| Anime Expo | |
 Crowd outside the convention hall at Anime Expo 2004. |
|
| Status | Active |
|---|---|
| Venue | Los Angeles Convention Center |
| Location | Los Angeles, California |
| Country | United States |
| First held | 1992 |
| Organizer | Society for the Promotion of Japanese Animation |
| Attendance | 43,000 (2008); 44,000 (2009) |
| Official website | |
Anime Expo, abbreviated AX, is an American anime convention that usually takes place on the July 4 weekend for four days each year in Southern California. The convention tries to include July 4 in its dates, except on the years when July 4 falls on a Wednesday. Anime Expo is hosted by the non-profit Society for the Promotion of Japanese Animation (SPJA). SPJA has also held Anime Expo conventions in New York and Tokyo, which took place in 2002 and 2004 respectively.[1] Anime Expo has frequently collaborated with the anime industry, and as the convention has grown, so has the visibility of Anime Expo's industry sponsors as evidenced by their towering presence throughout the convention site.
Contents |
Programming
Many of the attendees cosplay while attending the convention, and popular events (in addition to guest and industry panels) include the masquerade, karaoke contest, anime music video contest, and "AX Idol" contest. Anime Expo is a 24-hour convention, offering late-night dances, all night video and gaming rooms, and open-mic Karaoke in the nighttime hours, where some of the activities were held at the Westin Bonaventure.
History
Anime Expo began as an anime and manga convention in Northern California. Many of its original staff came from Anime Con, an anime convention held in San Jose, California in 1991, and later absorbed by the SPJA in 1992. In 1994, Anime Expo made a strategic relocation to Southern California and has resided there since.
The convention continues to thrive because of the increase of productivity and popularity in the anime industry and maintains a strong draw due to the many notable Japanese guests it has been known for. It currently holds the title of America's largest anime convention, a title which it has consistently held every year except 2003 in which its attendance was slightly edged out by its rival east coast convention Otakon.[2] From 1,750 attendees in 1992, Anime Expo's size has increased to over 44,000 in 2009[3], which makes Anime Expo the largest anime and manga convention in North America and one of the largest in the world.
Event history
| Dates | Location | Atten. | Guests |
|---|---|---|---|
| July 3–6, 1992 | Red Lion Hotel San Jose, California |
1,750 | Jerry Beck, L. Lois Buhalis, Ben Dunn, Robert Fenelon, Lea Hernandez, Seiji Horibuchi, Ken Iyadomi, Shawn Kleckner, Trish Ledoux, Carl Macek, Luke Menichelli, Haruhiko Mikimoto, Keiji Nakazawa, Robert Napton, John O'Donnell, Claude J. Pelletier, David Riddick, Fred Schodt, Buichi Terasawa, Jeff Thompson, Yoshiyuki Tomino, Steve Wang, Robert Woodhead, and Toshifumi Yoshida.[4] |
| July 2–4, 1993 | Parc Oakland Hotel and Oakland Convention Center Oakland, California |
1,693 | Keita Amemiya, Robert DeJesus, Doug Dlin, Robert Fenelon, Peter Goll, Kenji Goto, David Ho, Seiji Horibuchi, Leo Hourvitz, Yasuhiro Imagawa, Junco Ito, Michitaka Kikuchi, Hiroyuki Kitazume, Makoto Kobayashi, Steve Kyte, Trish Ledoux, Carl Macek, Helen McCarthy, Haruhiko Mikimoto, Robert Napton, Yasushi Nirasawa, Martin Oulette, Wil Overton, Claude J. Pelletier, Jeff Pidgeon, Fred Schodt, Jan Scott-Frazier, Masatoshi Tahara, Takayuki Takeya, and Toshifumi Yoshida.[5] |
| July 1–3, 1994 | Anaheim Marriott Hotel and Anaheim Convention Center Anaheim, California |
2,057 | Allen Hastings, Shoji Kawamori, Izumi Matsumoto, Jan Scott-Frazier, Minoru Takanashi, and Nobuteru Yuuki.[6] |
| June 30 – July 2, 1995 | Los Angeles Airport Hilton Los Angeles, California |
