Kunoichi (stylized as **女 ** in Japan) is a women's obstacle course competition held in Japan and broadcast on the Tokyo Broadcasting System. It is a spin-off of Sasuke, another obstacle course series. Kunoichi is different from Sasuke in that the competitors are exclusively female. The show is re-broadcast as Women of Ninja Warrior on the American G4 channel. It originally ran for 8 tournaments between 2001 and 2009 with the first tournament held as Kinniku Banzuke special. In 2017, after an 8-year hiatus, it was renewed for a 9th tournament which aired on February 12, 2017. The 9th, 10th, and 11th tournaments took place on an indoor course at the Makuhari Messe Convention Hall, unlike past tournaments taking place at Mt. Midoriyama Studio City.

Participants

Participants compete for a prize of 2 million yen ($25,497 U.S. dollars). Each competition starts with 100 competitors from a range of backgrounds such as actors, comedians, housewives, and athletes, amateur and Olympians alike. The competitors are mainly Japanese, but many international competitors have participated.

Kunoichi All-Stars

Ayako Miyake (三宅 綾子) - This three-time consecutive Kunoichi champion has earned her the nickname "Queen of Kunoichi". Weighing only 90 lb, Ayako is also an acrobatic dancer, who used to work for Muscle Musical. She achieved total victory in the 4th, 5th, and 6th competitions. In the 7th Competition however, she fell on the last obstacle of the Second Stage, the last part of the Swinging Beams, which was a metal beam without a rope support like the last two. Her failure left the other competitors in visible shock because, in the words of the narrator "She was the competitor everyone was counting on!" As of 2008, she has cleared the first stage four times in a row and the second, third and final stages three times in a row. Recently Ayako and a few other Muscle Musical members including the creator and Sayaka Asami broke away and created their own group, so it is now rumored that she will no longer compete. (This seems to be confirmed as she did not compete in Kunoichi 8.) Rie Komiya (小宮理英) - This is one of the top competitors on Kunoichi and is notable for advancing all the way to the Third Stage in her first tournament, and failing Domino Hill(4th Competition). In the 5th Competition, she looked better than Miss Perfect herself, however by the time she reached the Skyway Pole in the final stage she looked defeated and her time ran out. She is a Japanese newscaster and went into modeling after her appearance on Kunoichi, before joining the Muscle Musical by the time of the 7th competition. Her run in the 6th competition was cut from the broadcast, but it is known that she failed stage 1. She was one of only four competitors who defeated the First Stage in the 7th competition, but she failed on the Monkey Bars in the Second Stage. As of 2008 she has cleared the first stage three times, the second stage twice, and the third stage once. Rie Komiya also competed in SASUKE 22, SASUKE 23, SASUKE 24 and SASUKE 26, being disqualified on the Jumping Spider and then failing the Half-pipe Attack, the Log Grip and the Rolling Escargot respectively. In Kunoichi 8 she became the second woman ever to beat the Final Stage. Yuko Mizuno (水野 裕子) - After almost completing the Final Stage in the 2nd and 3rd Competitions, she was thought to be the most likely competitor to complete the Final Stage, and was once thought to be the "Queen of Kunoichi". In the 3rd Competition, Yuko missed the button by 0.2 seconds. That was later similar to Makoto Nagano in Sasuke 12 (he reached the top of Final Stage's tower and missed the red button by 0.11 seconds). Since then, she has only made it to the Third Stage once (in the 5th competition), and hasn't passed the First Stage in the 4th, 6th and 7th competition. Besides being a Kunoichi competitor, she is also a celebrity athlete, and a regular Sasuke competitor. Fans also call her Ms. Kunoichi, for her similar status to Mr. Sasuke, Katsumi Yamada. As of 2008 she has cleared the first stage three times, the second stage three times and the third stage twice. She is also known as the Katsumi Yamada of Kunoichi. In 2024, She was return to competed in Sasuke world cup 2024 as Team Japan Legend. Maho Tanaka (田中真帆) - She is a professional snowboarder/wakeboarder. Maho was considered an All-Star of Kunoichi by the second time she has competed. She is known for her impressive speed nearly matching Ayako Miyake's records. Also she made it to the Final Stage during her second appearance, in the 6th tournament, where she completed the Third Stage most difficult obstacle, Domino Hill, at a very quick pace, that exceed any competitors' time who attempted or completed that obstacle (including Ayako Miyake). As she made it past the first three stages, it seems that she wasn't nervous about any obstacles standing in her way, but by the time she reached the Final Stage, she was unsure about her footing, constantly looking down, and began to lose speed on the Brick Climb, which by the time she completed time was already up. In the 7th tournament, she was the only competitor to reach the Third Stage, however she was defeated by the obstacle that she had defeated in the previous tournament, Domino Hill. In Kunoichi 8 she was eliminated when she wasn't one of the top two in her group to finish the first stage. As of 2010 she has cleared the first stage twice, the second stage twice and the third stage once.

