NAGANO Makoto achieved KANZENSEIHA (total victory) in SASUKE #17.

He is a commercial fisherman living near Kagoshima and the second man (the first being AKIYAMA Kazuhiko) ever to complete SASUKE. He spends 300 days a year at sea captaining his ship, the 28th Konpira Maru, where he works as a commercial fisherman as well as trains for the competition. Clips of him training are shown frequently during the broadcast and include him doing sit-ups off the side of the boat, handstands on the top mast, and hanging off a bridge crossing it like the Cliff Hanger obstacle. In 2005 his height and weight were recorded as 5 feet, 3 inches and 134 pounds.

He debuted in the 7th competition, where he failed to scale the Warped Wall. After failing to scale the Warped Wall again in the 8th Competition, Nagano made it to the 3RD Stage's Pipe Slider in the 9th. He failed the Jump Hang in the 10th competition and since then has reached the 3RD Stage in every competition except the 15th in which he failed on the Metal Spin (2ND Stage), the 19th where he failed on the Flying Chute (1ST Stage), and the 20th where he failed the Downhill Jump (2ND Stage). He has reached the FINAL Stage four times (in the 11th, 12th, 13th, and 17th Competitions), more than any other competitor, and finally completed it in the 17th Competition. His three consecutive FINAL Stage appearances are a record shared with Akira Omori, who accomplished the feat in the first three competitions.

As of 2008, Nagano has completed the 1ST Stage 11 times, the 2ND Stage 9 times, the 3RD Stage 4 times, and the FINAL Stage once. Nagano made his first US appearance at the Chibi-Pa Festival in September of 2008.

Nagano currently holds the speed record on both the 1st and 2nd Stages of Sasuke. Even though he claims he wasn't as ready as he would've liked, he finished the 1st Stage in Sasuke 13 in only 51 seconds. Along with his reputation in Sasuke, Nagano is the only man to have ever made it to the final stage (Final Viking) of Viking: The Ultimate Obstacle Course, coming within 5 feet of the finish before running out of time. He has also trained his older sister, Taeko Uchida and his wife Asami Nagano so they could compete in Kunoichi, the female-only spin off of Sasuke.

Sasuke #23 - 3RD Stage - Gliding Ring

Sasuke #21 - 3RD Stage - Hang Climbing

Sasuke #18 - 3RD Stage - Curtain Swing

Sasuke #17 - FINAL Stage - Tsuna Nobori (Rope Climb aka Final Rope)

Sasuke #17 - 3RD Stage - Devil"s Swing (Devil Balanço)

Sasuke #17 - 2ND Stage - Spider Walk

Competition	Date	#	1ST	2ND	3RD	FINAL	Result
	December 2012	100					Failed - Second Warped Wall
	October 2011	100					Failed - Ultimate Cliff Hanger
	January 2011	99					Failed - Jumping Spider
	March 2010	99					Failed - Circle Slider
	January 2010	100					Failed - Jumping Spider
	September 2009	100					Failed - G Rope
	March 2009	100					Failed - Slider Jump
	September 2008	100					Failed - Gliding Ring
	March 2008	2000					Failed - Downhill Jump
	September 2007	100					Failed - Flying Chute
	March 2007	96					Disqualified - Cliff Hanger *
	October 2006	99					CLEARED Final Stage (2.5 seconds to spare)
	December 2005	100					Failed - Devil's Swing
	July 2005	100					Failed - Metal Spin
	January 2005	100					Failed - Jumping Bars
	April 2004	100					Failed - Final Rope
	October 2003	100					Failed - Final Rope (by 0.11 seconds)
	March 2003	96					Failed - Final Rope
	September 2002	999					Failed - Jump Hang
	March 2002	61					Failed - Pipe Slider
	September 2001	41					Failed - Warped Wall
	March 2001	87					Failed - Warped Wall
	September 2000						DID NOT COMPETE
	March 2000						DID NOT COMPETE
	October 1999						DID NOT COMPETE
	March 1999						DID NOT COMPETE
	September 1998						DID NOT COMPETE
	September 1997						DID NOT COMPETE
* NAGANO grabbed the ledge of the third gap instead of the bar; instead of continuing, he admitted his mistake and disqualified himself.