Biography:
Katsumi Yamada is known as "Mr. Sasuke". He was once thought to be the most likely to complete the entire course, after nearly clearing the final stage in the 3rd competition. He is particularly notable for his unusual devotion to the Sasuke competition. He has sworn to retire several times after failing to complete the 1st Stage, but the draw of total victory is too great for him and he always manages to resurface again. Early on he competed with the support of his family, but after he lost his job prior to the 6th competition, he did nothing but train for Sasuke, alienating his family in the process. After failing on the Pipe Slider in the 10th competition, he never returned to the 3rd Stage. Since being disqualified in the 12th competition on the 2nd Stage, he has never completed the 1st Stage. He trains to the point that he has no full-time job, though over the years he has worked part time as a steelworker and a hot dog vendor.
Look the part with a real ninja costume and tabi boots.
Yamada has failed in some interesting, surprising, and painful ways over the years. In the 6th competition he made the swing from the Pipe Slider to the mat but lost his balance and rolled off the side onto the ground. In the 8th competition, Yamada had announced his retirement. He took on the 1st Stage, and ran out of time on the Warped Wall. Clearly emotional, Yamada just stood there in defeat for a few seconds. Then unexpectedly, he ran and climbed over the Warped Wall with ease and completed the Rope Climb quickly. It was a very emotional moment in Sasuke. In the 9th competition, Yamada timed out on the 2nd Stage on the Wall Lift. This is because he spent nearly 20 seconds removing tape he applied to his shoes for stickiness and applying sticky spray to his hands and feet in preparation for the Spider Walk. Without this, he would surely have cleared in time. In the 11th competition, Yamada fell on the Balance Tank, landing with one leg on each side before being rolled into the water. In the 12th competition, Yamada failed to remove his gloves after completing the Chain Reaction, a mental error which disqualified him. Since that disqualification, Yamada has failed to even pass the first stage in the following tournaments with a series of unique wipeouts and time-ups.d
