MAPPA Signs Table Tennis Player Honoka Hashimoto to Sponsorship Contract
MAPPA announced on November 2 that it has signed a sponsorship contract with table tennis player Honoka Hashimoto, who is ranked 14th in the world in women's singles and plays for Denso in the Japan Table Tennis League.
1 source Nov 3
Reporting from 1 source: KAI-YOU.
Why it matters
MAPPA has spent recent years moving into the upstream side of anime business, and its first individual athlete sponsorship extends that pattern into sports, where it already produces volleyball team videos and a Yonezu Kenshi short.
Key Facts
- MAPPA announced the sponsorship contract with Honoka Hashimoto on November 2.
- The company says this is its first sponsorship contract with an individual athlete.
- Honoka Hashimoto is ranked 14th in the world in women's singles and plays for Denso in the Japan Table Tennis League.
- Hashimoto said she enjoys MAPPA works including Jujutsu Kaisen and Chainsaw Man.
- MAPPA produced opening videos for the Tokyo Great Bears volleyball team in 2022 and 2023 and will handle a short anime for Kenshi Yonezu's NHK soccer theme song Karasu in 2026.
The company said this is its first sponsorship contract with an individual athlete. Hashimoto, who says she watches Jujutsu Kaisen and Chainsaw Man, called the deal a happy connection.
The announcement came through MAPPA's official channels, with a comment from the player and one from the company. MAPPA framed the deal around athletes' ongoing challenges, saying it draws inspiration from competitors and will support Hashimoto's play. Hashimoto is a defensive specialist from Aichi Prefecture, born July 5, 1998. Her 2025 season included women's singles titles at three WTT events, in Taiyuan, Lagos and Almaty, and in 2026 she was runner-up in the women's team event at the World Table Tennis Championships and won the women's team event at the Asian Table Tennis Championships.
Written with AI by Yomimono from the 1 cited source below, including Japanese-language reporting where cited. See our editorial policy.
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