KASSO
editKasso (stylised KASSO) is a skateboarding gameshow television series originating from Japan. The series was created by Tokyo Broadcasting System Television (TBS), a network know for large-format obstacle course series such as Takeshi's Castle, Ninja Warrior, and Unbeatable Banzuke. Billed as the "Ninja Warrior of Skateboarding", Kasso has competitors attempt a series of obstacle courses with the goal of surviving through them all to win the title of 完全制覇 (Total Victory, Kanzenseiha).
The concept for Kasso originated on the TBS series Unbeatable Banzuke, with a one stage skateboarding obstacle course in the 1990s. In the 2020 Summer Olympics in Japan, skateboarding debuted as a new discipline, with Japan setting a commanding lead with 3 Gold, 1 Silver and 1 Bronze medal. Following this, skateboarding saw a large uptick in popular in Japan. In the leadup to the 2024 Summer Olympics, TBS sought to capitalize on this success and commissioned a new series based on skateboarding. [1]
The debut tournament of Kasso premiered in Mar 2024 as a late night pilot series. Following low viewership and the unexpected payout five ¥1,000,000 grand prizes, the staff apologized for the balance and reception of the program. The day after the broadcast, the Kasso team uploaded a 13-minute highlight reel to YouTube, which became an unexpected viral success reaching several million views[2]. TBS decided to capitalize this an announced that Kasso's 2nd season would get a subtitled livestream in English and a heavy social media presence. It debuted to huge success, with many social media clips surpassing 10 million views.
Since this point in time, TBS has launched KASSO events in the United States and China with the Japanese team travelling abroad to ensure consistent quality. TBS has indicated talks to expand to several other regions. In TBS's 2025 Investor Meeting, they announced intent to host a Kasso World Cup event in the future once more regions have established shows.[3]
| WakakoShimazaki/sandbox | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Sports entertainment Obstacle course |
| Created by | Shimon Iwazawa |
| Country of origin | Japan |
| Original language | Japanese |
| No. of episodes | 7 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer | Hayata Satake |
| Producer | Yohei Yasunaga |
| Running time | 60 minutes (KASSO 1-3) 240 minutes (KASSO 4) |
| Original release | |
| Network | Tokyo Broadcasting System (TBS) (KASSO 1-3) Red Bull TV (KASSO 4) |
| Release | March 18th, 2024 – present |
| Related | |
| Kinniku Banzuke | |
Rules
editBasic Rules
editIn each stage, competitors are tasked with completing a designated obstacle course. The initial rounds do not require competitors to clear, opting to instead eliminated the competitors with the lowest performance. The final rounds are survival based, where competitors must completely clear the course to advance.
Competitors may put their foot down to kick off a any time, and may touch the ground with their hands to maintain balance. Falling into water is always an elimination, however whether or not falling off your board is a fail depends on the stage. Stage that are races or are timed typically do allow competitors to fall off their board, as the time it takes to recover is still a hinderance. In all stages, the competitor must have their board to hit the buzzer and complete the stage.
Competitors are given an open practice period where they may attempt all of the stages prior to recording, however during the official tournament the number of attempts on each course is limited to only 1 unless otherwise noted. In Kasso 4, competitors were given two attempts at Rail Coaster to counteract the historically low scores on this event. Additionally, competitors were given a second attempt at Million Jump LB at the request of the audience following weak overall results.
Format
editEach tournament consistent of four to five Stages broken into two phases: The Elimination Phase, where between 1 and 4 competitors with the worst overall performance are elimination from the competition, and the Survival Phase, where failing the course will result in the end of your run. Of these stages, there are five categories of Stage that appear in a fixed order:
Downhill Stage
editEach season begins with a Downhill Stage. This stage is a time trial through a downhill course with some basic jumps, ollies, and ramps, and can typically be completed in around 1 minute, with the slowest competitors being eliminated.
Rail Stage
editThe 2nd Stage of the series, based upon rail grinding and balance. Progress is measured by the % each competitor made it through the course, with the weakest results dropping out. The first version, Uzushio, featured a spiral with narrowing width and sharper turns until it became a rail. The following Rail Coaster versions featured a straight rail with drops, humps, seesaws, and slight curves.
