Sasuke Related Updates

Edit: 4/27/11 with the name of the Dog.
Edit: 4/27/11 with information on Sasuke coming to NBC. Updated with new TokyoGraph article in English.
Updated again ... it's not Sasuke coming to NBC.. it's friggin ANW /facepalm and Confirmation that Nagano will NOT be in Venice Beach.

Nagano's got a little wiener! Dog... Going to see if I can find out what the dog's name is! It's cute!
Edit: Dog's name is Lily! ©Makoto Nagano via yodaraji

I didn't realize it's been almost a month since I last posted. There's an update from All-Star Makoto Nagano 長野誠 on the yodaraji radio station website. I've been expecting another radio interview with Nagano for a bit but with the delay of his music CD I wasn't sure if there was going to be one. His last yodaraji interview was this time last year. The interview itself for April, 2011 is very different. The show itself is short with the first part (almost 13 minutes of the total 15 minute broadcast) is about a new type of dessert from a local man from Nobeoka (where the radio station is from and incidentally where Nagano was born and raised). Nagano's part is actually a pre-recorded message where he is wishing Yodaraji a happy 5th year anniversary. This was played all the way at the end of the episode. (His part starts approximately 13:40).

Outside of the wishing the radio station a happy 5th anniversary of being on the air, he covers 3 topics. Sasuke 27, his music CD and the Maguro Festival. He unfortunately doesn't talk about the dog.. /groan.. but I'll find out.. I'll promise I'll try! It's just too cute to ignore! Edit: Got a message back this morning:

It is my dog.
The name is Lily.

私の犬です。
名前は、リリーです。

Anyway, he mentions that his performance at Sasuke has not been great lately so if there is another one, he would like to try his best and hope everyone will support him. Now.. this is different than what's been happening in the USA. As you know by now, ANW3 is scheduled for May, 2011 in the same location (Venice Beach, California). They mention that Sasuke 27 is still not confirmed but they think it's in June, 2011. As far as Nagano is concerned.. there is no Sasuke 27 and as of this message on Sunday.. he STILL has not been contacted about Sasuke 27. In fact.. he found out from me that Sasuke 27 was even being discussed.. and he had no idea about ANW3 so the odds of him being re-invited to appear again as a guest is so far nil... that could change though but as of now.. he hasn't been invited and he doesn't know if Sasuke 27 will even happen. What's depressing though is that he thinks people aren't going to support him because of his 3 successive first stage failures. Little does he know that he is a lot more popular than that! If/when Sasuke 27 happens I'll be sure to have people send him emails of support so he knows he's still worthy of support! :)

I seem to display my clothes in the American preliminary meeting place.
Clothes seem to go to U.S.A. in place of me.
アメリカの予選会場に、私の服を飾るそうです。
わたしの代わりに服がアメリカに行くみたいです。

Edit: Confirmation that Nagano will NOT be in Venice Beach. He was asked to send clothing for the charity auction this weekend instead of him coming to the USA.

It has also been announced that G4 and TBS are collaborating for a disaster relief project that will raise funds to be donated to the Red Cross. From April 29 to May 1, they plan to broadcast “Ninja Warrior Japan Relief,” a 50-hour-plus marathon that will be encouraging donations and running a charity auction.
(From TokyoGraph)

Cover of the Yujou To Tatakaino Kiseki CD
友情と闘いの軌跡 CD

Nagano does goes on to talk about his music CD release (release date is finally May 11, 2011), that it can be downloaded or be bought from Amazon (he thinks, he doesn't really know what it is... yes.. he giggles on his own recorded message.. LOL) . I've been trying to update the page with the options where to buy the music CD. There's Itunes, Amazon for the Westerners and a bunch of other places for those in Southeast Asia. As I find out more I'll update it to that specific page. Would be cool if he sang the song in public.. but he's apparently too shy.. LOL So if you want to hear him sing, please support his release and buy the song when it's released in May!

20th Annual Maguro (Tuna) Festival in Kushikino
第20回串木野まぐろフェスティバル Poster ©Ichikikushikino City

Then he talks about Maguro Festival to be held this weekend in Kagoshima. This was actually the last post I talked about. The 20th Annual Maguro Festival 第20回串木野まぐろフェスティバル will take place the end of this week in Kagoshima Prefecture on Saturday April 30 and Sunday May 1, 2011 in the city of Kushikino. This is a local Tuna event for the port city of Kushikino. It's pretty much a county fair including games for kids, music, food and other activities for the whole family. The past few years the company Nagano works for, Takasui Corp. has participated in the event (since they also use this fishing port) and during that time they had Nagano design and build a Sasuke set where he could demonstrate his skills along with a few of his friends to the local crowd. This year Nagano was able to send me a list of invites going to this year's event in April.

