San Japan
| San Japan | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Status | Active |
| Venue | Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center & Grand Hyatt San Antonio Hotel |
| Location(s) | San Antonio, Texas |
| Country | United States |
| Inaugurated | 2008 |
| Attendance | 11,077 in 2013 |
| Website | |
| http://www.san-japan.org/ | |
San Japan is a Japanese culture and anime 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.
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.[1] After a successful one-day convention, San Japan focused on its debut 3-day convention located at the El Tropicano Hotel and San Antonio Municipal Auditorium which was called San Japan 1.5. It received rave reviews & accolades in its debut.[2][3][4]
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. 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 2500 people in 2013.
San Japan stayed at the El Tropicano and Municipal Auditorium for a second year in 2009. In Fall 2009, San Japan announced that they moved to a new location over to 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 stayed in this location for 2 years before having to move after the conclusion of its 2011 convention due to attendance growth. Starting in August 2012, San Japan moved to the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center along with the Grand Hyatt San Antonio Hotel as its permanent location. It has announced its dates up to 2015.
Since its inception, San Japan has a unique way of naming each of conventions to stray from the conventional manner of using a numbering system to identify each year. They announce a unique theme for that convention year. Below is a list of its 3-day convention names and announced themes.
| Year | Convention Name | Theme |
|---|---|---|
| 2008 | San Japan 1.5 | - |
| 2009 | San Japan 2.x | Western |
| 2010 | San Japan :3 | Cute |
| 2011 | San Japan 4TW | Space, Science and Future |
| 2012 | San Japan: Mach 5 | Old-School |
| 2013 | San Japan: Sinister 6 | Villains |
| 2014 | San Japan: Samurai 7 | Samurai |
Event history
| Date | Venue & Location | Attend. | Convention Guests |
|---|---|---|---|
| November 10, 2007 | Our Lady of the Lake University San Antonio, Texas |
815 | Amelie Belcher, The Gear Project, Josh Grelle, Samantha Inoue-Harte, The Snags, Team Sugoi, Larissa Wolcott.[5] |
| August 8–10, 2008 | San Antonio Municipal Auditorium & El Tropicano Riverwalk Hotel San Antonio, Texas |
3,523 | Mr. 3000, Hannah Alcorn, DM Ashura, Christopher Ayres, Amelie Belcher, CapsuleCorp Cosplay, Daniel Cloud, Patrick Delahanty, DugFinn (DigitalDimension Cosplay), Tiffany Grant, Josh Grelle, Samantha Inoue-Harte, Lord Katsuhiko Jinnai, Knuckle Sandwich, Maja, Vic Mignogna, Carli Mosier, Alissa Simmons (Shoeless Cosplay), Smile.dk. [6] |
| 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.[7] |
| 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.[8] |
| 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.[9][10] |
| August 10–12, 2012 | Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center & Grand Hyatt San Antonio Hotel San Antonio, Texas |
9,464 | Airship Isabella, Christopher Ayres, Amelie Belcher, Martin "LittleKuriboh" Billany, Diana "Hanyaan" Divine, Kara Edwards, Emirain (Teahouse Comics), Caitlin Glass, Josh Grelle, Arin "Egoraptor" Hanson, Clarine Harp, John Patrick Lowrie, Ellen McLain, Carli Mosier, David "Docjazz4" Ramos, Chris Sabat, Carrie Savage, The Slants, Sleeping Samurai, Kieran Strange, Greg "Greggo" Wicker.[11] |
| August 16-18, 2013 | Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center & Grand Hyatt San Antonio Hotel San Antonio, Texas |
11,077 | Christopher Ayres, Amelie Belcher, Martin "LittleKuriboh" Billany, Johnny Yong Bosch, Richie Branson, Eyeshine, Scott Freeman, Max "Hotdiggedydemon" Gilardi, Jerry Jewell, Sifu Kisu, Lanie Labens, Scott McNeil, Carli Mosier, David "Docjazz4" Ramos, Sleeping Samurai, Kieran Strange, Karen Strassman, SuperPsyguy, Carrie Savage, Katie Tiedrich, Greg "Greggo" Wicker.[12] |
| July 18-20, 2014[13] | Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center & Grand Hyatt San Antonio Hotel San Antonio, Texas |
Curtis "Takahata101" Arnott, Martin "LittleKuriboh" Billany, Scott "KaiserNeko" Frerichs, HamletMachine (Starfighter Comic), Nick "Lanipator" Landis, Powerglove, Lawrence "MasakoX" Simpson | |
| July 31-August 2nd, 2015[14] | Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center & Grand Hyatt San Antonio Hotel San Antonio, Texas |
Mascot
The main female mascot for San Japan is Sana. The 'chibi' mascots names are Hinode (Armadillo), Dios (Bat), & Suzaku (Longhorn).
References
- ↑ "Our Lady of the Lake University hosts Zero Day Anime convention". AnimeCons.com. Retrieved 2008-08-22.
- ↑ "San Japan 2008 convention report". AnimeCons.com. Retrieved 2008-08-17.
- ↑ "J-Team Podcast: Episode 7 @ Home - AniJam and San Japan Report Episode". podomatic.com. Retrieved 2008-08-22.
- ↑ "San Japan '08: Day 1". japanator.com. Retrieved 2008-08-08.
- ↑ "San Japan : Zero Day Anime Information". AnimeCons.com. Retrieved 2012-09-01.
- ↑ "San Japan 1.5 Information". AnimeCons.com. Retrieved 2012-09-01.
- ↑ "San Japan 2.x Information". AnimeCons.com. Retrieved 2009-01-01.
- ↑ "San Japan :3 Information". AnimeCons.com. Retrieved 2010-02-01.
- ↑ "San Japan 4TW Information". AnimeCons.com. Retrieved 2010-08-20.
- ↑ Cerna, Martha (August 6, 2011). "Anime fans suit up for serious fun at San Japan". KENS-TV. Retrieved August 7, 2011.
- ↑ "San Japan 2012". AnimeCons.com. Retrieved 2012-09-01.
- ↑ "San Japan: Sinister 6 Information". AnimeCons.com. Retrieved 2012-11-15.
- ↑ "San Japan 2014 Information". AnimeCons.com. Retrieved 2012-07-15.
- ↑ "San Japan 2015 Information". AnimeCons.com. Retrieved 2013-02-11.
External links
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