Sakura-Con 2009 announces final nine guests of honor

Seattle, WA 3-5-2009- Sakura-Con has finished up it's guest announcements with final big bang. 5 new Japanese guests and 4 new American guests round out an impressive line up of over 30 guests and performers.

Sakura-Con's newest guest announcements include:

Sasaki Nozomu is a prolific voice actor know for over 100 roles. Anime fans may know him best for his work in Yu-Yu Hakusho (Yusuke Urameshi), Akira (Tetsuo Shima), Monster (Johan Liebert), Samurai X-Trust and Betrayal (Enishi Yukishiro), Death Note (Mellow), and many, many more.

Yashitoshi ABe is back for his second Sakura-Con by popular demand. ABe is a talented Japanese graphic artist who works predominantly in anime and manga. He is known for a slightly edgier style of art. He first gained fame in his work on the avant-garde anime Serial Experiments Lain. He is also responsible for the concept and character design for the series NieA under 7 as well as Texhnolyze. He is the creator of Haibane Renmei.

Koichi Ohata is the creator of the classic manga M.D. Geist- as well as an accomplished artist, director and mechanical designer. Koichi Ohata is a veteran of the anime industry who has designed for classics like Gunbuster and Mobile Suit Gundam: Char's Counterattack.

Hideo Okamoto is a mecha designer known for work on such shows as Transformers, Zoids. Ginga Senpu Buraigaa, Ginga Reppu Bakushingaa, Ginga Shippuu Sasuraigaa, Zeta Gundam, Double Zeta Gundam, Samurai Warriors (armor designer), Majinden Wataru, Momotaro Densetsu, and Metarudaa. In the early 90's his work took him into special effects in movies and TV for titles such as Yamato Takeru, Gadzilla vs. Destroyer (baby Godzilla & Destroyer designer), Mothra Movie Series (Mothra Designer) and in TV Kamen Tenshi Rosetta (Character Designer, Planner/Creator), Sennen Ookuku Bunny Knights (Character Designer, Planner/Creator), Bee Fighter Kabuto (Villian Designer).

Myuji is Sakura-Con's final musical guest announcement. Myuji debuted at 16 as a musician, releasing many songs, such as "Over the view", "Normal" and "Bone". He is known as the singer of "eX dream", the theme song of X, the animated TV series originated by CLAMP. Additionally Myuji has been in the spotlight as an actor. One of his many appearances was in a live action film called Pinch Runner in which he worked with Morning Musume.

Roland Kelts is the author of Japanamerica: How Japanese Pop Culture Has Invaded the U.S, published in the U.S., Europe, and Japan. Kelts is also a Lecturer at the University of Tokyo and Sacred Heart University of Tokyo, an editor of the New York-based literary journal, A Public Space and a columnist for The Daily Yomiuri. He is a graduate of Columbia University and Oberlin College and has taught at New York University and Barnard College. He lives in both New York and Tokyo.

Greg Dean has been writing and illustrating his online comic, "Real Life" since late 1999. Real Life is a popular semi-autobiographical comic about the author and his friends.

Sakura-Con is pleased to welcome back the creators of Penny Arcade. Penny Arcade is a webcomic written by Jerry Holkins and illustrated by Mike Krahulik. It is among the most popular webcomics currently online. Equal parts comics and commentary, Penny Arcade features Tycho and Gabe, the alter egos of creators Mike and Jerry.

Sakura-Con is the first and largest Pacific Northwest convention devoted to Japanese animation (anime), comics (manga), gaming and traditional Japanese culture. It is the destination event for an expected attendance of over 15,000 fans, industry leaders, celebrities, and artists.

ANCEA is a non-profit organization dedicated to educating the public about popular and traditional Japanese media. Sakura-Con is ANCEA's main realization of that mission.