I and Takeda and Yamamoto and Yamada participate this year.
今年は、私と竹田さんと、山本さんと、山田さんが参加します。

At the end of the recorded message, one of the hosts of the show (either Tachan or Miki ) quips that Nagano sure didn't sound very enthusiastic while the other comments that he sounded sleepy... as always. Poor thing, Nagano must have sent the message when he got back from fishing..

Either way this is the only update so far. Next week I hope to update the site with pics and videos of the Maguro Festival as a few people we know are going. If any concrete messages from TBS and/or Monster9 arrive about Sasuke 27 I'll be sure to add that as well.


Edit: As Ube found earlier today there was an official announcement made on the TBS website (TBS is the official broadcaster of Sasuke in Japan). He has since done a post trying to get to the bottom of this announcement and has been collecting all the articles written on it.

The only English article so far was made by Variety and that can be found here and a new one from TokyoGraph here:

U.S. television network NBC is planning to broadcast the popular TBS sports variety program “SASUKE” in a prime time slot this fall. This is said to be the first time that one of the four major U.S. broadcast television networks will air a live-action show from Japan.
..
NBC, in an apparent partnership with G4, will broadcast the 27th “SASUKE” competition as the climax of the third season of “American Ninja Warrior,” which is scheduled to start this August. NBC has not yet announced a date for its broadcast.

From the sounds of it.. Sasuke 26 will be shown on G4 this weekend (sans the Americans as we have been warned) and supposedly there is a Japan Relief marathon that I don't see advertised at all.. typical G4..

ANW3 will be aired in 10 parts in August on G4 it seems.

And Sasuke 27 will be shown on NBC (network television/national free to air here in the USA) sometime in the fall. This is the intriguing part. (Cutting and pasting from another thread) It's unclear what they plan to do on NBC this fall. Not sure if they will air a G4 version of 27 (NW chopped up version omitting the Americans whenever it's tied to ANW), the Sasuke version like Taiwan shows it (with just subtitles and deletion of sponsors with a new opening and closing) or if they plan to do a Viking version the way they did it in ESPN back when they showed Viking (as a friend of mine suggested). If it's a true NBC production they might do a whole different broadcast to suit their needs.. I'm almost afraid to see.. but I'll cast judgment later when I see it.

G4 is a Comcast channel.. but Comcast just BOUGHT NBC.. so now it all makes sense.. Still no idea how the broadcast is going to look like.. for the love of all things holy it better be different than the Ninja Warrior travesty.. but I'm thinking they might Viking/ESPN this which IMO was worse.. Still.. it's a totally different audience and they cannot rely on what happened on G4.. which means.. they can't omit the Americans from Sasuke 27 on NBC even though it's tied to ANW3. So far G4 has been consistent in deleting the Americans from the broadcast if it's tied to ANW.. we'll see what happens this fall.

Edit: Okay.. now it got worse.. it's not Sasuke coming to NBC.. it's friggin' ANW.. Here is the article:

In the third season, the show will head to Japan and touts the biggest prize yet for the show, a $500,000 K-SWISS endorsement deal and marketing campaign. Also, G4 and the Tokyo Broadcasting System will auction off a chance for a fan to compete with the 10 finalists to benefit American Red Cross relief efforts in Japan. Production starts next month.

Wonderful.. now you can BUY your way into Sasuke.. /facepalm

Makoto Nagano - Yodaraji Radio Interview - April 5, 2010

All-Star Makoto Nagano 長野誠 during his interview on April 5, 2010 ©yodaraji

All-Star Makoto Nagano 長野誠 appeared in his 5th interview with Yodaraji Radio (2nd website - all the other interviews are in their first blog) - which is a radio station located in Nobeoka (which absorbed Kitaura, Nagano's hometown) on the east coast of Miyazaki Prefecture. Being of course the local celebrity of the region he's been afforded the opportunity to be on the show whenever he wants :) Apparently the actual interview took place on March 31, 2010 but posted on their website during their normal Sunday website updates.

