The Journal of the Lincoln Heights Literary Society Miscellanea and Ephemeron
Ontology on the Go!
by Tom Good, with photography by Tom Good and Sahara Sooter
Sakura-Con drew 19,040 fans to the Seattle Convention Center to celebrate cosplay, anime, and Asian culture. Even though this topped last year’s total of around 18,000, the event seemed smoother than ever before. Pre-registration lines were much shorter, event lines were better organized, and getting around the convention center was easy.
Sakura-Con 2010
by Tom Good
This year’s Sakura-Con was the largest ever, with an attendance of just over 18,000 people at the Seattle Convention Center. The convention provides an amazing variety of things to do, combining educational and cultural events with pure fun and entertainment. Fans can learn how to waltz or learn to dance ParaPara, learn to sew costumes or learn to draw comics, go to a martial arts demonstration or a video game tournament. And just walking around between events is enjoyable in itself, because there are so many great costumes to see.
I’m in Seattle to cover this year’s Sakuracon. I’ll have a full convention report later, but for now enjoy some photos from the convention:
You can also follow @jlhls on Twitter for my live convention coverage, or #sakuracon for a broader view.
by Tom Good
Photography by Gregor Torrence and Tom Good
“I like getting to hug people.” That’s how one young woman answered the question, “what do you like best about Sakura-Con?”
“What is it about an anime convention that allows you to hug people?” I asked.
“It feels like we’re all one big family,” she said.
The convention keeps growing, with this year’s member count at 16,586 — up from 13,600 last year — and a “turnstile” count of 45,560 for the weekend. Can 16,000 people really feel like a family? Yes, at Sakura-Con they can. The convention takes its name from the Japanese word for cherry blossoms, which fits well with the blossoming anime subculture.
Continue reading “Convention Report: Sakura-Con 2009”
From Tom Good’s iPhone!
Updating throughout the weekend!
April 10, 2009
10:17AM
“On the train now with Gregor. Fun ride!”
5:39PM
“Wow they put artist alley at the very front before you even get to other exhibitors, that is so cool, it makes them seem like the stars.”
6:27PM
“In the artists area at Sakuracon, I discovered an artist named Allison Theus who has a book of illustrations called ‘A Book of Mostly Creatures.’ I instantly liked the style of the art — it reminded me of old 17th century illustrations of animals, only these are fantastic creatures from her imagination. I talked to her about how she came up with this. She said she was inspired by being really interested in dinosaurs and also in anatomy, and wondering how the various pieces of animals could go together in new ways to create a new creature. I bought the book and she autographed it.
“She has a web site at www.oblivionunleashed.com where you can see her work.
“Another good change this year is that they put the line for registration off in an out-of-the way hall, so that the registration line doesn’t make the main area of the convention feel overcrowded. I’ve only been here a few hours but already things seem better organized than ever (not that it was bad in the past, but they have continued to improve it).”
April 11, 2009
10:49AM
“Flickr stuff, more to come.”
3:11PM