2,138 | Amy Chia, Danger Productions, Allen Hastings, Leo Hourvitz, Kazuhiko Ikeguchi, Noboru Ishiguro, Jay Miao, Haruhiko Mikimoto, Koichi Ohata, Nobuyuki Ohnishi, Jan Scott-Frazier, Ryoei Tsukimura, Satoshi Urushibara, and Kinji Yoshimoto.[7] |
| June 28–30, 1996 | Anaheim Marriott Hotel and Anaheim Convention Center Anaheim, California |
2,918 | Hideaki Anno, Hiroki Hayashi, Noboru Ishiguro, Yoshiaki Kawajiri, Hiroyuki Kitazume, Leiji Matsumoto, Toshihiko Nishikubo, Hiromasa Ogura, Koichi Ohata, Ai Orikasa, Mamoru Oshii, Jan Scott-Frazier, Kenichi Sonoda, Yumi Takada, and Kenichi Sonoda.[8] |
| July 4–6, 1997 | Los Angeles Airport Hilton Los Angeles, California |
3,826[9] | |
| July 3–5, 1998 | Anaheim Hilton and Towers Anaheim, California |
4,883 | Mika Akitaka, Akira Kamiya, Hiroyuki Kitakubo, Yasuhiro Nightow, Nobuyuki Takahashi, Yuu Watase, and Takahiro Yoshimatsu.[10] |
| July 16–18, 1999 | Anaheim Hilton and Towers Anaheim, California |
6,400 | Mika Akitaka, Mari Iijima, Yoko Kanno, Hiromi Matsushita, Lisa Ortiz, and Gilles Poitras.[11] |
| June 30 – July 3, 2000 | Disneyland Hotel Anaheim, California |
9,700 | Rika Fukami, Keiji Gotoh, Kunihiko Ikuhara, Noboru Ishiguro, Akira Kamiya, Yukio Kikukawa, Mahiro Maeda, Yutaka Minowa, Range Murata, Kazuto Nakazawa, Yasuhiro Nightow, Chiho Saito, Yuu Watase, and Nobuteru Yuuki.[12] |
| July 5–8, 2001 | Long Beach Convention Center Long Beach, California |
13,000 | Hisashi Abe, Morio Asaka, Kia Asamiya, Jo Chen, Masayuki Kojima, Kikuko Inoue, Hidenori Matsubara, Haruhiko Mikimoto, Makoto Uno, and Yuu Watase.[13][14] |
| July 4–7, 2002 | Long Beach Convention Center Long Beach, California |
15,250 | Jo Chen, Hiroaki Goda, Tsukasa Hojo, Kunihiko Ikuhara, Hiroaki Inoue, Yoko Ishida, Noboru Ishiguro, Masashi Ishihama, Akira Kamiya, Shoji Kawamori, Maria Kawamura, Yukio Kikukawa, Hideyuki Kurata, Koichi Mashimo, Koji Masunari, Hidenori Matsubara, Toshiharu Murata, Mamiko Noto, Puffy AmiYumi, Nobuhiro Watsuki, and Takumi Yamazaki.[15] |
| August 31 – September 2, 2002 | Marriott New York Marquis New York, New York |
5,500 | Akitaroh Daichi, Noboru Ishiguro, Yoko Kanno, Toshihiro Kawamoto, Takao Koyama, Taro Maki, Koji Sugiura, Atsushi Takeuchi, Yoshiyuki Tomino, and Shinichiro Watanabe.[16] |
| July 3–6, 2003 | Anaheim Convention Center Anaheim, California |
17,000 | yoshitoshi ABe, Kazuki Akane, Duel Jewel, Rebecca Forstadt, Crispin Freeman, Kazuhiro Furuhashi, Mitsuru Hongo, Taliesin Jaffe, Yuki Kajiura, Yousuke Kuroda, Mahiro Maeda, Atsuko Nakajima, Liam O'Brien, Koushi Rikudo, Goro Taniguchi, Misa Watanabe, Kazuki Yao, and Nobuteru Yuuki.[17] |
| January 16–18, 2004 | Sunshine City Convention Center Tokyo, Japan |
4,919 | Shō Aikawa, Ken Akamatsu, Hiroshi Aro, Crispin Freeman, Fred Gallagher, Yuichi Hasegawa, Saki Hijiri, Ryusuke Hikawa, Hiroyuki Imaishi, Imaitoonz, Isamu Imakake, Mutsumi Inomata, Noboru Ishiguro, Mitsuhisa Ishikawa, Takehiko Ito, Yutaka Izubuchi, Toshihiro Kawamoto, Hiroyuki Kitazume, Satomi Kodama, Rie Kugimiya, Akira Kushida, Tomomi Michizuki, MIQ, Nao Nagasawa, Hiroshi Negishi, Tetsuya Nishio, Hiroyuki Okiura, Romi Park, Akemi Takada, Nozomu Tamaki, Kana Ueda, Under17, Yoshihiro Yonezawa, and Reina Yoshimura.[18] |
| July 2–5, 2004 | Anaheim Convention Center Anaheim, California |
25,000 | Koichi Chigira, Kate Davis, Hiromi Hirata, Yoko Ishida, Masashi Ishihama, Shinichiro Kimura, Hideyuki Kurata, Lee Myung-jin, Wendee Lee, Michael Lindsay, Masao Maruyama, Shino Masanori, Koji Masunari, Yuji Matsukura, MIQ, Minoru Murao, Range Murata, Toshiharu Murata, Satoshi Nishimura, Kazufumi Nomura, Tomonori Ochikoshi, Yoshiyuki Okamura, Ichiro Okouchi, Kaoru Ozawa, Tadashi Ozawa, Cindy Robinson, Michelle Ruff, Katsushi Sakurabi, Soichiro Sano, Carrie Savage, Tomokazu Seki, Ren Usami, Cindy Yamauchi, and Reina Yoshimura.[19] |