Makoto Nagano 長野誠 posing with the 2 hosts of Yodaraji Radio - April 5, 2010 ©yodaraji

His last interview was last year April, 2009. Needless to say they talked about Sasuke 25 (which I'm currently blogging so since I haven't gotten to his part yet consider these spoilers. Read later if you don't want to get spoiled). I have his run updated now so if you want to read that first - then read it here then come back to this.

The cake is not a lie :p The Radio station got him a birthday cake commemorating his birthday March 30, 1972. He is now 38 years old. ©yodaraji

Extreme quick synopsis of a couple points provided by my friend Colin (while he was getting ready for class LOL) and more summary from my friend Chaki intermixed in here to get a clearer picture of what was said (and of course my comments.. LOL).

They start off by introducing him as "the most attractive strongest fisherman!!" (can't argue with that LOL). Tan-chan and Miki profusely thank Nagano for coming into the studio on such short notice. They say what a wonderful person he is (yada yada). They mention that he has fans not only in Japan, but all over the world. He is not upbeat and they try hard to pep him up. But these ladies are also EVILLL... One of them joked that she missed Nagano's entire run on a short bathroom break... (ahahahahahahah I love them!!)

How he summarized his run: The Six Steps were at a steeper angle so that through him off a bit. The Rolling Log spun around faster than he had remembered so it made him quite dizzy. Then the Circle Slider... In the part where they are discussing the "Circle Slidah" (which he failed) he said he kept thinking, "man this is no good" and lacked self confidence about that obstacle and it was really high, as expected. It was the obstacle he had worried about the most. He just didn't get enough air on his jump. He dove head first in the septic sludge so hard that his head hit bottom! (which explains the mud on his face!) He was shocked and surprised as it was the first time he had done so. They spent a lot of time laughing over that.

Makoto Nagano 長野誠 clapping over his birthday cake ©yodaraji

All Stars vs. New Stars: He touches on how he has aged. Though his upper body strength is okay, his lower body isn't what it used to be. But he chides himself by saying it's just making excuses because Sato and Okuyama are older and doing just fine. Then he moves onto the topic of motivation. He says that the New Stars are just so pumped up and determined. And as much as he wants to achieve Kansenseiha again, his motivation level is different from before. (Miki or Tanchan called it the Kim Yuna syndrome). They asked him how much longer he wants to keep doing Sasuke and he said something along the lines of, its a question of which will come first between me not being able to do it anymore (run, jump, swing) and the show ending.

Makoto Nagano 長野誠 about to blow out the candles ©yodaraji

He also went flower viewing (hanami) yesterday with the sakura and all. Hanami and guests: He talks about having a huge party with lots of guests and kids. He says it's so wonderful to have a home where he can welcome people. (Yah Asami!) He talked about how a fan wrote to him about bicycling around Kyushu. Nagano made him visit Nobeoka to coincide with his holiday. The university student did and stayed overnight at the Nagano home. Nagano then extends an open invitation to anyone who wants to visit him! "You want one meal, two meals, or three meals, it's all on me!" (btw.. he has always been this generous for as long as we've known about him so this is actually nothing new although it might surprise people)

Makoto Nagano 長野誠 during his interview on April 5, 2010 ©yodaraji

On his future in Sasuke: He admits he is feeling very "human" lately (instead of doing superhuman things). But he wants to have another chance at the finals. He doesn't promise Kanzenseiha again, but says he wants to at least have the opportunity to try for it. They were talking about the ARUKURI (slang for the Ultimate Cliffhanger) He says that he thinks people will train and overcome it if they try hard enough. He says someone will eventually conquer the Ultimate Cliffhanger, saying that when the New Cliff was introduced, people thought that was impossible.

At the end they ask him to say something to everyone he says something along the lines of, even though I've failed the past couple of times, I will train harder, beat the ultimate cliff hanger, and I will make try to make it to the final, so I appreciate your support.

Btw.. I thought they were going to talk about the 19th Annual Maguro Festival (第１9回串木野まぐろフェスティバル) which takes place later this month in Kagoshima - April 24-25, 2010 in the city of Kushikino. But apparently they did not. Either way.. it's at the end of the month.

