In celebration of its 9th anniversary, naval shoot ’em up Azur Lane will be hosting an in-person event in Tokyo called the “AZUR LANE MUSI9 FES,” scheduled to take place from September 5 to 6. Among the various announcements related to the event, a singular food item on the menu has been attracting extraordinary attention among Japanese fans.
The item in question is plain, salted rice balls, priced at 1,000 yen or about $6.5. While this would normally be a rather preposterous price for such a simple dish, what’s special about these rice balls is that they’re made from “Owari Gyaru Rice.” This particular brand of rice originates from a bizarre food collaboration Azur Lane publisher Yostar launched back in December 2025, themed around “gyaru agriculture.”
For the collaboration, the publishers reached out to an award-winning rice farm in Japan’s Gifu Prefecture and had them cultivate rice from scratch while exposing it to ASMR from the game. To begin with, the rice used for the collaboration was of an old Hatsushimo variety, considered to be a rare, premium grain. From the earliest seedling stage up to the harvest, the rice continuously listened to lines by Azur Lane character Owari. Soft-spoken wishes for the rice to grow strong and healthy were played through speakers installed at the rice fields and “administered” to individual rice stalks through headphones, as shown in a special documentary dedicated to the project.
At the time, Azur Lane fans could buy bags of the “Owari Gyaru Rice” bundled with other Owari-themed merch, but it seems the rice is making a comeback at MUSI9 FES in the form of (slightly pricy) onigiri you can eat right away. Responding to the hype on X, Yostar rep Dai Miwaki explained that his team decided to deliberately skip nori and other typical rice ball fillings to ensure people could fully experience the flavor of the premium rice. No doubt due to the unusual cultivation process, the rice balls will be available in a limited quantity.
Azur Lane is available for iOS and Android. The Azur Lane MUSI9 FES will take place from September 5 to 6, 2026.
