San Japan

San Japan
Status Active
Venue Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center & Grand Hyatt San Antonio Hotel
Location San Antonio, Texas
Country United States
First held 2008
Attendance 6891 in 2011
Official website http://www.san-japan.org/

San Japan is a Japanese anime convention and culture convention held annually in San Antonio, Texas. The event, which debuted in 2008, is San Antonio's first major anime convention and has developed into the largest fan-oriented convention in the city. Guests have included Vic Mignogna, Christopher Ayres, Tiffany Grant, Laura Bailey, Travis Willingham, Josh Grelle, Shinichi Watanabe and Samantha Inoue-Harte.

Musical guest appearances have included the North American debut concert of Smile.dk,[1] along with performances by LeetStreet Boys, Mega Ran, The Protomen, KESHIKI and OverClocked ReMix.

Contents

History

The San Japan group was formed in Fall 2005 devoted to bringing Japanese animation & cultural awareness to San Antonio. It was originally intended to debut as a 3-day convention in July 2007 but the event had to be postponed for one additional year due to issues with the original host location. To make up for the postponement, a one-day event called San Japan : Zero Day Anime was held at Our Lady of the Lake University, in San Antonio, Texas on November 10, 2007.[2] After a successful one-day convention, San Japan focused on its debut 3-day convention which was called San Japan 1.5. It received rave reviews & accolades in its debut.[3][4][5]

Next, San Japan sponsored a second one-day convention called Mizuumi-Con, which was created after the success of Zero Day Anime as it happened on March 21, 2009. The second 3-day convention was called San Japan 2.x and the convention happened on August 14–16, 2009. San Japan :3 moved to a new location in 2010 at the San Antonio Marriott Rivercenter Hotel which is attached to the Rivercenter Mall. It is located at the heart of the San Antonio River Walk. It concluded its fourth year in August 2011 at the San Antonio Rivercenter Hotel called San Japan 4TW (a pun on the popular internet acronym slang FTW). Starting in August 2012, San Japan will be moving to the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center along with the Grand Hyatt San Antonio Hotel as its new permanent location. The 2012 convention will be called San Japan: Mach 5.

As of Feb. 2010, the Mizuumi Anime Club has taken over Mizuumi-Con and allowed it to be run entirely by themselves at Our Lady of the Lake University without the assistance of San Japan. Mizuumi-Con is now the second largest anime-focused fan convention in San Antonio with over 2000 people in 2011.

Event history

Date Venue & Location Attend. Convention Guests
November 10, 2007 Our Lady of the Lake University
San Antonio, Texas		 815 Amelie Belcher, Josh Grelle, Samantha Inoue-Harte, The Snags, Team Sugoi, Larissa Wolcott[6]
August 8–10, 2008 San Antonio Municipal Auditorium & El Tropicano Riverwalk Hotel
San Antonio, Texas		 3,523 Hannah Alcorn, Christopher Ayres, DM Ashura, Amelie Belcher, CapsuleCorp Cosplay, Patrick Delahanty, DigitalDimension Cosplay, Tiffany Grant, Josh Grelle, Samantha Inoue-Harte, Lord Katsuhiko Jinnai, Knuckle Sandwich, Maja, Vic Mignogna, Carli Mosier, Shoeless Cosplay, Smile.dk[7]
March 21st, 2009 Our Lady of the Lake University
San Antonio, Texas		 1,416 Amelie Belcher, Josh Grelle, Samantha Inoue-Harte, The Slants
August 14–16, 2009 San Antonio Municipal Auditorium & El Tropicano Riverwalk Hotel
San Antonio, Texas		 4,003 Christopher Ayres, Laura Bailey, Troy Baker, Amelie Belcher, LeetStreet Boys, CapsuleCorp Cosplay, DigitalDimension Cosplay, Shoeless Cosplay, Josh Grelle, Clarine Harp, Samantha Inoue-Harte, Kyle Hebert, Lord Katsuhiko Jinnai, LoliHolix, Jonathan Joss, Mega Ran, OverClocked ReMix, Wendy Powell, Antarctic Press, Carrie Savage, Travis Willingham, Tadahisa Yoshida, ZeaLouS1[8]
July 9–11, 2010 San Antonio Marriott Rivercenter Hotel
San Antonio, Texas		 5,049 Tina Anderson, Christopher Ayres, Greg Ayres, Amelie Belcher, Josh Grelle, Clarine Harp, Jonathan Joss, KESHIKI, The LoliHolix, Maja, R. K. Milholland, Antarctic Press, The Protomen, Carrie Savage, Michael Sinterniklaas, Micah Solusod, We *Heart* Card Games Productions, Resident Evil Residential Files, DigitalDimensionCosplay [9]
August 5–7, 2011 San Antonio Marriott Rivercenter Hotel
San Antonio, Texas		 6,891 Airship Isabella, Amelie Belcher, Christopher Ayres, Caitlin Glass, Josh Grelle, Arin “Egoraptor” Hanson, Clarine Harp, Descendants of Erdrick, Rai Kamishiro, The LoliHolix, Bryan Massey, Carli Mosier, Brad Swaile, J. Michael Tatum, Chris "PRGuitarman" Torres, TWABI Productions, Shinichi Watanabe, We *Heart* Card Games Productions,[10][11]
August 10–12, 2012 Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center & Grand Hyatt San Antonio Hotel
San Antonio, Texas		 [12]
August 16-18, 2013 Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center & Grand Hyatt San Antonio Hotel
San Antonio, Texas		 [13]

Mascot

The main female mascot for San Japan is Sana. The 'chibi' mascots names are Hinode (Armadillo), Dios (Bat), & Suzaku (Longhorn).

