| Sakura-Con | |
|---|---|
| Status | Active |
| Venue | Washington State Convention and Trade Center |
| Location | Seattle, Washington |
| Country | United States |
| First held | 1998 |
| Organizer | Asia Northwest Cultural Education Association (ANCEA) |
| Attendance | 19,040 in 2011 |
| Official website | http://www.sakuracon.org |
Sakura-Con is an annual three-day anime convention held during March or April at the Washington State Convention and Trade Center in Seattle, Washington.
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The convention features a wide array of activities and programming such as: industry guests, various discussion panels, and anime screenings. It also sports a large and lively Exhibitor's hall where one can buy many things related to anime or Japan. Various contests are hosted, including anime music video, cosplay, fan fiction, and karaoke contests, as well as a fashion show. The event hosts multiple J-Pop concerts featuring popular groups such as The Slants. An art show and auction as well as a charity auction benefiting the Make-A-Wish Foundation are also hosted. A variety of gaming rooms provide console/video, PC/LAN, CCG, RPG, and tabletop gaming. Cosplay is an integral part of Sakura-Con.
Sakura-Con's roots are from within the local science fiction convention community. A number of anime fans who had decided that there was not enough anime content represented at conventions such as Norwescon, hatched the plan for an anime convention in a Tacoma, Washington anime video rental store.[1]
Originally named Baka!-Con, (baka or ばか is Japanese for idiot,) the first convention was held at the Double Tree Inn in Tukwila, Washington in 1998. In 2000, Baka!-Con changed its name to Sakura-Con, (sakura or 桜 (alternately: さくら) is Japanese for cherry blossom).
Sakura-Con's rapid growth prompted a search for larger venues. In 2004 and 2005 Sakura-Con had to limit its attendance to 5,100.[2] Even with the attendance cap, Sakura-Con was ranked the eighth largest anime convention in North America in 2004 by paid attendance figures,[3] and tenth in 2005.[4] When Sakura-Con moved to the Washington State Convention and Trade Center in Seattle, Washington in 2006, it roughly tripled its capacity for attendees.
Since its beginning, starting with 313 anime fans, Sakura-Con has grown to be much more than a local event. In 2006, only about half the attendees were from the area.[5]
| Dates | Location | Attendance | Guests |
|---|---|---|---|
| April 24–26, 1998 | Double Tree Inn Tukwila, Washington |
313 | Tony Butler, Bruce Duffy, Dr. Antonia Levi, Stu Levy, Sam Liebowietz, Neil Nadelman, and Ron Scovil.[6] |
| April 23–25, 1999 | Double Tree Inn Tukwila, Washington |
553 | Yushin Daiko, Tiffany Grant, Tristan MacAvery, and Stan Sakai.[7] |
| March 31 – April 2, 2000 | Double Tree Inn Tukwila, Washington |
866 | Yushin Daiko, Sandy Fox, Tiffany Grant, Lex Lang, Dr. Antonia Levi, Tristan MacAvery, Doug Smith, and Taka Koto Ensemble.[8] |
| April 27–29, 2001 | Holiday Inn and Convention Center Everett, Washington |
1,519 | Steve Bennett, Hiroki Hayashi, Mitsutaka Iguchi, Pamela Lauer, Dr. Antonia Levi, Mary Ohno & The Kabuki Academy, Lorraine Reyes, Lia Sargent, and Taka Koto Ensemble.[9] |
| April 26–28, 2002 | Seattle Airport Hilton Seattle, Washington |
2,328 | Johnny Yong Bosch, Jessica Calvello, Pamela Lauer, Dr. Antonia Levi, Hiroshi Nagahama, Noiro Shioyama, Tsunami Taiko, and Masakazu Yonemura.[10] |
| April 4–6, 2003 | Seattle Airport Hilton & Conference Center Seattle, Washington |
3,023 | Fred Gallagher, Hilary Haag, Yukio Kikukawa, Hiroshi Nagahama, Michelle Ruff, Susumu Sakurai, Hidakazu Shimamura, and Yoshinobu Yamakawa.[11] |
