Makoto Nagano

Makoto Nagano (長野 誠, Nagano Makoto, born March 30, 1972 in Kitakata, Miyazaki) (sometimes known as the World's Strongest Fisherman) is a commercial fisherman and the captain of his vessel, F/V Konpira Maru 50 (第50金比羅丸) (He used to be captain of the F/V Konpira Maru 28 (第28金比羅丸)) and musician. He is regularly seen on the Japanese television show Sasuke (Ninja Warrior) where he was one of the "SASUKE All-Stars," a group of favored competitors who were thought to possess the greatest potential in completing the four grueling obstacle courses of Ninja Warrior. He can also be seen on the lesser known precursor to Ninja Warrior, Viking: The Ultimate obstacle course, where he was the only competitor to make it to the final round.

Winning in the 17th competition (2006) he is the second of only five victors of the competition, the others being in the 4th competition (1999), Yuuji Urushihara in the 24th (2010) and 27th (2011) competitions, and Yusuke Morimoto in the 31st competition (2015).

Leading up to the 32nd competition in 2016, Nagano formally announced his retirement from Sasuke, with his "last run" making up a significant portion of the broadcast and promotional material for the tournament. This involved several gifts from fans and fellow competitors alike, including a "finish" button normally found at the end of the courses. Additionally, a special retirement ceremony was held following his run, concluding with his friends and fellow competitors throwing him into a water pit, mirroring his total victory celebrations in Sasuke 17.

Nagano spends 300 days a year training on his fishing ship for the Sasuke competitions.

Nagano is known for his consistency in the competition. In his first 2 tournaments (7th and 8th competition), Nagano failed the Warped Wall. Then, in the 9th competition, he made an impact by reaching the Pipe Slider, further than any other competitor in that tournament had reached, only to fail the final jump off the pipe. He failed the Jump Hang on the first stage on the 10th tournament, but reached the Final Stage in the next three competitions (the 11th, 12th, and 13th competitions), but failed each time. Of the three, the closest he came to winning the competition was in the Fall 2003 competition (competition 12), missing the red button by 0.11 (1/9) seconds. Since the 7th competition, he has failed the 1st stage ten times out of 24 appearances, the most recent being the 31st Tournament. He has only failed the 2nd Stage three times (15th, 20th, and 30th tournaments). He also holds the record for the most attempts in the Final Stage at five.

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