For Immediate Release s198

Contact: S. David Ramirez [email protected] (915) 497-0233

For Immediate Release

San Japan Gears Up for August 8 Convention Three Day Event to Feature Anime, Concerts, and Activities SAN ANTONIO -- San Antonio’s first major Japanese Culture and Anime convention opens August 8th through 10th. San Japan, hosted at the El Tropicano Riverwalk Holiday Inn Hotel and the Municipal Auditorium, is headlined by world renowned musicians Smile.dk (best known for their song “Butterfly” from the Dance Dance Revolution series.) The three-day convention will feature panels by national voice acting talent, industry experts, artists’ exhibitions, and gaming.

San Japan will feature a number of musical guests. Headlining is Smile.dk, Swedish pop group, known for their contributions to the popular rhythm dance game “Dance Dance Revolution”. Also scheduled to perform is MAJA (pronounced “Mey-juh”) who combines English, Spanish, and Japanese, to for a type of Hip-hop he refers to as “Janglish Speak”. Spinning at the Anime Dance will be DJ Jinnai, a Las Vegas native who combines western dance music with Japanese Pop and anime music. Additionally DM Ashura, known throughout the gaming scene for his contributions to a number of video games, will “spin a set”. The most recent addition to the San Japan performers list is San Antonio’s own Knuckle Sandwich, a Japanese Rock cover band.

An anime convention would not be complete without the appearance of voice actors, people who supply the talent to add English audio tracks to anime imported from Japan. These actors have provided voices for characters from series such as “Full Metal Panic”, “Full Metal Alchemist”, “DN Angel”, “Dragon Ball Z”, “Comic Party: Revolution”, “Trinity Blood”, “Air Gear”, and “New Fist of the North Star”. Voice actors include Vic Mignogna, Josh Grelle, Hannah Alcorn, and Tiffany Grant. More voice actors will be announced as the convention draws closer. Industry specialists will be presenting a variety of workshops and panels throughout the duration of the convention. Panelists include Amelie Belcher “the angriest girl on the internet”, Patrick Delahanty from Animecons.com, Digital Dimension Cosplay, Shoeless Cosplay, and CapsuleCorp Cosplay.

In addition to the previously mentioned events, San Japan will also feature demonstrations of traditional Japanese arts, a tabletop gaming room, a series of console gaming tournaments, several dances, a video game arcade, and a number of costume contests. There will also be an “Artist Alley” where local artists will display and sell their work. Adjacent to the “Alley” is “Dealer’s Room” where businesses from across the region will be selling anime, videogame, and “geek life” merchandise.

A complete weekend pass is available for $30, until July 1, 2008, with online pre- registration. All who pre-register will also be given a gift bag filled with memorabilia and exclusive San Japan merchandise. Prices at the door are $40 for a weekend pass and $25 for single day passes. A Sunday only tickets will be available for $15.

“El Tropicano Riverwalk Holiday Inn” hotel is offering special booking rates for San Japan convention-goers. All rooms booked with the code “SJP” will be offered a price of $130/night plus tax for the nights of August 7 – August 10. Only a limited numbers of rooms have been allocated for San Japan, and the convention rate is only available until July 1.

San Japan, LLC, is a not-for-profit organization devoted to bringing an appreciation of Japanese culture “state-side” through a variety of high-quality educational activities and entertainment events. In addition to the planned annual convention, San Antonio’s first major Japanese culture and Anime convention, San Japan also participates throughout the Alamo City in a number of events such as the UTSA Institute of Texan Cultures Asian Cultural Fair and the “Zero Day Anime” event hosted at Our Lady of the Lake University.

For more information visit www.San-Japan.org