Makoto Nagano - Yodaraji Radio Interview - November 8, 2009

Makoto Nagano 長野誠 posing with the Yodaraji Radio hosts during his interview on November 8, 2009 ©yodaraji radio
He had fun with this picture. There is a progression of pictures where he uses the popcorn as weights :p

Note: This blog was edited on November 12 with a brief translation

As I had mentioned on a previous blog, I was told the 5th interview with Makoto Nagano 長野誠 was incoming soon on yodaraji radio - which is a radio station located in Nobeoka (which absorbed Kitaura, Nagano's hometown) on the east coast of Miyazaki Prefecture. Being of course the local celebrity of the region he's been afforded the opportunity to be on the show whenever he wants :) Well they didn't disappoint! :D The November 8, 2009 radio interview was posted! I'll be updating this blog as I get more details as to what was said.

Yodaraji hosts posing from their popcorn stand ©yodaraji radio

This is Nagano’s fifth appearance on Yodaraji radio (all previous interviews are still on the website - top right of the main page). I blogged about his April, 2009 interview. From the overall general impression it seems there was a local festival called "のぼるざるフェスタTogether2009" (Festa Noboruzaru Together2009) that took place October 31/November 1 in Nobeoka City. The hosts of Yodaraji put up a popcorn stand and had a spot specifically for Nagano to sign autographs.

Nagano poster during the festival ©yodaraji radio

They had a great poster made for him and inserted what seems to be personal pictures he contributed (nice personal touch.. I want to see more of the pictures! .. ehem.. ). From what I can gather .. let's see.. personal picture of him posing with this fist pump in front of the Final Tower in Sasuke, the Levi Apology tour™ picture he posted on his website, a couple pics from the grand opening of the new version of Sasuke Park in Muscle Park I blogged about last year, personal pics I've never seen before of Takeda and Nagano in the MRT Beach competition this year and some odds and ends personal shots of his friends in Sasuke.

The popcorn stand/Nagano stand at the festival ©yodaraji radio

The impressions of the just under 17 minute interview he covers a range of topics. I got a brief overview of the topics discussed in the radio interview. Thank you so much!! Anyway.. the start of the broadcast they mention that Nagano and family spent the previous week helping out at the Yodaraji booth at a local fair. He signed autographs and was very gracious in promoting the radio program. So right from the get go this interview happened most likely over the weekend of the 8th (when they actually posted the interview on their blog).

They start off talking to him about the name of his son. By now we all know the name of his son - 塊王 (Kaiou) (his son's name in Hiragana かいおう) and pronounces it deliberately as to make sure they got it right. I hear a Kawaii.. so they think it's cute or at least the baby is cute. Nagano is very smitten with his baby. Most people say baby looks like Daddy, especially the skin color. (laughter all around.) "He is darker than most babies his age." (More laughter). Mystery about unusual kanji. Originally, he had wanted to use "Sea King" (海王) but after consulting a Shinto fortune teller, they were told the "lump" kanji will bring him more luck. It's actually very common for Japanese people to consult these religious folks for baby names.

(Cut and paste about the meaning of the kanji from Sasuke Navi back in September)

That kai (蝪・ means a clump of earth. The right side 鬯シ represents the circular shape of a spirit, like ones you see represented as fireflies or glowing balls.

Then the left side 蝨・is earth/soil.

From the you get "a round clump of soil."

(Thanks @BretMayer)

Nagano signing autographs during the festival ©yodaraji radio

Talk turns to Sasuke. Miki, one of the ladies, didn't watch the last show. In fact, she usually doesn't watch them and Nagano gives her hell (good-naturely) about it. Nagano said he was confident that if he passed that Stage One obstacle (Most likely referring to the Slider Jump), he would go all the way. He said if he had two more seconds, he would barely pass. If he had three more seconds, it would have been plenty of time.

He then talks about getting old, and how it's the lower body that gives out first. Upper body strength is easier to work on. Even he was surprised at how he needed an extra try at the Warped Wall. He obviously dislikes the veteran vs. newbies storyline. He says Sasuke is not a competition. He wants everyone to do well. He just enjoys it when people do well. He says the pressure of wearing 100 is enormous. There is pressure to carry the show when no one does well. Then when lots of people do well, there's the fear of being the only one left behind.

