Wakatoshi Ushijima

Wakatoshi Ushijima is the captain and ace of Shiratorizawa Academy, ranked the top wing spiker in Miyagi Prefecture and among the three best aces in the country — and the central rival standing between Karasuno and the nationals in the earlier arcs of the series.

Ushijima is quiet, stoic, and unfailingly honest, even when that honesty comes across as blunt or tactless. He rarely picks up on subtext and tends to take jokes literally, which can make him seem awkward or unintentionally funny. At the same time, any praise he gives is completely sincere — flattery simply isn't in his vocabulary. Convinced that developing raw talent matters above all else, he openly criticizes Tooru Oikawa for choosing a weaker school over Shiratorizawa, and shows similar disdain toward Hinata, whose confidence he sees as unsupported by real ability.

Ushijima's father, a former second-division player, insisted his son keep his natural left-handedness rather than have it corrected as his mother wanted — a decision that shaped Ushijima's playing style for good. After graduating, he joined a professional V.League club, represented Japan at the Olympics, and later continued his career with a club in Poland.