Balance Stage
editHas appeared as the 3rd Stage approximately half of tournaments. These stages feature harshly angled courses measured by the % completion. These stages often feature no flat surfaces, and difficult drops requiring high momentum and balance to complete. The first version, Origami features a large Origami shape with all angled platforms. The second version, Grasshopper, featured 7 curved lilypads, all placed angled with large drops.
Course Stage
editAppeared as the penultimate Stage in Kasso seasons 1-3. A timed obstacle course, requiring competitors to complete a large obstacle course of half pipes, humps, grinds and gap jumps in a given time limit. In the first two seasons, the time limit was a strict 31 seconds. In Kasso III, the course's time limit was increased to 63 seconds with four optional hidden buzzers that award two additional seconds. In order to accommodate the increased time limit, the course was made significantly more difficulty.
Final Stage
editThe last Stage. A mad dash to the end! This course features a rail and a sliding gate and typically takes around 10 seconds to complete. Rather than a typical time limit, this course's final gate is constantly moving, increasing the difficulty over time.
| Elimination Round | Survival Round | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | Downhill Stage | Rail Stage | Balance Stage | Course Stage | Final Stage |
| 1 | Midoriyama Downhill | Uzushio | — | Tokyo Upside Down | Million Gate |
| 2 | Midoriyama Downhill SE | Rail Coaster | Origami | Tokyo Upside Down SE | Million Jump |
| 3 | Rail Coaster GM | — | Da Park | ||
| 4 | Long Beach Downhill | Rail Coaster Big Boy Foy | Grasshopper | — | Million Jump LB |
Series Overview
editKASSO
edit| # | Episode Title | Location | # of Contestants | Original Release Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1A[5] | KASSO I | Yokohama, Japan | 9 | March 18, 2024 |
| 1B | 9 | March 25, 2024 | ||
| 2 | KASSO II | 15 | October 7 & 14, 2024 | |
| 3 | KASSO III | Yokohama, Japan | 14 | March 13 & 16, 2025 |
| 4 | KASSO Fest: Skate and Sound | Long Beach, United States | 30 | March 22, 2026[6] |
KASSO Gaiden
editGaiden, the Japanese word for "Side Story", are smaller, 1 stage trial events. While compilation videos have been released, these events have not received an official broadcast.
| # | Episode Title | Location | # of Contestants | Filming Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GD1[8] | KASSO GD | San Francisco, United States | February 15, 2025 | |
| GD2[9] | KASSO GD IECP | Ikebukuro, Japan | 12 | March 26, 2025 |
| GD3[10] | KASSO GD: Aranya | Aranya, China | October 6, 2025 |
Skeboarder
editThe predecessor to Kasso made by the same network, Skeboarder featured a single, untimed course stage featuring 9 obstacles. Unlike Kasso, competitors were not allowed to come to a complete stop unless doing a stall, and may not put their foot down or kick off at any time.
| # | Episode Title | Location | # of Contestants | Original Release Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| S1 | Skeboarder | Yokohama, Japan | 32 | 1997 |
| S2 | Skeboarder II | 32 | 1999 |
Mini KASSO
editA special side season where competitors complete a small course, where points are awarded for each successful obstacle clear as well as for tricks
| # | Episode Title | Location | # of Contestants | Original Release Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| M1 | Skeboarder | Japan | 6 | July 19 to August 3, 2024 |
Other Media
editA mobile Endless runner game called "KASSO Gaiden: Escape from the Skaterverse released for iOS and Android in February 26th, 2026[11]
Season Summaries
edit- ✔ Stage completed
- ✘ Stage failed
- ➤ Stage failed, but made it far enough, fast enough to advance to the next Stage
- ⏲ Stage cleared, but competitor was eliminated due to having a slow time
- ⓘ Withdrew from the competition due to injury or last minute scheduling conflict
KASSO 1 - Group A
