Seattle, WA 02-24-2010

ANCEA (Asia Northwest Cultural Education Association) is proud to present the thirteenth annual Sakura-Con April 2-4 at the Washington State Convention and Trade Center in Downtown Seattle Washington.

Making her first convention appearance at Sakura-Con 2010 will be Noizi Ito.

Noizi Ito is an artist well known for her work as the character designer and artist for the Shakugan no Syana novel series which spawned a manga and anime series. She is the original character designer for the The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya franchise which includes the smash hit anime The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya as well as the newest movie. Ms. Ito recently started a manga series called Bee-be-beat it! which was introduced in volume 1 of the Dragon Age Pure magazine. She has also worked on several adult projects for UNiSONSHIFT. Outside of UNiSONSHIFT, Noizi Ito is the illustrator for Flight-Plan's DS game Shining Force Feather. This is Ms. Ito's first Sakura-Con and first appearance in the United States.

Rumble.

Sakura-Con is the Northwest's first and largest convention devoted to Japanese animation (anime), comics (manga), gaming and Asian culture (established 1998). It is the destination event for an expected attendance of over 18,000 fans, industry leaders, celebrities, and artists. Sakura-Con is one of the largest events of it's kind in the United States-ranking in the top 5 for attendance

Sakura-Con features artists, performers, educators, musicians, authors, directors, producers, and more from anime, manga, j-pop, the Asian cultural community and gaming. The event runs 24 hours a day, round the clock from start to finish and is packed with programming including: 4 theaters, concerts, the largest console and video gaming suite of any event in the Northwest, fan panels, industry panels, cultural panels, guest appearances, art show, cultural performers, educational panels, and an exhibitors hall with over 250 vendors.

To Register just visit www.sakuracon.org. Memberships are priced to encourage early registration to help ANCEA put on the best Sakura-Con possible-as well as to provide the most benefits to our members.

ANCEA is a state and federal non profit organization dedicated to educating about traditional and contemporary Asian Media-with a special focus on Japanese anime, manga, music and gaming. ANCEA and Sakura-Con is entirely volunteer run, “for the fans, by the fans.”