As the United States entered into War against Japan, more troops, units, and rations were deployed to Hawaii. One of those important rations was the classic can of Spam. At around 1080 calories per can, canned Spam has a labeled expiration date of 3 years, but unopened, can remain edible for years after that.

As the military stockade of Spam became overabundant during and after the war, Spam was made available to civilians. Thanks to the creative culinary minds of the locals, Spam was inserted into an existing Japanese snack called onigiri.

Because of how tasty Spam Musubi was and because a majority of the population was already accustomed to eating rice, Spam Musubi grew in popularity.

Traditional Spam musubi consists of a slice Spam layered on top of sushi rice and wrapped with seaweed. It’s a great grab-n-go snack for walking to/from the fields of Gay Bowl XXII).

There are multiple variations on the spam musubi and some of our favorites including egg, avocado, eel, and chicken can be found at Musubi Cafe Iyasume nearby the host hotel, and at the 7-11!

Funding for Gay Bowl XXII has been provided via a grant by Hawaii Tourism Authority (HTA) through the Community Enrichment Program (CEP). For more info about HTA and CEP, click here.