Nagano posing with a mascot ©yodaraji radio

He talks about the Nobeoka kid who cleared the first stage. (winner of the MRT Competition 18 year old Yoshiki Itou 伊藤圭槻) They trained together a bit. Nagano thought during the training that the kid has the speed to clear the first stage, but lacks the strength to do well on the second and third stage. He has to build up strength. "It's not about passing the first stage. It's not even about getting to the third stage regularly. If you do Sasuke, you have to prepare for clearing the Final Stage." He then says, "I'm not going to mention anyone's name ... like Takedacchi..." (Ha. Ha. Ha.) (It's common and affectionate to call someone ....-chi. As an example - do you remember the toy Tamagotchi?) {LOL I can't believe he took a dig at Takeda.. ROFL!!!!}

Yodaraji crew taking pictures with KENNY BLANKENSHIP (of Takeshi's Castle/MXC fame)! Er.. the governor of Miyazaki Prefecture Hideo Higashikokubaru 東国原 英夫 ©yodaraji radio

They talk about the next Sasuke which will be taped in December... a possible air date is January 1... but Nagano says the date is not set yet. January 1 is a very prestigious time slot in Japan. Then he talks about the popularity of Sasuke worldwide. Ta-chan mentions that she gets regular e-mails from abroad. Nagano says he gets regular e-mails through his webpage. "In fact, all the contacts I've had lately are from abroad." She asks whether they are all declarations of love and he says no. "Most people just wish me luck. Some tell me how I have inspired them to health or to try things. It's nice and really makes me happy to hear things like that."

Post Sasuke 23 aftermath

All-Stars Makoto Nagano 長野誠 and Toshihiro Takeda 竹田敏浩 enjoying a BBQ in Nobeoka, Japan during the weekend of October 3, 2009 ©ken-ken-b Blog

Since the epic blog of Sasuke 23 (In 17 parts not including Navi)... I've been taking it easy. Upcoming are 3 sets of blogs (possibly 4). I wanted to take a break before my brain melted.. I'm waiting back to hear the responses to the Luci's blog for Sasuke 22 (Sorry no more questions - she has the list right now) and awaiting the translation of the questions to be sent to Hidenori Nagasawa 長澤 秀則 (Sasuke 10-17 and 23). Kunoichi 8 I'm thinking of doing and every time I get my brain to start doing it .. I tense up.. LOL The last blog might be a Nagano blog. 2 things are upcoming - the long awaited update promised by Takasui (poor guys have been up to their ears with with and with the opening of both Hotel ZeroCity and the Restaurant KonpiraMaru it's been hellish busy - also the long awaited Yodaraji interview (the last one was held in April). I'm not sure on both dates but they do assure me it's coming. That and of course any news on Sasuke 24's rapidly approaching tournament.. Geez.. feels like we just finished Sasuke 23.. wait.. we just DID! LOL

長野 (Nagano) 塊王 (Kaiou) (or my favorite meaning in Hiragana かいおう) (Around October, 2009) ©ken-ken-b Blog

While I take a break I love going to read the Japanese blogs. Nagano's childhood friend adores posting (if you don't believe me.. follow his site.. he posts at least 4 times a day... LOL) and even puts all of his pictures as he gets them.. sometimes within seconds.. ahahhaha Anyway. Seems Nagano and Takeda were in the neighborhood. He's posted a bunch of photos before of him (wedding pics, birth announcement and so on. Even him arm wrestling with Yamada and of course the guys recovering from Alcohol poisoning after the wedding..). I had to look at the baby picture like 10 times.. even compared it but yep.. that's baby Kaiou alright.. he's growing fast.... Seems he was caught just as he spit up.. Poor thing. Lord knows that cute little pudge (oh I want to EAT him he's so cuuuuuuuute) is already used to being photographed..

Makoto Nagano posing for website pics ©Makoto Nagano/Takasui

In the meantime a bunch of us online have been sharing information and trying our darnest to find anything on Sasuke 24. I got an email the other day from our friends in Taiwan (Wretch Blog). (Got a correction from Wretch) Seems a Graduate Student of Art made a tribute doll for Nagano. It's kinda eerie, cool and freaky all at the same time! Seems the actual design was inspired by the pictures he put on his site.

The doll itself is not for sale. Seems he wanted to make it in tribute to him and he hoped he would actually see it. I'm sure by now he either saw it or will see. Lord knows a few fans might have already sent it (cough.. I did too ... cough). It's funky how he inspires people to do totally different things, huh?

