |
| 18 | Failed Salmon Ladder (Second Stage) | He did not have a number, but was around 86th to run. Sixth Level. | |
| 19 | 96 | Failed Soritatsu Kabe/Flying Chute (First Stage) | Time Out after he beat the Soritatsu Kabe, but before he could attempt the Flying Chute. |
| 20 | 1995 | Failed Rope Ladder (First Stage) | Time Out. |
| 21 | 98 | Failed Hang Climbing (Third Stage) | |
| 22 | 92 | Failed Jumping Spider (First Stage) | |
| 23 | 97 | Failed Spider Flip (Third Stage) | Failed to flip to the 2nd wall. |
| 24 | 98 | Failed Spider Flip (Third Stage) | Exhausted. |
| 25 | 69 | Failed Double Salmon Ladder (Second Stage) | Fourth Level, Second Ladder. |
| 27 & 28 | 97 | Failed Rolling Escargot (First Stage) | Course Out. His foot skimmed the water while landing. |
| 29 | 95 | Failed Hedgehog (First Stage) | He completed the obstacle, but lost his balance and fell. |
| 30 | 2980 | Failed Swap Salmon Ladder (Second Stage) | Disqualified. |
| 31 | 99 | Failed Rolling Hill (First Stage) | |
| 32 | 99 | Failed Soritatsu Kabe (First Stage) | Time Out. |
| 33 | 90 | Failed Salmon Ladder Kudari (Second Stage) | Had nearly completed the obstacle,but lost his grip and fell |
27 19 Failed Half Pipe Attack (First Stage) Injury and Foot Touch