San Japan

San Japan
Status	Active
Venue	Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center, Grand Hyatt San Antonio Hotel & San Antonio Marriott Riverwalk Hotel
Location(s)	San Antonio, Texas
Country	United States
Inaugurated	2008
Attendance	18,411 in 2015
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 Japanese fan-oriented convention in the city. Many credit San Japan with forcing open the doors for big pop-culture conventions in the Alamo City.^[1] San Japan was noted in the 2015 San Antonio Current City Guide 100 Things To Do In San Antonio Before You Die.^[2]

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.^[3] 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.^[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. 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 around 2500 people in 2014.

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 then moved again after the conclusion of its 2011 convention due to rising 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. Starting in August 2015 San Japan expanded its programming to include the San Antonio Marriott Riverwalk Hotel.

San Japan has announced being contracted with the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center through 2018. Beginning in 2016 San Japan will take place on Labor Day weekend up through at least 2018 and possibly beyond.

San Japan puts on free community events over the course of the year leading up to the main 3-day convention event. Some of the past events have included a lemonade social, cosplay bowling, cell painting class and snow cone socials. In 2014, San Japan put on two mini-events, Mini-Mini Con, in cooperation with Nine-Tails along with Anime And Manga Art On The Museum Reach Summer Block Fest in partnership with the San Antonio River Authority. In 2015, Mini-Mini Con continue on to become its own free mini-convention with plans to become a free yearly event. It has an attendance of around 1500-2000 people in 2016.

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
2015	San Japan: 8-Bit	Gaming
2016	San Japan 009	Robots & Androids
2017	San Japan: "10"	TBA
2018	San Japan: "11"	TBA

Event history

Event Name & Date	Venue & Location	Attendance	Convention Guests
San Japan: Zero Day Anime 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.[6]
San Japan 1.5 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.[7]
Mizuumi-Con March 21st, 2009	Our Lady of the Lake University San Antonio, Texas	1,416	Amelie Belcher, Josh Grelle, Samantha Inoue-Harte, The Slants.
San Japan 2.x 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]
San Japan :3 July 9–11, 2010	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]
San Japan 4TW August 5–7, 2011	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]
San Japan: Mach 5 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]
San Japan: Sinister 6 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, Max "Hotdiggedydemon" Gilardi, Jerry Jewell, Sifu Kisu, Lanie Labens, Scott McNeil, Carli Mosier, David "Docjazz4" Ramos, Sleeping Samurai, Kieran Strange, Karen Strassman, Carrie Savage, Katie Tiedrich, Greg "Greggo" Wicker.[12]
Mini-Mini Con 2014 June 14, 2014	Wonderlands of the Americas Mall San Antonio, Texas	400+	Richie Branson, Chalkboards, Star Fighter Dreams
San Japan: Samurai 7 July 18–20, 2014	Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center & Grand Hyatt San Antonio Hotel San Antonio, Texas	14,686	Curtis "Takahata101" Arnott, Christopher Ayres, The Silent Hill Band, Amelie Belcher, Martin "LittleKuriboh" Billany, Florida Whammy Entertainment, Scott "KaiserNeko" Frerichs, HamletMachine (Starfighter Comic), Nick "Lanipator" Landis, Lauren Landa, Mary Elizabeth McGlynn, Matthew Mercer, Lisa Ortiz, Mr.CreepyPasta, Powerglove, David "Docjazz4" Ramos, Sleeping Samurai, Lawrence "MasakoX" Simpson, Kieran Strange, Fred "Trunks" Wood, Akira Yamaoka.[13]
Mini-Mini Con 2015 May 16, 2015	Wonderlands of the Americas Mall San Antonio, Texas	1000+	BitForce, Alex Moore
San Japan: 8-Bit July 31-August 2, 2015	Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center & Grand Hyatt San Antonio Hotel & San Antonio Marriott Riverwalk Hotel San Antonio, Texas	18,411	Curtis "Takahata101" Arnott, Amelie Belcher, Steve Blum, Richie Branson, Jessica Calvello, Svetlana Chmakova, Dj Cutman, Taylor Davis, Patrick Delahanty, Descendants of Erdrick, Scott "KaiserNeko" Frerichs, Gimmick!, Vitamin H, Fumiko Kawamura, Mitsuru Kouzai, Nick "Lanipator" Landis, Yuji Matsukura, Mary Elizabeth McGlynn, Mr.CreepyPasta, Lisa Ortiz, David "Docjazz4" Ramos, Mega Ran, The Returners, Professor Shyguy, Lawrence "MasakoX" Simpson, Lone Stars, Kieran Strange, Brett Weaver, Greg "Greggo" Wicker, Yuka.[14]
Mini-Mini Con 2016 May 14, 2016	Wonderlands of the Americas Mall San Antonio, Texas		Dawn M. Bennett, Sephi Hakubi, Caleb Hyles, Brandon Legacy
San Japan 009 September 2–4, 2016	Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center & Grand Hyatt San Antonio Hotel & San Antonio Marriott Riverwalk Hotel San Antonio, Texas		Curtis "Takahata101" Arnott, Amelie Belcher, Bitforce, Kira Buckland, Ben "hbi2k" Creighton, CreepypastaJr., Scott "KaiserNeko" Frerichs, Yumi Fujiwara, Vitamin H, Michele Knotz, Baylee Jae, Nick "Lanipator" Landis, Daman Mills, MINT, Miss Shadow Lovely, Masayoshi Minoshima, Mr.CreepyPasta, NateWantsToBattle, Lisa Ortiz, ROOKiEZ is PUNK'D, Anthony "Antfish" Sardinha, Stephanie Sheh, Kieran Strange, Lone Stars, Corinne "Megami33" Sudberg, Kirk Thornton, The Living Tombstone, Cristina Vee. [15]
September 1–3, 2017[16]	Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center San Antonio, Texas
August 31-September 2, 2018[17]	Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center 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

1. "Geek City". San Antonio Business Journal. Retrieved 2014-08-01.
2. "6. Unleash Your Inner Geek". San Antonio Business Journal. Retrieved 2015-03-05.
3. "Our Lady of the Lake University hosts Zero Day Anime convention". AnimeCons.com. Retrieved 2008-08-22.
4. "San Japan 2008 convention report". AnimeCons.com. Retrieved 2008-08-17.
5. "San Japan '08: Day 1". japanator.com. Retrieved 2008-08-08.
6. "San Japan : Zero Day Anime Information". AnimeCons.com. Retrieved 2012-09-01.
7. "San Japan 2008 Information". AnimeCons.com. Retrieved 2012-09-01.
8. "San Japan 2009 Information". AnimeCons.com. Retrieved 2009-01-01.
9. "San Japan 2010 Information". AnimeCons.com. Retrieved 2010-02-01.
10. "San Japan 2011 Information". AnimeCons.com. Retrieved 2010-08-20.
11. "San Japan 2012 Information". AnimeCons.com. Retrieved 2012-09-01.
12. "San Japan 2013 Information". AnimeCons.com. Retrieved 2012-11-15.
13. "San Japan 2014 Information". AnimeCons.com. Retrieved 2012-07-15.
14. "San Japan 2015 Information". AnimeCons.com. Retrieved 2013-02-11.
15. "San Japan 2016 Information". AnimeCons.com. Retrieved 2014-07-25.
16. "San Japan 2017 Information". AnimeCons.com. Retrieved 2014-07-25.
17. "San Japan 2018 Information". AnimeCons.com. Retrieved 2014-07-25.

External links

• San Japan website
• Mizuumi-Con website
• Mini-Mini Con website