| July 1–4, 2005 | Anaheim Convention Center Anaheim, California |
33,000 | Hunter Mackenzie Austin, Greg Ayres, JB Blanc, Johnny Yong Bosch, Colleen Clinkenbeard, Siobhan Flynn, Crispin Freeman, Ugetsu Hakua, Rachel Hirschfeld (voice actress), Ryo Horikawa, Hiroyuki Kitakubo, Osamu Kobayashi, Tsuneo Kobayashi, Kotoko, Sara Lahti, Wendee Lee, Range Murata, Liam O'Brien, Hiroshi Osaka, Maaya Sakamoto, Carrie Savage, Tomokazu Seki, Miho Shimogasa, J.D. Stone, Helena Taylor, Wendee Tomson, Kazue Yamamoto, and Akihito Yamashita.[20] |
| July 1–4, 2006 | Anaheim Convention Center Anaheim, California |
40,647 | Laura Bailey, CLAMP, Crispin Freeman, Toru Furuya, Noboru Ishiguro, Yutaka Izubuchi, Koge-Donbo, Tomoki Kyoda, Mana, Vic Mignogna, Seiji Mizushima, Hiroshi Nagahama, Atsuko Nakajima, Mick Takeuchi, and yozuka*.[21] |
| June 29 – July 2, 2007 | Long Beach Convention Center Long Beach, California |
41,671 | Tetsuo Araki, Michael Arias, Greg Ayres, Laura Bailey, Steve Blum, Johnny Yong Bosch, Minori Chihara, Leah Clark, Colleen Clinkenbeard, Justin Cook, Caitlin Glass, Yuko Goto, Kate Higgins, Aya Hirano, Yuuna Inamura, Eisaku Inoue, Chiaki Ishikawa, Taliesin Jaffe, Satoru Kannagi, Hideo Katsumata, Takaaki Kidani, Masaru Kitao, Mike McFarland, Mary Elizabeth McGlynn, Halko Momoi, Shuhei Morita, Hiroshi Nagahama, Sumire Nanohana, Tomonori Ochikoshi, Tony Oliver, Oreskaband, Kate Oxley, Takaharu Ozaki, Brina Palencia, Orion Pitts, Brandon Potter, Dai Sato, |
| July 3–6, 2008 | Los Angeles Convention Center Los Angeles, California |
43,000 | Yamila Abraham, Masahiro Ando, Ayane, Greg Ayres, Cameron Baity, Mike Fasolo, Fullmoon 13, GaGaalinG, David Hayter, Masamitsu Hidaka, Yoko Ishida, Jyukai, Hiromi Kato, Hideyuki Kikuchi, Kuro, LM.C, Chris Many, Johnathan Meza, Vic Mignogna, Jason C. Miller, Jeanette Moffat, Shoko Nakagawa, Tony Oliver, le Peruggine, Riku, Tom Root, Kaeko Sakamoto, Patrick Seitz, Toshihiko Seki, Kevin Shinick, Akemi Takada, Saiko Takaki, Thee Out Mods, VelBet, and Travis Willingham.[23] |
| July 2–5, 2009[24] | Los Angeles Convention Center Los Angeles, California |
44,000[3] | Yamila Abraham, Seth Green, Morning Musume, Hiroyuki Imaishi, Atsushi Nishigori, Daisuke Ishiwatari, Toshimichi Mori, Toshiyuki Morikawa, Yasuhiro Nightow, Satoshi Nishimura, Seiji Mizushima, Kari Wahlgren, Karan Ashley, Robert Axelrod, Steve Cardenas, Walter Emanuel Jones, Catherine Sutherland, Barbara Goodson, Nakia Burrise, Blake Foster, Patricia Ja Lee, Dan Southworth, Cerina Vincent, Reggie Rolle, Amy Rolle, Brandon Jay McLaren, Monica May, Chris Violette, Moi dix Mois[25] |
| July 1-4, 2010[3] | Los Angeles Convention Center Los Angeles, California |
TBA |
Notes
- The 2009 event donated Over $29,000 to the Children's Hospital of Orange County (CHOC) from the SPJA Charity Auction, announced during closing ceremonies on Sunday, July 5, 2009[3]
- Masquerade main event was attended by a standing-room only crowd, over 7,200 seats available[26]
- According to L. A. Times' weekly "Brand X" newspaper: "Don’t laugh at the cosplay people. They have swords."[27]
Organizational structure
The Society for the Promotion of Japanese Animation (SPJA), the parent organization which produces Anime Expo, is a federal and California state registered 501(c)(6) non-profit corporation.[28] The staff of Anime Expo is broken up by division, and each division is composed of a number of departments. The Divisions are: Membership Services, Operations, Programming, Audio Visual Services, Exhibits, Interactive Events, and Guest Relations. Additionally, the SPJA arm has several departments that also service Anime Expo, these include Marketing, Staff Resources and Finance. There were over 500 staffers and volunteers at Anime Expo 2006.