edit| Competitor | Elimination Phase | Survival Phase | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Country | Name | Midoriyama Downhill | Uzushio | Tokyo Upside-Down | Million Gate |
| Hayate Kamimura | |||||
| Kuta Inukawa | — | — | |||
| Mana Sasaki | |||||
| PENPEN | — | — | — | ||
| Rinku Konishi | |||||
| Ryo Sagawa | |||||
| Shogo Tanaka | — | — | — | ||
| Taiyo Shibasaki | — | ||||
| Yuto Sugawara | — | ||||
| Total Attempts | 9 | 7 | 6 | 4 | |
KASSO 1 - Group B
edit| Competitor | Elimination Phase | Survival Phase | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Country | Name | Midoriyama Downhill | Uzushio | Tokyo Upside-Down | Million Gate |
| Aiki Arakaki | |||||
| Ayaru Matsuki | — | ||||
| Daisuke Nakamura | — | — | |||
| Kento Urano | |||||
| Ren Suematsu | |||||
| Sora Negishi | |||||
| Takuya Ishizuka | — | — | — | ||
| Wakyo Sakamoto | |||||
| Yuta Ishizuka | — | — | — | ||
| Total Attempts | 9 | 7 | 6 | 5 | |
KASSO 2
edit| Competitor | Elimination Phase | Survival Phase | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Country | Name | Midoriyama Downhill SE | Rail Coaster | Origami | Tokyo Upside-Down SE | Million Jump |
| Aoi Ishimaru | — | — | — | — | ||
| Ayahiro Uratsuka | — | — | — | — | ||
| Hayate Kamimura | ||||||
| Leo Romero | — | |||||
| Madars Aspe | — | |||||
| Mana Sasaki | ||||||
| Ren Suematsu | — | |||||
| Rinku Konishi | — | |||||
| Ryo Motohashi | — | |||||
| Shogo Tanaka | — | — | ||||
| Sora Negishi | — | |||||
| Wes Kramer | — | |||||
| Yurin Fujii | — | — | — | |||
| Yuno Takahashi | — | |||||
| Yuro Nagahara | — | — | — | |||
| Total Attempts | 15 | 12 | 11 | 10 | 2 | |
KASSO 3
edit| Competitor | Elimination Phase | Survival Phase | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Country | Name | Midoriyama Downhill SE | Rail Coaster GM | Da Park | Million Jump |
| Aimu Yamazuki | — | ||||
| Cordano Russell | — | ||||
| Greyson Fletcher | — | ||||
| Hayate Kamimura | — | ||||
| Issei Sakurai | — | ||||
| Jamie Foy | — | ||||
| Jiro Platt | |||||
| Mason Silva | |||||
| Mei Sugawara | — | — | — | ||
| Ren Suematsu | — | ||||
| Rinku Konishi | — | ||||
| Roman Hager | — | ||||
| Ryo Motohashi | — | ||||
| Yuno Takahashi | — | — | |||
| Total Attempts | 14 | 13 | 11 | 2 | |
KASSO 4
editGroups A and B competed separately for the Elimination Phase, and then completed the Survival Phase together. Downhill results with no time indicate the time is not known as it was not included in the broadcast.
| Competitor | Elimination Phase | Survival Phase | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Country | Name | Group | Midoriyama Downhill LB | Rail Coaster BBF | Grasshopper | Million Jump | |
| Attempt 1 | Attempt 2 | ||||||
| Aaron Homoki | A | — | — | — | — | ||
| Ayahiro Uratsuka | A | — | — | — | — | ||
| Braden Hoban | A | — | — | ||||
| CJ Collins | B | — | — | — | |||
| Cordano Russell | B | — | — | ||||
| Dashawn Jordan | A | ||||||
| David Loy | A | ||||||
| Dominick Walker | B | — | — | — | — | ||
| Gavin Bottger | B | ||||||
| Georgia Martin | B | — | — | — | |||
| Greyson Fletcher | B | — | — | — | — | ||
| Hayate Kamimura | B | ||||||
| Jamie Foy | A | ||||||
| Jiro Platt | B | ||||||
| Julian Lewis | B | — | — | ||||
| Kento Urano | B | — | — | ||||
| Kevin Baekkel | B | — | — | ||||
| Kyle Walker | A | — | — | ||||
| Leo Romero | B | — | — | ||||
| Olan Prenatt | A | — | — | — | — | ||
| Pedro Delfino | B | — | — | ||||
| Poe Pinson | B | — | — | ||||
| Raphae Ueda | A | — | — | ||||
| Ren Suematsu | B | — | — | ||||
| Sora Negishi | A | — | — | — | |||
| Taylor Kirby | A | — | — | ||||
| Tom Schaar | A | — | — | ||||
| Torey Pudwill | A | — | — | ||||
| Yurin Fujii | A | — | — | — | |||
| Yuro Nagahara | A | — | — | ||||
| Total Attempts | 29 | 25 | 21 | 6 | 6 | ||
List of Winners
editKASSO
editKASSO Gaiden
editThe list of known winners of Kasso Gaiden. It is known that there were at least 4 additional clears in Kasso Gaiden 1, however their identity is current not known.
