Urushihara Yuuji (漆原 裕治) is a shoe salesman who has attempted SASUKE five times. In just his fourth attempt, he beat all the obstacles and became the third person and first non-All-Star to achieve kanzenseiha. He is a member of Shin Sedai and is also an Unlimited Cliffer.
Qualifying
Urushihara had been trying to get on SASUKE since 2003. He first competed in the Monkey Bars event in Taiku Ookoku, a successor to Kinniku Banzuke. (A finish in the top three would have awarded him a spot in SASUKE 11.) He then competed in the SASUKE 13 Trials, but failed the Jump Hang. He also competed (again unsuccessfully) in the SASUKE 19 and SASUKE 20 trials. Before SASUKE 21, he competed in the SASUKE ATTACK course at the BUG IN MIKI Festival, a course set up with several SASUKE obstacles with the last one being the Shin-Cliffhanger. Urushihara and fellow Unlimited Cliffer Tomino Keita completed the course, while none of the SASUKE All-Stars did. Urushihara had the faster time of the two, and was thus awarded a berth in SASUKE 21.
Early Tournaments
In SASUKE 21, he wore #72. Although his run was fully cut during the TBS broadcast, parts of it were shown on SASUKE Maniac. In his run, he showed great speed. On Flying Chute, he was able to grab onto the rope, but while trying to reach the net, he lost his grip and he fell into the water.
He returned in SASUKE 22 after going through the SASUKE Trials and earning a spot to compete. He wore #77 and completed the First Stage with the fastest time of the day, 7.51 seconds remaining. In the Second Stage, his training at Muscle Park paid off, as he beat the Salmon Ladder with little trouble. While he had some trouble lifting the last wall of the Wall Lifting obstacle, he still completed the Second Stage with 19.27 seconds left. In the Third Stage, his training especially paid off. He was able to fly through most of the obstacles. When he made it to the Gliding Ring, he attacked the obstacle perfectly and became the first person to clear it, thus becoming the first person to reach the redesigned Final Stage. In the Final Stage, he showed great speed on the Heavenly Ladder, reaching the G-Rope with 28 seconds left. Unfortunately, he struggled there, and came up half a meter short of winning. After this failure, he spent most of his training rope climbing.
Because of his near-kanzenseiha, he was granted #99 in SASUKE 23. While it was clear he was under a lot of pressure, he was able to clear the First Stage despite stumbling on the Half-Pipe Attack and Soritatsu Kabe. In the Second Stage, he was able to clear the first few obstacles. Unfortunately, he went out on a new obstacle, the Unstable Bridge, when he failed to get a solid landing.
Kanzenseiha
Urushihara earning kanzenseiha in SASUKE 24
After his failure, he built a replica of the Unstable Bridge to train and returned for SASUKE 24, still receiving a high start position, #93. He blazed through the First Stage with 24.35 seconds left, the fastest time of the day. He then exacted his revenge on the Unstable Bridge but began to run low on time on the redesigned Balance Tank. He powered through the final obstacles and finished with 6.55 seconds to spare. In the Third Stage, he cleared all the obstacles for a second time. Despite the Gliding Ring ring sliding back at the end of the track, he recovered and became just the fourth person to clear the Third Stage on multiple occasions. Five cleared the third stage that day, which hadn't happened since SASUKE 3. Third in the running order, the first two fell short of the goal. He blazed through the Heavenly Ladder in record time but began to struggle on the transition to the G-Rope. He finally regained footing at the bottom of the rope with 21 seconds left. Putting his long hours of rope climb training to good use, he powered up the rope. With ten seconds left on the clock, he picked up his pace. He defeated the Final Stage with 3.57 seconds remaining, and became the third person to achieve kanzenseiha, joining SASUKE All-Stars Akiyama Kazuhiko and Nagano Makoto, who interestingly both failed the First Stage that day.
Kanzen Renewal
After his kanzenseiha, he was granted the coveted #100 in SASUKE 25. He again cleared the first stage with little trouble, but he failed the Double Salmon Ladder in an odd and unlikely fashion. The left side of the bar missed the rung, but the right side somehow latched onto one of the rungs, leaving Urushihara hanging onto the pole vertically, essentially rendering completion of the obstacle impossible. His foot grazed the water after a while, and his day was over.
In SASUKE 26 he started speedly. In the Jumping Spider he was too short and he flied back to the trampoline. He done at the second attempt but he had not a lot of time. In HalfpipeAttack he swing back for another attempt, but he went left from the platform and failed his landing.
Results
| SASUKE | # | Result | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 21 | 72 | Failed Flying Chute (First Stage) | Broadcast on SASUKE Maniac |
| 22 | 77 | Failed G-Rope (Final Stage) | Time Out. Last man standing. |
| 23 | 99 | Failed Unstable Bridge (Second Stage) | |
| 24 | 93 | Kanzenseiha | 3.57 seconds left |
| 25 | 100 | Failed Double Salmon Ladder (Second Stage) | |
| 26 | 100 | Failed Halfpipe Attack (First Stage) |
External Links
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