Sakura-Con celebrates Anime and Asian Culture this April. Photo: Some rights reserved by enfu.

For Seattle fans of Japanese anime, the weekend of April 22-24, 2011, is an essential date for your calendar. Across these three days Sakura-Con will be taking place at the Washington State Convention and Trade Center, and thousands of anime fans will be descending on the Pacific Northwest’s oldest and biggest anime convention.

This year will also see Sakura-Con raising money for relief in disaster-stricken Japan, and members will be given opportunities to donate to the relief effort through out the weekend. Sakura-Con has joined SeattleJapanRelief, a collaboration of Japanese American and Japan related cultural, educational and civic organizations standing together to promote relief and recovery following the devastating earthquakes and tsunamis. Seattle has long enjoyed a strong connection with Japan – from Nintendo’s presence in the region to Ichiro and the Seattle Mariners – and this is the perfect time to lend your support to the relief efforts.

As for the convention itself, it’s a feast of anime and Asian pop culture that even the most casual fan is sure to love. Guests include a whole host of well-known anime voice actors, as well as exist†trace, one of Japan’s first all-female Visual Kei rock bands, and manga creator and artist Atsushi Suzumi. Sakura-Con also boasts over 200 exhibitors, exclusive merchandise, three concerts, four 24 hour theaters, the largest free gaming arcade on the West coast, Japanese cultural arts and presentations, industry panels, fan panels and much more.

Watch out too for the Bandai Gunpla World Cup 2011 U.S. Championship, as well as a live, two-hour editing showdown from Iron Editor. The convention promises to be one of the most thrilling and entertaining yet, and it’s worth noting that last year over 60% of attendees came to the convention for all three days – it’s hard to get bored at Sakura-Con!

For further details of the convention, including the programming schedule and a full list of guests, check out the Sakura-Con website. Pre-registration for the convention has now closed, but you can still register at the door from 6:00am-9:00pm on Friday April 22 and Saturday April 23, and from 6:00am-2:00pm on Sunday April 24. Registration at the door costs $60 for the full convention, or pro-rated memberships for $30-40. Children aged 6-12 receive a 50% membership price discount with their family. Children five and under receive complimentary membership with their family.

Subscribe to CultureMob (above) to receive weekly email updates on events in and around Seattle, or follow our SeattleMob blog on Twitter.