Azusa Uchikura – The Seattle Globalist

anime manga

Anime devotees pack Sakura-con, but longtime fans see the magic fading

by Azusa Uchikura

Sakura-constarted back in 1998 as a humble gathering of 313 anime and manga fans at the Doubletree Inn in Tukwila. The 14th annual gathering last weekend at the Convention Center attracted 19,000. I waited in line for 5 hours on Friday waiting to get in the door. Sakura-con’s growth speaks to the rising popularity of […]

One year after Japan earthquake, a family that found refuge in Seattle heads home

by Azusa Uchikura

Shizu Ishihara is saying goodbye to Seattle. She came here a year ago with her two young sons Eishin and Ryousei, fleeing the aftermath of 9.0 magnitude earthquake that hit northeastern Japan last March. The Tohoku earthquake, as it has since been named, triggered tsunami waves taller than 100ft, leaving more than 20,000 people dead or […]