| Season | Country | Competitor | Prize | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GD1 | Louie Lopez | — | Overall winner due to fastest time. | |
| Dashawn Jordan | — | |||
| MacGregor Munson | — | |||
| GD2 | — | |||
| GD3 | Sora Negishi | ¥50,000 RMB |
Skeboarder
editMini KASSO
edit| Season | Country | Competitor | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| M1 | Kaede Terauchi | Won with a top score of 1,100 points for clear all obstacles and landing a BS Flip |
List of Course Records
editBelow are a list of the best
| Event | Version | Season | Best Result | Clear Time
(seconds) |
Result By |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Downhill | Midoriyama Downhill | 1 | Clear | 58.30 | Rinku Konishi |
| Midoriyama Downhill SE | 2 | Clear | 48.81 | Madars Aspe | |
| 3 | 48.10 | Jamie Foy | |||
| Long Beach Downhill | 4 | Clear | |||
| Rail | Uzushio | 1 | Clear | N/A | Rinku Konishi, Hayate Kamimura, Aiki Arakaki |
| Rail Coaster | 2 | 72% | N/A | Ren Suematsu | |
| Gaiden IECP | GD2 | Clear | |||
| Rail Coaster GM | 3 | 28% | N/A | Issei Sakurai | |
| Rail Coaster Big Boy Foy | 4 | 49% | N/A | Gavin Bottger | |
| Balance | Origami | 2 | 92% | N/A | Ryo Motohashi |
| Grasshopper | 4 | Clear | 17.11 seconds | Gavin Bottger | |
| Course | Tokyo Upside Down | 1 | Clear | 27.07 seconds | Hayate Kamimura |
| Tokyo Upside Down SE | 2 | Clear | 28.57 seconds | Hayate Kamimura | |
| Gaiden San Francisco | GD1 | Clear | 18.75 seconds | Louie Lopez | |
| Da Park | 3 | Clear | 9.00 seconds | Jiro Platt | |
| Million | Million Gate | 1 | Clear | N/A | Hayate Kamimura, Rinku Konishi, Wakyo Sakamoto, Ren Suematsu, Aiki Arakaki |
| Million Jump | 2-3 | Clear | N/A | Jiro Platt | |
| Gaiden Aranya | GD3 | Clear | N/A | Sora Negishi | |
| Million Jump LB | 4 | Clear | N/A | Jiro Platt |
List of Kasso Competitors
editBelow is an alphabetical list of every competitor who has appeared on a main season of KASSO, as well as officially confirmed competitors from the Kasso Gaiden tournaments.
