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.
Famous quotes containing the words christmas and/or bowl:
“Frankly, I do not like the idea of conversations to define the term “unconditional surrender.” ... The German people can have dinned into their ears what I said in my Christmas Eve speech—in effect, that we have no thought of destroying the German people and that we want them to live through the generations like other European peoples on condition, of course, that they get rid of their present philosophy of conquest.”
—Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1945)
“Or ever the silver cord be loosed, or the golden bowl be broken, or
the pitcher be broken at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the
cistern.
Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit
shall return unto God who gave it.
Vanity of vanities, saith the preacher, all is vanity.”
—Bible: Hebrew Ecclesiastes (l. XII, 6–7)