Christmas Bowl

The Christmas Bowl (クリスマスボウル, Kurisumasu Bōru) is the annual Japanese high-school American football championship game. In a way similar to the Super Bowl, the top two teams from throughout Japan come together in Tokyo Stadium to play against each other for the championship. As with most American Football leagues, the league setup is split into two regions — Kantō and Kansai — and the champions of each region play in the Christmas Bowl. It takes place on even years in Kansai and on odd years in Kantō. Since 2001, the Kantō match takes place in Ajinomoto Stadium.

Surprising as it may seem, the competition has been going on almost as long as the Super Bowl, being only four contests behind.

The Christmas Bowl in the manga and anime series Eyeshield 21 is based on this competition.

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Eyeshield 21

Eyeshield 21 (Japanese: アイシールド21, Hepburn: Aishīrudo Nijūichi) is a Japanese manga series written by Riichiro Inagaki and illustrated by Yusuke Murata. The series tells the story of Sena Kobayakawa, an introverted boy who joins an American football club as a secretary, but after being coerced by Yoichi Hiruma, turns out to play wearing an eyeshield and the number 21, under the pseudonym of "Eyeshield 21". Inagaki chose American football as a central subject of Eyeshield 21 after realizing that it fit perfectly with his idea for the series.

The manga was originally serialized in Shueisha's Weekly Shōnen Jump from July 2002 to June 2009. The series consists of 333 chapters collected in 37 tankōbon volumes. An anime adaptation consisting of 145 television episodes was co-produced by TV Tokyo, NAS, and Gallop. The television series first aired on Japan's TV Tokyo network from April 6, 2005 to March 19, 2008. The Eyeshield 21 franchise has spawned two original video animations (OVAs), audio albums, video games, and other merchandise.