San Francisco Japantown Task Force

DATA SHEET

Place/Event: Anime Costume Parade

Address: Post Street

Visual Description:

For the Anime Costume Parade, participants wear costumes of their favorite anime characters and march down the streets of San Francisco. At the start of the parade, winners of the annual costume contest are placed on floats and instructed to pose for the public through the course of the event. At the Peace Plaza stage, the winners are officially recognized, and regular audience members are given the opportunity to take pictures with them.

History:

Anime is a unique style of animation art originating in Japan in the 1950s. Though it has been embraced and copied throughout the world, it remains unique to contemporary Japanese culture; its film and television artists have received countless awards and honors; its fans are among the most devoted of any media-based art form worldwide. In 1999, while “Sailor Moon” and “Pokemon” were still making their marks on mainstream American television, the first ever Anime Parade was held in SF’s Japantown. Fans come from around the world to participate, as both marchers and audience, and enjoy the media resources available in Japantown. It remains the only Anime Parade in the world; and the Anime Unit has quickly become one of the main attractions of Japantown’s Annual Cherry Blossom Festival.

Significance:

Social, Cultural

Recognition of Significance:

Locally televised event

Sources:

Takeshi Onishi, owner of Japan Video and Media, Inc.

Other Comments:

The Anime Parade is especially important because it provides a unique blend of modern pop culture to the traditional Cherry Blossom Festival.

Prepared By: Takeshi Onishi* Date Prepared: 6/15/04