The detail even on the pictures is funky. The whole background and lighting to match both the 1st stage Starting line and the pictures of him posing as if he were posing for his website pics was really a cool touch. I'm sure he'll be shocked when he see it but feel honored that someone would want to make a tribute to him. Hope he writes them a letter somehow.

Mori, Hitoshi Kanno 菅野仁志 and Kobayashi having fun in the sound studio ©森渉 Mori Wataru

Meanwhile.. right in the middle of my Sasuke 23 blogging I saw that Mori had done a radio interview (or something similar) with his friends from Sasuke. For those who might remember him.. he was one of the guys I was following on my Japan Training Blog from back in August. Mori is an actor that has competed in Sasuke twice (most recent was Sasuke 21).

Mori, Hitoshi Kanno 菅野仁志 and Kobayashi having fun in the sound studio ©森渉 Mori Wataru

We all know who Kanno is by now but Hiroshi Kobayashi is an actor and has competed in previous Sasuke Trials (including the one I blogged on last last summer) and has made frequent visits as well to Sasuke Park in Muscle Park. In fact I remember one quite recently...

Kanno and Kobayashi getting ready for interview ©森渉 Mori Wataru

Either way I'm not sure if it was ever made available online like our friend in Nobeoka do with Yodaraji but it seems they had a lot of fun. Nice to see Kanno get some notoriety!

P.S. JUST as I uploaded this the Takasui pics started to come up.. Ahahahahaha dang I can time these things :)

Asami, Kaiou and Makoto Nagano posing with Hotel Zerocity Staff ©Makoto Nagano/Takasui Corp.

Btw.. His jeans look fab! Asami is looking great! And little Kaiou is growing a mohawk! LOL j/k :) He's so cuuuuuuuute!

Kaiou and Makoto Nagano posing in the first floor of the Restaurant KonpiraMaru ©Makoto Nagano/Takasui Corp.

Makoto Nagano - Yodaraji Radio Interview - April 19, 2009

Makoto Nagano 長野誠 posing for cameras during his interview in April 19, 2009 ©yodaraji

As I mentioned earlier in early March, Makoto Nagano 長野誠 was to appear in his 4th interview with yodaraji - which is a radio station located in Nobeoka (which absorbed Kitaura, Nagano's hometown) on the east coast of Miyazaki Prefecture. Being of course the local celebrity of the region he's been afforded the opportunity to be on the show whenever he wants :)

Nagano with Yodaraji hosts during the taping of the show - April 19, 2009 ©yodaraji

Thanks to my friend chaki for another wonderful translation! {Note that this is not a word for word translation but a general overview of the audio that can be heard also on the website}

This April will be the third year of Yodaraji! How wonderful! Yeah us!! But I have to admit that we haven’t done anything THAT exciting and spectacular. I wonder whether we’d just get older this way… Hmmm. Anyways, to celebrate our third anniversary, we have a special guest today.

I know there are listeners who have been waiting a long time to hear this interview. So here is the Strongest Fisherman from Sasuke, Makoto Nagano, Yodaraji’s permanent special guest.

Makoto Nagano posing with a birthday cake that was given to him as a gift by a local fan - April 19, 2009 ©yodaraji

This is Nagano’s fourth appearance on Yodaraji radio (all previous interviews are still on the website - top right of the main page). One of the ladies starts calling him Nagano-kun, which infers familiarity, like if he is her younger brother and everyone laughs. These last six months lots of things have happened to me even in my personal life. Then in March, there was Sasuke and I feel like just apologizing to everyone for my result. This Sasuke (22), the All-stars were all eliminated before my turn. I was so nervous going into it. Then I thought “Oh well, if everyone fell in, it’s okay this time if I do too.” (They groan and protest. “Last time you promised you would reach the final next,” she reminds him. And he says he’s forgotten and giggles big-time.)

Nagano's 37th birthday cake given to him by a local fan - April 19, 2009 ©yodaraji

He talks about the new area, saying that he was nervous looking at that new obstacle (presumably the Slider Jump). He goes on and says there are people practicing very hard for it all year around. Then he laughs saying there is pressure coming from “the next generation” as the announcer called it. Lady points out (Keisuke) Hatsuda (Sasuke Announcer) kept repeating “Is it time for the changing of the guards?” implying that the All-stars should be replaced… She acts offended. Nagano giggles again.

