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.) In 2025, After 18-year hiatus, she will return to compete in Kunoichi's 13th Competition, She failed in Fish Bone in First Stage.
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. In Kunoichi 12th competition, She was cleared first and second stage again, but failed Sidewinder in Third Stage.
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.
Kunoichi New Stars
Ayano Oshima (大嶋 あやの) - Former Shinkin Bank employee, who now works as a kids personal trainer and is also the protégé of SASUKE veteran Kawaguchi Tomohiro. She has competed in both Sasuke and Kunoichi. In Kunoichi 12 she became the fourth woman ever to beat the Final Stage.
Regulars
Kunoichi has several competitors who competing on a regular basis. Some of these include:
Yuko and Rena Higashi (東裕子・玲奈) - 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 (浅見清香) - 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 (泉美香) - 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.
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 heptathlete 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'
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:
- Yamamoto's trainee, Sayaka Okamoto who is an employee at his service station, advanced to the Second Stage of the 6th Competition (where Yamamoto was present) at just 16 years of age. However, her run is ended on the Second Stage, as she falling on the new Swinging Beams. In the 7th Competition, Okamoto failed on the First Stage's Log Jam. In the 8th Competition, she clear the First Stage yet again, but failed the Second Stage's Swinging Beams again. Like Yamamoto, Okamoto competed in her maroon Mobil 1 uniform shirt.
- Takeda's trainee, firefighter Keiko Oshima, who fights fires alongside Takeda, failed the newly redesigned Hop Rocket in the 7th Competition's First Stage. Oshima would be invited back in the 8th Competition, but failed to catch up the flag with Natsumi Hayashi and Ayako Kawahara (the latter being a member of Muscle Musical), by resulting she was eliminated.
- Nagano's trainee, fitness instructor Kaori Anraku, failed the Flying Pillar in the 7th Competition's First Stage.
- Yamada's trainee, walking instructor Nobuko Onoda, also went out on the newly redesigned Hop Rocket in the 7th Competition. It was said that they met through Onoda's father, who is a medical expert that Yamada once consulted about a shoulder injury.
