BODY: Volleyball fans and food lovers are about to find common ground. "Haikyu!!," the wildly popular anime based on Haruichi Furudate's manga, has teamed up with Kanezaki, a long-established maker of Sendai's famous sasa-kamaboco (bamboo-leaf-shaped fishcakes), for a limited-time collaboration launching August 1.
The centerpiece is a set of newly drawn illustrations featuring series leads Shoyo Hinata and Tobio Kageyama visiting the "Kanezaki Sohonten Sasakama-kan," Kanezaki's flagship experience facility. The artwork depicts the two first-year rivals-turned-teammates in a distinctly local setting, tying the anime's Miyagi Prefecture roots directly to one of the region's most iconic foods.
Alongside the original-illustration merchandise, the collaboration includes a limited-edition kamaboco set β a rare crossover that puts anime goods and traditional cured-fish delicacies in the same shopping basket. The lineup will be available at eight Kanezaki retail locations, the company's official online shop, and through Chugai Online.
The pairing is far from arbitrary. "Haikyu!!" is set in Miyagi Prefecture, and Sendai β Miyagi's capital β is the historic home of sasa-kamaboco. For a series that has always worn its regional pride on its sleeve, matching it with a hometown culinary institution is a natural fit.
The insider take
Anime-and-food collaborations are a well-oiled machine in Japan, but this one lands differently because of geography. "Haikyu!!" fans know Miyagi isn't just a backdrop β it's part of the story's identity, and the anime helped put the prefecture on the map for a generation of overseas viewers. Kanezaki, meanwhile, is the real deal: a heritage brand that locals actually buy. Collaborations like this quietly double as regional tourism promotion, nudging fans toward "seichi junrei" (pilgrimage to anime holy sites) with an edible souvenir attached. Expect the physical stores in Sendai to draw fans who'll happily turn a fishcake run into a full Miyagi day trip.
Originally reported by γ³γγγ―γγΏγͺγΌ - ζζ°γγ₯γΌγΉ (Japanese).