Hideki Ajima spent months preparing for this year¡¯s ¡°Sasuke,¡± adjusting his gym routine to focus on specific muscles that would help him conquer the famed obstacle course. The biggest challenge he faced, however, was a mental one.
¡°It was the wait before,¡± the 19-year-old performer currently part of talent agency Johnny & Associates Johnny¡¯s Jr. group Shonen Ninja tells The Japan Times regarding his debut performance on the show. ¡°While I was waiting for my turn (to run the course), I became hyper aware of just what my number was. Watching as other people fell and faced challenges made me think over how I had trained, what I had done and maybe not done.¡±
Anyone, even a J-pop performer, would be intimidated by the physical challenges laid out by ¡°Sasuke,¡± which airs its end-of-year extravaganza on Dec. 28 at 6 p.m. on TBS. Since debuting in 1997, the series has presented celebrities and regular folks alike with challenging courses testing their athletic abilities, from jumps across pits to having to cross a balance beam through what looks like rotating punching bags ¡ª the ¡°Fishbone.¡±
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