Onigiri Action 2024

This year we saw many beautiful Onigiri photos posted from 52 countries around the world. The passion to support children in need connected us all, and is allowing us to bring 1,464,180 school meals* to them.

Thank you very much to everyone for your support and participation!

Best Onigiri Awards 2024

Winners to be announced on the website.

  • 10th Anniversary Award

    Bella Vista High School and Mira Loma High School

    To celebrate the 10th anniversary, Japanese language students came together to craft onigiri and form the kanji for "TEN" (十)! 

  • 10th Anniversary Award

    Annalisa

    She organized an Onigiri Action party and celebrated the 10th Anniversary with Onigiri & Roses!

  • Best Team Award

    Japan House at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

    They enjoy hosting Onigiri Action workshops each fall because it challenges their student interns to create a special onigiri tasting menu and educates attendees on onigiri while supporting a great cause. They inspire local schools to join the action as well!

  • Best Team Award

    Brazil Mairiporan Doshikai Japanese Language School

    Participants from all generations made and enjoyed delicious rice balls, researched and discussed global food issues and nutrition, and created rice balls using calligraphy, origami and drawings.

  • Creative Onigiri Award

    Chapman University

    “Happy Onigiri Action Man,” designed by Yen Dang! The poster was a big hit at an event co-organized by Chapman’s Japanese Studies and Asian American Studies programs, which brought together over 100 students and faculty for a fun-filled onigiri-making experience.

  • Creative Onigiri Award

    University of Pennsylvania Japanese Program

    The students put a lot of thought into choosing a good photo spot that reflects the university’s theme. Every day on the way to Japanese class, students pass by this statue, "Ben on the Bench." They wondered if Benjamin Franklin might have liked onigiri, so they decided to offer him one along with a handmade onigiri event button!

  • Onigiri Kids Award

    South Academy of International Languages, Japanese Immersion Program

    Photo 1: Kindergarten students are “married” to the idea of helping those in need with the help of the props made by the Middle School students!
    Photo 2: The students channel their inner Naruto with the help of props made by the Middle School students and unleashes the power to help others at a schoolwide event with the help of the 5th grade German class.

  • Animal Onigiri Award

    Dylan

    His teacher at SUNY Oneonta encouraged the class to participate in Onigiri Action. He made two smoked salmon onigiri decorated like his cats, Mocha (tortoiseshell tabby) and Miso (orange).

  • Animal Onigiri Award

    Denise and Piquirita the parrot!

    This is the perfect sized onigiri for a parrot! Piquirita says "Love is the freedom to fly".

    • "ONIGIRI" MAP

    Showing the latest 500 photos.

    map canvas

    HOW TO PARTICIPATE

    Any photo related to an Onigiri is welcome!

    • - Making or eating an Onigiri
    • - Doing an Onigiri pose or hand sign
    • - Onigiri art (origami, drawing, etc.)
    • Be creative!
    HOW TO UPLOAD HOW TO UPLOAD

    #OnigiriAction Partner Organizations

    A portion of the proceeds will be donated for school meals
    Featured Products

    Join an Event

    The Onigiri Cup 2024

    Date: Start on Oct 3

    Venue: Social Media or In-person events

    Vote for your favorite onigiri! Which onigiri do you like best? Let's vote together to determine the most popular onigiri filling in the U.S.! Check our Instagram to vote! The selected most popular onigiri will be donated to students in the U.S.

    Nationwide Celebration Connect 10 cities!

    Date: Nov (TBD)

    Venue: Online and In-person in 10 cities

    This is a hybrid #OnigiriAction event connecting 10 cities across the United States to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Onigiri Action! Let’s unite to bring many school meals to children in need.

    US-Japan College Relay Onigiri Action Baton Touch / バトンタッチ!

    Date: Oct 16 - Nov 6

    Venue: Instagram

    This is a collaborative initiative for American and Japanese university students. Students will compete on the speed and creativity! Check how it works and register your club and organization!

    Check out our new events here!
    Follow us on social media for more event information!

    We are celebrating the 10th Onigiri Action this year. Even if the power of each individual is small, we can come together to change the world. Together, we are creating a tomorrow that is just a little bit better than today. Without you, we couldn’t have made it this far in our journey. We are delivering school meals to many children and supporting their learning and dreams. We express our sincere gratitude to everyone who has been supporting us.

    OUR IMPACT

    10million School Meals

    The number of school meals delivered

    By 2023, we delivered over 10 million school meals, providing for approximately 5,600 children each year for nine years.

    1.85million Photos

    Number of photos posted

    Between 2015 and 2023, through the 9 Onigiri Action campaigns, we collected 1.85 million photos of Onigiri. If you were to stack 1.85 million sheets of 0.2mm thick photo paper, the stack would be approximately 370 meters high- taller than Tokyo Tower, which stands at 333 meters.

    66countries, 5 continents

    The number of countries participated

    Onigiri Action is a social good initiative open to anyone worldwide. To date, we've received onigiri photos from 66 countries across all continents, excluding Antarctica.

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