| April 23–25, 2004 | Seattle Airport Hilton & Sea-Tac Marriott Hotel Seattle, Washington |
4,425 | yoshitoshi ABe, Colleen Clinkenbeard, Akitaroh Daichi, Michael Dobson, Gabe and Tycho, Fred Gallagher, Hiroki Kikuta, Scott McNeil, Hiroshi Nagahama, Monica Rial, Kaeko Sakamoto, Run Sasaki, Eric Sherman, Hiroko "hiro" Shimabukuro, Yasuyuki Ueda, and Yoshihiko Umakoshi.[12] |
| April 8–10, 2005 | Seattle Airport Hilton & Sea-Tac Marriott Hotel Seattle, Washington |
4,800 | Angela, Tom Bateman, Greg Dean, Gabe and Tycho, Kumiko Kato, Hiroki Kikuta, Hiroshi Nagahama, Ikue Ohtani, Run Sasaki, Tatsuo Sato, Travis Willingham, and Tommy Yune.[13] |
| March 24–26, 2006 | Washington State Convention & Trade Center Seattle, Washington |
7,500 | The 404s, Katie Bair, Ippongi Bang, Jessica Boone, Camino, Gabe and Tycho, Fred Gallagher, Takanori Hoshino, Takahiro Kimura, Hideyuki Kurata, Tony Oliver, Piano Squall, Run Sasaki, Stephanie Sheh, Goro Taniguchi, David Vincent, and David Williams.[14] |
| April 6–8, 2007 | Washington State Convention & Trade Center Seattle, Washington |
10,500 | A-Key-Kyo, Colleen Clinkenbeard, Akitaroh Daichi, Gabe and Tycho, K.T. Gray, Shawn Handyside, Kouta Hirano, Jeph Jacques, Kyle Jones, Jonathan Klein, Hideyuki Kurata, Jason Liebrecht, LiN Clover, Sam Logan, Vic Mignogna, move, Hiroshi Nagahama, Kaori Nazuka, Yasuhiro Nightow, Liam O'Brien, Piano Squall, Monica Rial, Rooster Teeth Productions, Carrie Savage, Sumi Shimamoto, Doug Smith, Spike Spencer, John Swasey, and Toshifumi Yoshida.[15] |
| March 28–30, 2008 | Washington State Convention & Trade Center Seattle, Washington |
13,600 | Ali Project, J.L. Anderson, Robby Bevard, Caitlin Glass, Brandon Graham, Todd Haberkorn, Wes Hartman, Jerry Holkins, Yutaka Izubuchi, Yuna Kagesaki, Toshihiro Kawamoto, Roland Kelts, ketchup mania, Hiroki Kikuta, Mike Krahulik, M. Alice LeGrow, Vic Mignogna, Jake Myler, Hiroshi Nagahama, Joshua Ortega, Brina Palencia, Derek Stephen Prince, The Slants, Scandal, Yuji Shiozaki, and Nobuteru Yuuki.[16] |
| April 10–12, 2009 | Washington State Convention & Trade Center Seattle, Washington |
16,586 | yoshitoshi ABe, Leah Clark, Greg Dean, Aaron Dismuke, Peter Fernandez, Girugamesh, Todd Haberkorn, Shawn Handyside, Hangry & Angry, Jerry Holkins, Roland Kelts, Jonathan Klein, Mike Krahulik, Joel McDonald, Myuji, Sasaki Nozomu, Hideo Okamoto, Wendy Powell, The Slants, Smile.dk, Soul Candy, David Stanworth, J Michael Tatum, and Kappei Yamaguchi.[17] |
| April 2–4, 2010 | Washington State Convention & Trade Center Seattle, Washington[18] |
18,002 | Troy Baker, Chloe Chan, Luci Christian, DJ Sharpnel, Richard Epcar, Todd Haberkorn, High and Mighty Color, Ryo Horikawa, Hsu-Nami, Noizi Ito, Vic Mignogna, Yutaka Minowa, Katsuhiro Namba, Satoshi Nishimura, Tsuyoshi Nonaka, Brina Palencia, Chris Patton, Wendy Powell, Soul Candy, Ellyn Stern, Mayumi Tanaka, Dazzle Vision, Kent Williams. |
| April 22–24, 2011 | Washington State Convention & Trade Center Seattle, Washington[19] |
19,040 | Berryz Kobo, Chris Bevins, Chris Cason, Exist Trace, Tiffany Grant, Clarine Harp, Cynthia Cranz, Tony Oliver, Wendy Powell, Cristina Valenzuela. |
The Asia-Northwest Cultural Education Association (ANCEA) is a non-profit organization organized for charitable and educational purposes specifically for furthering the understanding of Asian culture through the use of traditional and contemporary media.
ANCEA is the organization that presents Sakura-Con. Originally a separate board of directors that provided oversight to the Sakura-Con Executive Board, the membership voted on July 30, 2006 to merge the ANCEA and Sakura-Con boards into a single entity. In this structure, the Chair of Sakura-Con is the President of ANCEA.[20]
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