Sakura-Con (pronounced 'Sa-ku-ra-con) is a Japanese Animation(Anime), manga (comics), gaming, and Asian-culture convention. The convention is held in the Pacific Northwest for anime fans, also known as "Otaku", where the emphasis is on FUN! Sakura-Con began in 1998 as a small, three-day event — a party for anime fans at the Double Tree Inn, in Tukwila Washington. The convention has grown dramatically in the past 5 years in terms of attendees, guest speakers, companies, and press attending our event. Operated by an all-volunteer staff, our main goal is for everyone to have a good time...from our guest speakers to our attendees. We are happy to say that this is one thing we excel at and that we are known for.

We started Sakura-Con because we missed the fun, multi-level anime conventions where something was always happening and you were afraid to eat lunch for fear of missing something you really wanted to see. We were tired of the professionally run conventions that herded you into a room to see a speaker for one hour, than herded you into a line for an autograph and closed in time for you to be home for supper! Some of our fondest memories were of gulping down a salad in 10 minutes so we wouldn't miss a panel we wanted to see or spending hours in the hotel bar with the cast and crew of various shows, comic books, authors, etc. We missed the friendly guests who really liked meeting their fans and having as much fun as we were having.

So we decided to start a convention. We returned to the older-style 24-hour convention (there is always something going on at Sakura-Con; when we say our admission charge is for a day, it's a full day — until midnight!) with dances, karaoke, panels, anime theater rooms, great guests, and a staff that really knows and cares about the fandom because we are part of it too! You may have a hard time finding time to sleep!

YEAR	ATTENDANCE
	Total Attendance	Growth	Exhibitors	Guests	Staff
2009	...	...	...	...	...
2008	13600	30%	...	11J 16NA	450+
2007	10500	40%	...	11J 19NA	400+
2006	7500	56%	92	7J 10NA	250+
2005	4800 (cap)	8%	40+	8J 7NA	250+
2004	4425	47%	40+	9J 8NA	250+
2003	3000+	29%	26	5J 3NA	60
2002	2328	53%	29	2D 3J 5NA	55
2001	1519	75%	21	1D 2J 4NA	46
2000	866	57%	12	8NA	34
1999	553	77%	8	3NA	23
1998	313	---	12	6NA	15
:::Key::: D = Dignitary, J = Japanese Guest, NA = North American Guest

YEAR	PROGRAMMING
	Theaters	Live Programming	Gaming
2009	7	5P	...
2008	7(A and AMV)	5P	...
2007	6(A and AMV)	...	...
2006	4A	3P	1R / 1C / 1PC / 2AR / 2CC / 1G / 1M
2005	3A	3P	1R / 1C / 1PC / 1AR / 1CC / 1G / 1M
2004	3A	3P	1R / 1C / 1PC / 1AR / 1CC / 1G / 1M
2003	3A	3P	1R / 1C / 1PC / 1AR / 1CC / 1G
2002	3A	3P	1R/1C/1PC/1AR
2001	3A	3P	1R / 1C / 1PC
2000	3A	3P	1R / 1C
1999	3A	2P	1R / 1C
1998	2A	2P	1R
:::Key::: A = Anime, P = Panel, R = RPG, PC = LAN, C = Console, AR = Arcade CC = Collectible Card Gaming G = Go M = Miniatures