December 4, 2015
Takamasa Sakurai, Director of IOEA Executive Office, passes away
by Patrick Delahanty, Editor-in-ChiefThe International Otaku Expo Association, has announced that Takamasa Sakurai passed away on December 4, 2015. He was 49.
According to a news report from NHK, at around 12:30am at the Nishi-Nippori station in Arakawa, Sakurai accidentally slipped off a train platform onto the track where a train ran over his foot. He was rushed to a nearby hospital where he was pronounced dead.
Born in 1965, Takamasa Sakurai was a content media producer, an author, and a journalist. He was a cultural exchange spokesman, had given talks in 157 cities in 27 countries, and produced fashion shows. He was one of the first persons to use animation and Harajuku fashion in cultural exchange programs and was often invited as a guest in events about Japan.
Sakurai was most famous as the author of books such as the Anime Bunka Gaiko (Anime Culture Diplomacy) and Sekai Kawaii Kakumei (World Kawaii Revolution). In 2009, he was appointed as "Kawaii Ambassador" by Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Sakurai was a producer for Digital Hollywood University, a director for graduate school, and Executive Director of International Otaku Expo Association (IOEA). IOEA is a global association of anime conventions which encourages these events to work together to broaden otaku culture.