Regulars

Kunoichi has several competitors who competing on a regular basis. Some of these include: Yuko and Rena Higashi - A mother-daughter team. Though the mother, Yuko, has yet to complete the First Stage, Rena is the second 13-year-old to complete the First Stage (the first was Saki Suzuki in the 3rd competition), but she is the youngest to complete the Second Stage. Rena has also competed in the juniors division of Sasuke where she ran out of time just a few inches from the buzzer of the Final Stage. Yuko is a housewife, and her daughter is a tomboy and an athletic student, who joined the track and field team in order to train for Kunoichi. Rena also competed in Kunoichi 8, but she failed 1st Stage's Swinging Jump. Sayaka Asami - Was the women's group leader in the related series, Muscle Musical. Before the Muscle Musical, she was part of the dance team DIG. Recently she broke away from Muscle Musical and formed her own group with Ayako Miyake. She competed from Kunoichi 3-5 and made it to the Third Stage all 3 times, but unfortunately failed Domino Hill all three times in exactly the same spot, in the same way. Asami's performances have earned herself a spot as one of the best competitors to date, but she will probably never compete again. Mika Izumi - is a Jazz Dance Instructor hailing from Tokyo. She first appeared in the 3rd competition and wowed everyone by making it all the way to the Final Stage. Izumi managed a great run but ran out of time just a few feet short of the buzzer. In the following tournament, Izumi was the only finalist from the previous tournament to clear Stage 1, however in Stage 2 she failed the Triple Hurdle (a common casualty in Kunoichi 1 and 2). Since competing in Kunoichi, Izumi has married and her married name is Mika Watanabe. She also participated in SASUKE 12 and SASUKE 13, failing Stage 1's Jump Hang and Prism Tilt respectively. She returned after SASUKE was renamed SASUKE RISING. In SASUKE 28, she failed the Rolling Escargot. In SASUKE 29, like SASUKE 12, the redesigned Jump Hang (Jump Hang Kai) was her downfall. Hiromi Satake - A professional sumo wrestler who, due to her large and overweight body, fails on the first obstacle in the First Stage every time. Since the start of Kunoichi, she has participated in all but the 5th Competition.

International participants

Kunoichi has a more diverse competition than Sasuke; in the 6th competition, over 20 different nations were represented. A few foreign competitors include: Kyra Gracie - A member of the Gracie Brazilian jiu-jitsu Family. She competed in the 6th Competition, but failed the First Stage's Balance Bridge. Catalina Ponor - A Romanian Olympic gold medal gymnast, she competed in the 6th competition, where she failed the "Flying Pillar" in the First Stage. Mirabella Akhunu - A Ukrainian gymnast who competed in the 2004 Athens Olympics. She made it to the Second Stage in the 5th competition, but failed on the Spinning Log. Oana Ban - Romanian gymnastic gold medalist in the team competition at the 2004 Athens Olympics. She made it to the Second Stage in the 4th Competition, but failed on the Floating Bridge. Tasha Schwikert - American gymnast, 2000 Olympian, Finished one second after her time ran out in the Second Stage of the 3rd Competition. Diana Pickler - this American heptahlete from Washington State University competed in the 7th competition, but failed on the First Stage's Log Jam. Sara Jean Underwood - the American model, 'Playboy Playmate of the Year 2007' and host of Attack of the Show competed in the 8th competition and made it to the Second Stage but she failed the Dancing Stones.

Other notable participants

At least four Sasuke all-stars - Shingo Yamamoto, Toshihiro Takeda, Katsumi Yamada, and Makoto Nagano - are known to be training Kunoichi competitors. Each of them competed in the 7th competition, with their mentors (except for Yamamoto) present. Nagano has also trained his older sister, Taeko Uchida, who has yet to complete the First Stage. Notable other competitors include: Youngest competitors include:

Stages

Kunoichi is composed of four stages, with the exception of the 1st, 2nd and 9th Competitions which consisted of only three stages each. Competitors must complete a stage in order to continue to the next stage. In the 9th competitions, the First and Second Stage were renamed to the RED and BLUE Stage respectively. Then, in the 10th competitions, the new Third Stage was renamed the BLACK Stage thus returned to a 4-stage format.

First stage

Second chance round

Second stage

Third stage

(There was no 3rd stage in Kunoichi 1, 2 and 9)

Final stage

(No one made it to the Final Stage in 7 & 10, so the Time Limit is unknown).

Obstacles

First stage

Participants are given 80 to 105 seconds to complete First Stage. In the 1st Competition, the First Stage proved to be a difficult course, as only two people were able to move on to the next stage. This caused a major change in the First Stage, making it less difficult than in the 1st Competition. In the seventh tournament, the buzzer that started the Flying Pillar's movement was placed before the preceding obstacle, the "Log Jam", forcing the contestant to get across the "Log Jam" quickly enough to be able to catch the pillar.