Over the years, the organization has experimented with monetary compensation to key staff (including the Chairperson and Division Heads). In 2006, Division Heads and their assistants were compensated. The Anime Expo Chairperson position was a compensated position in 2005 and 2006. The compensation paid to these individuals do not constitute a full-time salary (i.e. below minimum wage calculated on an hourly basis). Instead, the compensation represents a means of compensating key staffers who have nearly full-time responsibilities in managing a convention of this size and scope
The SPJA, which is the parent organization of Anime Expo, has one full-time office manager. SPJA's CEO and CFO are also paid, as well as the consultants for outsourced functions such as public relations and legal representation/consultation. As of March 27th, 2009, Chief Executive Officer Trulee Karahashi, who was with SPJA for 11 years, left the organization.[29][30]
Beginning with Anime Expo 2008 SPJA contracted the event planning company Experient to create and host its registration site, as well as the other applications needed for the conference.
Other Anime Expos
The SPJA has twice run conventions outside of California: Anime Expo New York in 2002, and Anime Expo Tokyo in 2004.
Anime Expo New York
Anime Expo New York (AXNY) was held in 2002 in the Times Square district of New York City, New York.[16] The event was originally a joint effort with Central Park Media and its industry event, Big Apple Anime Fest (BAAF). Due to differences, the event ran as separate entities within the same time frame and venues, with BAAF hosting the theatrical film screenings, and Anime Expo New York hosting the convention. The events shared some resources, with notable guests listed in the program guides of both events. The SPJA ran the event in order to demonstrate that it could run events outside of its home state of California. The event was a precursor to Anime Expo Tokyo which ran in Tokyo, Japan in 2004.[18] The SPJA has not run any events outside of California since 2004.
Anime Expo Tokyo
Anime Expo Tokyo (AX Tokyo) was held in 2004 at the Sunshine City Convention Center in Ikebukuro, Tokyo, Japan.[18] It is not technically put on by the SPJA, but rather was put on by the Japanese Association for Science Fiction (JASFIC) with assistance from the SPJA. In hosting Anime Expo Tokyo, JASFIC intended to accomplish two objectives. First, it wanted to establish in Japan a non-corporate sponsored convention dedicated to anime, which in contrast to its manga counterpart was a rarity in Japan. Second, it wanted to prove to the coordinators of the World Science Fiction Convention (commonly known as WorldCon) that Japan could serve as a suitable venue for conventions that attract foreigners. It was ultimately successful and JASFIC was named as the host for 65th World Science Fiction Convention in 2007.
Anime Expo Tokyo had a staggering list of over 40 guests such as manga artist Ken Akamatsu, MiQ, Under17, Hiroshi Aro, and many others, although a small handful had to make last minute cancellations. Anime Expo Tokyo was also the very first Anime Expo that officially hosted guests from the U.S. anime industry such as producer Fred Gallagher and voice actor Crispin Freeman.[18]
Of Anime Expo Tokyo's 4,249 attendees, approximately 300 of that number were estimated to have traveled from abroad. In addition to the attendance numbers were 240 members of the press, 40 of which were from overseas. An additional 430 people were composed of dealers, guests, or staff.
No official plans to host another Anime Expo outside of California are currently planned.
