Home - Arizona Convention History Mail Admin Gremlin


Taiyou Con

Overview

Taiyou Con is an active annual anime convention in Mesa. It was first held in 2011 and is often the first con of the Arizona year. It was run by Michael Spadafore for most of a decade, but he left to pursue other interests after the 2020 event.

Controversy erupted in the run up to the 2022 event, when event director Gackto Takaida, also known as Kato Tam, was accused of sexual assault by Allie Tam. The allegations were made on 15th December, 2021 and Takaida denied them. He then stepped down from his post as convention director on 18th December, 2021, with Jai Son appointed as his replacement. Even though the convention announced on 21st December, 2021 that he "will no longer be working with the convention anymore", he remained an owner of the event until at least 23rd December, 2021. More details at Anime News Network.

A growing boycott of Taiyou Con led to the creation of LunaCon as a safe, free and non-profit alternative, with all proceeds given to the Arizona Coalition to End Sexual and Domestic Violence.

However, Allie Tam issued a public retraction of her allegations on 31st March, 2022, though all her Facebook posts on the subject have since been removed. More details at the Arizona Republic.


Social Media | Most Recent Program Book Covers | History | Guests | Attendance | Other Documents


Most Recent Program Book Covers

Click on the images below to open larger versions.


Social Media


History

Chronology of Arizona Conventions | Index of Program Books

# Date Location Chair Guests Book Web Notes
1 2011
7 Jan
9 Jan
Hilton Phoenix East
Mesa
see below
2 2012
6 Jan
8 Jan
Hilton Phoenix East
Mesa
Michael Spadafore see below
3 2013
4 Jan
6 Jan
Hilton Phoenix East
Mesa
Michael Spadafore see below
4 2014
3 Jan
5 Jan
Hilton Phoenix East
Mesa
Michael Spadafore see below
5 2015
16 Jan
18 Jan
Mesa Convention Center
Mesa
Michael Spadafore see below
34 MB
6 2016
15 Jan
17 Jan
Mesa Convention Center
Mesa

Michael Spadafore see below
7 2017
6 Jan
8 Jan
Mesa Convention Center
Mesa
Michael Spadafore see below
8 2018
5 Jan
7 Jan
Mesa Convention Center
Mesa
Michael Spadafore see below
9 2019
11 Jan
13 Jan
Mesa Convention Center
Mesa
Michael Spadafore see below
10 2020
3 Jan
5 Jan
Mesa Convention Center
Mesa
Michael Spadafore
11 2021
8 Jan
10 Jan
Mesa Convention Center
Mesa
1
12 2022
7 Jan
9 Jan
Mesa Convention Center
Mesa
Jai Son
13 2023
6 Jan
8 Jan
Mesa Convention Center
Mesa
see below
14 2024
5 Jan
7 Jan
Mesa Convention Center
Mesa
see below
15 2025
24 Jan
26 Jan
Mesa Convention Center
Mesa
see below


Notes

  1. Taiyou Con 11 was cancelled in 2021, due to COVID-19.


Guests

Taiyou Con generally has too many guests to list in the table above. Here are the guests announced for each event:

2011: Troy Baker, Chris Cason, Charlene Ingram, Brian Foster Kane, Kitsune Robot, Perfect Math Class

2012: Charlene Ingram, Kirby's Dream Band, Chris Sabat, Patrick Seitz, Eric Vale, Armand Villavert Jr.

2013: Chris Guerrero, Kirby's Dream Band, Lauren Landa, Maridah, Sonny Strait, Cristina Vee

2014: Chalk Twins, Frances Delgado, Darrel Guilbeau, Kyle Hebert, Ichigokitty, Mari Iijima, Charlene Ingram, Maridah, Michelle Ruff, Heather Vaughn, Cristina Vee

2015: Frances Delgado, Erin Fitzgerald, Chris Guerrero, Shihoko Hirata, Ichigokitty, Johnny 'n' Junkers, Yumi Kawamura, Lotus Juice, Mega Ran, Eric Stuart, Heather Vaughn

2016: Valerie Arem, Yuu Asakawa, Erin Fitzgerald, Samantha Gorel, Hanyann, Charlene Ingram, Lotus Juice, Mega Ran, Garnet Runestar, Chris Sabat, Sean Schemmel, Twinfools, Nova VandorWolf, Kappei Yamaguchi

2017: Yuko Sanpei, TeddyLoid, Akemi Kanda, Lotus Juice, Shihoko Hirata, Mega64, Heather Vaughn, Lunar Lyn, CeruleanDracon, Clifford Chapin

2018: Mega64, Shino Kakinuma, Toshio Furukawa, Robbie Daymond, Satomi Arai, Kimidori Cosplay, Derek Stephen Prince Lisle Wilkerson

2019: Yoshitoshi Abe, Ray Chase, Chocolate Covered Cosplay, Robbie Daymond, Max Mittelman, Yuriko Yamaguchi

2022: Shawn Chiplock, Ryan Colt Levy


Attendance

1 2 3 4 5 6
2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
810 1,500 1,600 1,963 2,651 3,211


Other Documents

Index of Ephemera

Taiyou Con 3

Postcard (1 MB)

Taiyou Con 8

Pocket Program (105k)



Creative Commons License
Last update: 2nd August, 2024