| Competitor | Main Seasons | Gaiden | Mini | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Country | Name | # | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1 |
| Aaron Homoki | 1 | |||||||||
| Aiki Arakaki | 1 | |||||||||
| Aimu Yamazuki | 1 | |||||||||
| Antonio Durao | 1 | |||||||||
| Aoi Ishimaru | 1 | |||||||||
| Ayahiro Uratsuka | 2 | |||||||||
| Ayaru Matsuki | 1 | |||||||||
| Braden Hoban | 1 | |||||||||
| CJ Collins | 1 | |||||||||
| Cordano Russell | 2 | |||||||||
| Daiki Ikeda | 1 | |||||||||
| Daisuke Ikeda | 1 | |||||||||
| Daisuke Nakamura | 1 | |||||||||
| Dashawn Jordan | 3 | |||||||||
| David Loy | 1 | |||||||||
| Dominick Walker | 1 | |||||||||
| Eric Koston | 1 | |||||||||
| Gavin Bottger | 1 | |||||||||
| Georgia Martin | 1 | |||||||||
| Ginwoo Onodera | 1 | |||||||||
| Grant Taylor | 1 | |||||||||
| Greyson Fletcher | 2 | |||||||||
| Hayate Kamimura | 4 | |||||||||
| Issei Sakurai | 1 | |||||||||
| Jamie Foy | 2 | |||||||||
| Jiro Platt | 2 | |||||||||
| Julian Lewis | 1 | |||||||||
| Kaede Terauchi | 1 | |||||||||
| Kento Urano | 2 | |||||||||
| Kevin Baekkel | 1 | |||||||||
| Keyaki Ike | 1 | |||||||||
| Kuta Inukawa | 1 | |||||||||
| Kyle Walker | 1 | |||||||||
| Leo Romero | 2 | |||||||||
| Louie Lopez | 2 | |||||||||
| MacGregor Munson | 1 | |||||||||
| Madars Aspe | 1 | |||||||||
| Mana Sasaki | 2 | |||||||||
| Mason Silva | 1 | |||||||||
| Mei Sugawara | 1 | |||||||||
| Miyuu Ito | 1 | |||||||||
| Olan Prenatt | 1 | |||||||||
| Pedro Delfino | 1 | |||||||||
| PENPEN | 1 | |||||||||
| Poe Pinson | 1 | |||||||||
| Raphae Ueda | 1 | |||||||||
| Ren Suematsu | 4 | |||||||||
| Riku Ando | 1 | |||||||||
| Rinku Konishi | 3 | |||||||||
| Roman Hager | 1 | |||||||||
| Ryo Motohashi | 3 | |||||||||
| Ryo Sagawa | 1 | |||||||||
| Shimon Iwazawa | 1 | |||||||||
| Shogo Tanaka | 2 | |||||||||
| Sora Negishi | 4 | |||||||||
| Sora Shirai | 1 | |||||||||
| Taiyo Shibasaki | 2 | |||||||||
| Takuya Ishizuka | 1 | |||||||||
| Taylor Kirby | 1 | |||||||||
| Tokiya Imamura | 1 | |||||||||
| Tom Schaar | 1 | |||||||||
| Torey Pudwill | 1 | |||||||||
| Tsubasa Takahagi | 1 | |||||||||
| Urano Kento | 1 | |||||||||
| Wakyo Sakamoto | 1 | |||||||||
| Wes Kramer | 1 | |||||||||
| Yurin Fujii | 3 | |||||||||
| Yuno Takahashi | 2 | |||||||||
| Yuro Nagahara | 3 | |||||||||
| Yuta Ishizuka | 1 | |||||||||
| Yuto Sugawara | 1 | |||||||||
| Total Known Competitors | 18 | 15 | 14 | 30 | 20+ | 12 | 20+ | 6 | ||
See also
editReferences
editNotes
editCitations
edit- ↑ "Behind the scenes of Kasso – An interview with Shimon Iwazawa". BUBBLE Skateboardmagazine. Retrieved March 26, 2026.
- ↑ "KASSO". YouTube. Retrieved March 26, 2026.
- ↑ "Integrated Report|TBS HOLDINGS". TBS HOLDINGS. Retrieved March 26, 2026.
- ↑ "ABOUT". KASSO. Retrieved March 26, 2026.
- ↑ Despite being the same tournament on the same course, KASSO I was filmed and released as two entirely seperate half tournaments
- ↑ The 1st group filmed the first three stages on March 21st, 2026. This group was only shown in short highlight reels during the broadcast of Day 2. The Finalists of the 1st group appeared alongside those in the 2nd Group at the end of the broadcast.
- ↑ "EVENTS". KASSO. March 21, 2026. Retrieved March 26, 2026.
- ↑ MDAskater (February 22, 2025). 世界のプロが集結!KASSOをサンフランシスコで開催しました!. Retrieved March 26, 2026 – via YouTube.
- ↑ "Instagram". www.instagram.com. Retrieved March 26, 2026.
- ↑ KASSO (November 10, 2025). KASSO GD in CHINA 🇨🇳Catch the highlights from the event 🎥🛹🔥. Retrieved March 26, 2026 – via YouTube.
- ↑ "世界中で大注目の『KASSO』がついにゲーム化!「KASSO GAIDEN: Escape from the Skaterverse」本日iOS/Android向けに配信開始!|TBSテレビ". TBS Topics (in Japanese). Retrieved March 25, 2026.