References
- ^ "Profile". Anime Expo. 2007-01-09. http://www.anime-expo.org/?q=profile. Retrieved on 2007-01-09.
- ^ "Ten largest North American anime conventions of 2003". AnimeCons.com. 2007-01-09. http://www.animecons.com/news/article.shtml/406. Retrieved on 2007-01-09.
- ^ a b c d Anime Expo® 2009 Continues to Hold the Title of Nation’s Largest Anime and Manga Event with a Record Number of Over 44,000 in Attendance, July 5, 2009
- ^ "Anime Expo 1992 Information". AnimeCons.com. http://www.animecons.com/events/info.shtml/137. Retrieved on 2007-04-11.
- ^ "Anime Expo 1993 Information". AnimeCons.com. http://www.animecons.com/events/info.shtml/147. Retrieved on 2007-04-11.
- ^ "Anime Expo 1994 Information". AnimeCons.com. http://www.animecons.com/events/info.shtml/148. Retrieved on 2007-04-11.
- ^ "Anime Expo 1995 Information". AnimeCons.com. http://www.animecons.com/events/info.shtml/149. Retrieved on 2007-04-11.
- ^ "Anime Expo 1996 Information". AnimeCons.com. http://www.animecons.com/events/info.shtml/150. Retrieved on 2007-04-11.
- ^ "Anime Expo 1997 Information". AnimeCons.com. http://www.animecons.com/events/info.shtml/327. Retrieved on 2007-04-11.
- ^ "Anime Expo 1998 Information". AnimeCons.com. http://www.animecons.com/events/info.shtml/328. Retrieved on 2007-04-13.
- ^ "Anime Expo 1999 Information". AnimeCons.com. http://www.animecons.com/events/info.shtml/329. Retrieved on 2007-04-13.
- ^ "Anime Expo 2000 Information". AnimeCons.com. http://www.animecons.com/events/info.shtml/278. Retrieved on 2007-04-13.
- ^ "Anime Expo 2001 Information". AnimeCons.com. http://www.animecons.com/events/info.shtml/56. Retrieved on 2007-06-02.
- ^ "Anime Expo Opening Ceremonies". animenewsnetwork.com. http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2001-07-05/anime-expo-opening-ceremonies. Retrieved on 2007-08-09.
- ^ "Anime Expo 2002 Information". AnimeCons.com. http://www.animecons.com/events/info.shtml/277. Retrieved on 2007-04-13.
- ^ a b "Anime Expo New York 2002 Information". AnimeCons.com. http://www.animecons.com/events/info.shtml/296. Retrieved on 2007-04-13.
- ^ "Anime Expo 2003 Information". AnimeCons.com. http://www.animecons.com/events/info.shtml/3. Retrieved on 2007-04-13.
- ^ a b c d "Anime Expo Tokyo 2004 Information". AnimeCons.com. http://www.animecons.com/events/info.shtml/4. Retrieved on 2007-04-13.
- ^ "Anime Expo 2004 Information". AnimeCons.com. http://www.animecons.com/events/info.shtml/185. Retrieved on 2007-04-13.
- ^ "Anime Expo 2005 Information". AnimeCons.com. http://www.animecons.com/events/info.shtml/516. Retrieved on 2007-04-13.
- ^ "Anime Expo 2006 Information". AnimeCons.com. http://www.animecons.com/events/info.shtml/634. Retrieved on 2007-04-13.
- ^ "Anime Expo 2007 Information". AnimeCons.com. http://www.animecons.com/events/info.shtml/1071. Retrieved on 2007-04-13.
- ^ "Anime Expo 2008 Information". AnimeCons.com. http://www.animecons.com/events/info.shtml/1351. Retrieved on 2008-07-07.
- ^ AlexT (2008-07-07). "Anime Expo 2008 Announces 17th Convention Biggest Success To Date". Anime Expo. http://www.anime-expo.org/2008/07/07/anime-expo%c2%ae-2008-announces-17th-convention-biggest-success-to-date/. Retrieved on 2008-07-07.
- ^ AnimeExpo 2009: Special Guests
- ^ Anime Expo® 2009 Continues Strong into Day 4 as the Nation’s Largest Anime and Manga Convention, July 5, 2009
- ^ Do you anime? Here's how, Brand X, July, 2, 2009
- ^ About The Society for the Promotion of Japanese Animation
- ^ To: SPJA Executive Members, Convention Committee, Anime Expo® Managers, Staff and Volunteers, March 28, 2009
- ^ Chief Executive Officer (CEO) for The Society for the Promotion of Japanese Animation “(SPJA)”
External links
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