Lots of people say that but it only makes us want to try harder. People who don’t know can quickly say we are getting too older but I feel I can still do it. I will train hard for the next Sasuke and prove myself. Lady asks whether there is going to be a Sasuke in the fall. He says that according to the information he has access to, the fall Sasuke is not determined yet. He really hopes there will be a next time because he doesn’t want Sasuke to end with that last performance.

Yodaraji hosts playfully stealing the cake trimmings before he even gets to cut the cake - April 19, 2009 ©yodaraji

The broadcast of Sasuke coincided with his birthday (March 30th) and he had really wanted to do well because he just got married (January, 2009), his baby is due (June, 2009) and he wanted to do well at Sasuke as a birthday celebration. He says he is 37 and feeling old. She points out that he nows enters the Around 40 group (it’s a new thing in Japan, people around 37-43 are called Arafo (Around 40) and instead of acting old, they are very active, getting married, having babies, starting companies, going to school, staying in shape, having affairs, etc.) He laughs.

Yodaraji hosts being playfully scolded by Nagano for stealing strawberries on his birthday cake before he sliced it - April 19, 2009 ©yodaraji

They talk about his fans. That he has fans wishing him well. He says his baby is due June 20. And that it is a boy. They have thought of a name for him already. She jokes and says it must be Sasuke. Then she suggests Yasuke, which is his father’s name and everyone laughs. (In Japan, passing on names of family members is not done.) Nagano says that he’ll leave the name a secret. He says he’ll let everyone know when the baby is born. They are excited he is agreeing to appear on the show again. Then they talk about promoting 18th Annual Maguro Festival. (Which is this weekend April 25-26 in the city of Kushikino, near Kagoshima, Japan - they will have 2 demonstrations a day (from 11 am - Noon and then again from 2 pm - 3 PM on both Saturday and Sunday). Nagano doesn’t have much background information on it but talks about the All-Stars appearing and that there will be a set for people to try. They talk about the food there. She wants him to treat her. He says they should buy him a tuna burger. He promotes Takasui fish (the company he fishes for). They talk about the reduced highway toll charge. They don’t have the system installed. So they ask to hitch a ride. He says he’ll be going straight from the fishing boat.

Makoto Nagano celebrating his belated 37th birthday (his birthday is March 30th) - April 19, 2009 ©yodaraji

Finally, a message for your fans around the world. I get lots of support fan mail from America and other places. Thank you very much. I would like to do well at the next Sasuke so please keep supporting me.

They talk about how he can complete Sasuke in front of his baby. She suggests a black bib for him. He says Maybe a black tank top too. Laughs. End of interview.

A local fan sent a birthday cake. The pictures are of the ladies stealing parts off before it’s cut and Nagano scolding them. (It’s their personality to treat guests in fun ways that makes the show popular. I quite like them myself.)

Again THANKS a billion to chaki for the quick translation! Interesting on the future of Sasuke being in doubt right now. :( For the stupid things I notice™ menions.. did ya'll notice he got new clothes? Probably free swag from sponsors.. but he FINALLY GOT RID OF THOSE BLACK PANTS! :) His pants are now new Aasics and his shirt is has to be a gift from Descente.. I mean it has his name now! :)

Sasuke 22 Related updates

Makoto Nagano visits yodaraji radio - October, 2008 ©yodaraji
.

Just a couple of updates regarding our entries and updates for Sasuke 22. Just yesterday I emailed yodaraji - which is a radio station located in Nobeoka (which absorbed Kitaura, Nagano's hometown) on the east coast of Miyazaki Prefecture. He's been there before a few times and I figured they'd invite him again to promote Sasuke 22. Sure enough they emailed me back saying that they plan to have shows before Sasuke 22 and after Sasuke 22. They were kind enough to email in English!

Nice to meet you.
It is Nagano, but we have broadcast of sasuke in the end of March in Japan.
I plan the appearance request in broadcast front and back.
Future yodaraji in fun!

For the record I've been updating confirmations of entries to Sasuke 22 in my "So excited for Sasuke 22" thread that I started back in February. I added a few new entries from blogs including Yuuji Urushihara, ANC4 winner David Campbell, actor Masaki Nomura and a few other celebrities. With Sasuke 22 taping this Monday I should get more names to add to the list after they get back and start blogging about it in anticipation for the airing on March 30th. Thanks Ube for your help with some of these!

P.S. Initial reports of Sasuke Trials 2009 had an estimated 60 entries (Sasuke 21 Trials had 80 paired down from over 1100).