References

  1. ^ "SMiLE.dk is coming to America in August 2008". BemaniStyle.com. http://www.bemanistyle.com/index.php/news/smiledk-is-coming-to-america-in-august-2008-707. Retrieved 2008-08-23. 
  2. ^ "Our Lady of the Lake University hosts Zero Day Anime convention". AnimeCons.com. http://www.animecons.com/news/article.shtml/572. Retrieved 2008-08-22. 
  3. ^ "San Japan 2008 convention report". AnimeCons.com. http://www.animecons.com/reports/article.shtml/727. Retrieved 2008-08-17. 
  4. ^ "J-Team Podcast: Episode 7 @ Home - AniJam and San Japan Report Episode". podomatic.com. http://jinnai.podomatic.com/entry/2008-08-13T03_05_46-07_00. Retrieved 2008-08-22. 
  5. ^ "San Japan '08: Day 1". japanator.com. http://www.japanator.com/elephant/post.phtml?pk=8474. Retrieved 2008-08-08. 
  6. ^ "San Japan : Zero Day Anime Information". AnimeCons.com. http://www.animecons.com/events/info.shtml/1382. Retrieved 2008-08-22. 
  7. ^ "San Japan 1.5 Information". AnimeCons.com. http://www.animecons.com/events/info.shtml/1037. Retrieved 2008-08-22. 
  8. ^ "San Japan 2.x Information". AnimeCons.com. http://www.animecons.com/events/info.shtml/1734. Retrieved 2009-01-01. 
  9. ^ "San Japan :3 Information". AnimeCons.com. http://www.animecons.com/events/info.shtml/2046. Retrieved 2010-02-01. 
  10. ^ "San Japan 4TW Information". AnimeCons.com. http://www.animecons.com/events/info.shtml/2300. Retrieved 2010-08-20. 
  11. ^ Cerna, Martha (August 6, 2011). "Anime fans suit up for serious fun at San Japan". KENS-TV. http://www.kens5.com/news/slideshows/127072338.html. Retrieved August 7, 2011. 
  12. ^ "San Japan: Mach 5 Information". AnimeCons.com. http://animecons.com/events/info.shtml/2405. Retrieved 2010-12-16. 
  13. ^ "San Japan 2013 Information". AnimeCons.com. http://animecons.com/events/info.shtml/2959/San_Japan_2013. Retrieved 2011-11-15. 

External links

List of anime conventions in North America
Canada
Ai-Kon (Manitoba) • Animaritime (New Brunswick) • Anime Evolution (British Columbia) • Anime North (Ontario) • Animethon (Alberta) • Dotcon (Ontario) • G-Anime (Quebec) • Naru2u (Ontario) • Otafest (Alberta) • Otakuthon (Quebec) • Tsukino-Con (Victoria)
United States (Northeast)
Anime Boston (Massachusetts) • PortConMaine (Maine) • AnimeNEXT (New Jersey) • Genericon (New York) • New York Anime Festival (New York) • Tekkoshocon (Pennsylvania) • Zenkaikon (Pennsylvania)
United States (Midwest)
Anime Central (Illinois) • Anime Crossroads (Indiana) • Anime Detour (Minnesota) • Anime Festival Wichita (Kansas) • A&G Ohio (Ohio) • AnimeIowa (Iowa) • Anime Milwaukee (Wisconsin) • Anime NebrasKon (Nebraska) • Anime Punch! (Ohio) • ColossalCon (Ohio) • Ikasucon (Indiana) • Naka-Kon (Missouri) • No Brand Con (Wisconsin) • Ohayocon (Ohio) • QC Anime-zing! (Iowa) • Sogen Con (South Dakota) • Youmacon (Michigan) • SoDak Con (South Dakota)
United States (Southern)
Animazement (North Carolina) • Anime Express (Florida) • AnimeFest (Texas) • Anime Festival Orlando (Florida) • Anime Mid-Atlantic (Virginia) • Anime South (Florida) • Anime USA (Virginia) • Anime Weekend Atlanta (Georgia) • Aniwave (North Carolina) • Daigacon (Kentucky) • Ichibancon (North Carolina) • Ikkicon (Texas) • Katsucon (D.C.) • Kami-Con (Alabama) • MechaCon (Louisiana) • Metrocon (Florida) • Middle Tennessee Anime Convention (Tennessee) • Nekocon (Virginia) • OMGcon (Kentucky) • Oni-Con (Texas) • Otakon (Maryland) • PersaCon (Alabama) • Project A-Kon (Texas) • RealmsCon (Texas) • San Japan (Texas) • SugoiCon (Kentucky) • Tsubasacon (West Virginia) • Ushicon (Texas)
United States (Western)
Anime Banzai (Utah) • Anime Expo (California) • Anime St. George (Utah) • Anime Vegas (Nevada) • Con-Nichiwa (Arizona) • FanimeCon (California) • Kawaii Kon (Hawaii) • Kumoricon (Oregon/SW Washington) • Nan Desu Kan (Colorado) • Saboten Con (Arizona) • Sac-Anime (California) • Sakura-Con (Washington) • Senshi-Con (Alaska) • Yaoi-Con (California)