Second stage

In the first five competitions, a competitor only had from 30 to 50 seconds to complete the entire course. In the 6th Competition, it was turned into a time trial, with only the six fastest competitors (assuming more than six complete the course successfully) advancing to the Third Stage. In addition, the 6th Competition's Second Stage carried a 70-second time limit. By the 7th Competition, the course used the original rules, which the competitors must complete the Stage under a certain time limit. The 8th Competition permitted a maximum of 12 competitors to advance (basing it on fastest time if more than 12 completed the course), and there was a time limit of 210 seconds to complete the course.

Third stage

A third stage was placed before the Final Stage beginning in the 3rd Competition. Like the previous stages, the Third Stage is composed of balance-based obstacles. In the 3rd-4th Competition, each competitor was given 90 seconds to complete the course. For the 5th Competition, the time limit to complete the first two obstacles was eliminated. The contestant starts the timer during the final obstacle. This timer was removed in the 6th Competition to make it similar to the men's third stage.

Final stage

In the first two competitions, there were only three stages. The Final Stage became the fourth stage beginning with the 3rd Competition. Nobody made the Final Stage in the 1st Competition. The Final Stage in the 2nd Competition involved a long balance beam with cylindrical bumps, over a pool of water. The competitor was supported by a harness. There was no time limit. The Final Stage was revamped for the 3rd Competition, making it similar to the Final Stage of Sasuke. The competitor has 30, 35, 40 or 60 seconds to complete two obstacles. In the 3rd and 4th Competitions, it was to climb up a 10 m tower using ladder rungs attached to the sides of the walls, then climb a 5 m pole to a landing and the finishing button. In the 5th Competition, the ladder rungs alternated, making it more difficult for the competitor to reach the end, since they would have to climb the opposite wall every few steps. For the 6th Competition, the tower was replaced by a 10 m Climbing Wall.In the 7th Competition, the wall tower was replaced with a 12 m Net Climb.In the 8th Competition competitors must complete 10 mSurvival Climb (consisting of a series of metal bars), before climbing two vertically aligned (and opposite) Climbing Walls (3m+3m) to reach the goal. Unlike Sasuke, Kunoichi's Final Stage competitors are not dropped into a free fall if they fail to finish before time runs out. However, they are still supported by a safety line. The ladders and net slide out of the way when the competitor transitions to the "Pole Climb", but are not timed like Sasuke's "Spider Climb". To date; only 9 competitors have ever attempted the final stage and only Ayako Miyake, Yuko Mizuno and Rie Komiya have attempted the final stage more than once.

United States and United Kingdom broadcasts

The program can be seen in the United States as Women of Ninja Warrior on G4 and Esquire Network. Just like in the regular version, the play-by-play commentary and interviews with participants are subtitled in English while the introduction, player profiles, and replays have been dubbed by voice actor Dave Wittenberg. Each episode is a 30-minute portion of the Japanese broadcast. To date, the first eight competitions have aired in America. As with its sister program, Ninja Warrior, in G4's relaunch, the first seven episodes are edited with the opening sequence slightly edited with a widescreen version from the eighth episode then cuts to the show's logo, as transitions are replaced with a simple transition featuring the show's logo. It is also broadcast in the UK on the channel Challenge. The first seven competitions were dubbed by Stuart Hall, while Kunoichi 8 was dubbed by Jim North. Kunoichi has now removed Hall's commentary and re-dubbed the first seven competitions with new commentary by Jim North. Episodes also feature segments such as "Ninja Killer" (an obstacle from a stage that took out the most contestants), and "Warrior Wipeout" (the best wipeout from a Women of Ninja Warrior contestant). As of 2019, the first 8 competitions have been aired in the USA and UK.

Results

The following is a list of people who advanced the farthest and reached at least the third stage in each competition. Under each competition, the results are listed in order of who went the farthest first.

1st Competition

Aired: December 22, 2001 NOTE: Nobody cleared the second stage in this competition, After this competition, in Sasuke 19th Competition only 2 Competitors Cleared first Stage and Failed 2nd stage like this first Kunoichi Competition.

2nd Competition

Aired: December 21, 2002

3rd Competition

Aired: September 24, 2003 NOTE: In Stage 1 Kazue Watanabe went after Nao Watanabe, indicating she was the 97th competitor to go.

4th Competition

Aired: December 25, 2004

5th Competition

Aired: January 7, 2006

6th Competition

Aired: September 20, 2006 NOTE: Numbers were not given out in this tournament but the producers had the order in which the competitors went. Only Miyake's and Tanaka's numbers were revealed because they made it to the Final Stage.

7th Competition

Aired: September 5, 2007

8th Competition

Aired: October 7, 2009 ^Arimatsu cleared the final stage with 5.9 seconds on the clock but she grabbed the edge of the 2nd wall on the Climbing Board

9th Competition

Aired: February 12, 2017

10th Competition

Aired: July 2, 2017

11st Competition

Aired: July 1, 2018