Gilles Poitras
Author
California, USA
See also: Blog
Biography:
Gilles was born in Quebec, Canada in 1951 and raised in a farm town in Northern California. As a child in rural California, he was exposed to a great deal of Japanese toys and games without even being aware of their origins, thanks to his many Japanese American school friends. In high school he became a fan of world cinema, and in 1977, he saw part of an episode of Space Battleship Yamamoto on a store display in San Francisco's Japantown. From that day on, Gilles began going to every anime feature shown at the UC theater in Berkeley. Later on he discovered Cal Animage Alpha, UC Berkeley's anime club. For years he attended regularly and even began to write his first articles on anime for the club's newsletter the Konshuu, which then turned into an anime newsletter on Usenet. Eventually he wrote The Anime Companion, the first of his three books on anime. As a result of this writing he ended up speaking at many public libraries, doing presentations at anime conventions, curating an anime exhibit at the Cartoon Art Museum in San Francisco, introducing movies at the Smithsonian, and even teaching a class on anime for Pixar Staff.
All of this exposure to anime, and manga, quickly led to a growing interest in Japan. Gilles even began tracking down information on locations seen in shows.When he first went to Tokyo with friends it was to explore the city not as a regular tourist but as an anime tourist. Further trips and research resulted in a large set of notes that became foundational for his latest book Tokyo Stroll, a guide for wandering about over 20 neighborhoods in that city.
Anime Convention Guest Appearances
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2024
- FanimeCon 2024 - May 24-27, 2024 in San Jose, CA, USA 2023
- FanimeCon 2023 - May 26-29, 2023 in San Jose, CA, USA 2020
FanimeCon 2020 - May 22-25, 2020 in San Jose, CA, USAConvention Cancelled 2019- FanimeCon 2019 - May 24-27, 2019 in San Jose, CA, USA 2018
- FanimeCon 2018 - May 25-28, 2018 in San Jose, CA, USA 2017
FanimeCon 2017 - May 26-29, 2017 in San Jose, CA, USACancelled Appearance 2016- AnimeFest 2016 - August 12-15, 2016 in Dallas, TX, USA
- FanimeCon 2016 - May 27-30, 2016 in San Jose, CA, USA 2015
- FanimeCon 2015 - May 22-25, 2015 in San Jose, CA, USA 2014
- A-Kon 2014 - June 6-8, 2014 in Dallas, TX, USA
- FanimeCon 2014 - May 23-26, 2014 in San Jose, CA, USA 2013
- FanimeCon 2013 - May 24-27, 2013 in San Jose, CA, USA 2012
- FanimeCon 2012 - May 25-28, 2012 in San Jose, CA, USA 2011
- FanimeCon 2011 - May 27-30, 2011 in San Jose, CA, USA 2010
- Schoolgirls and Mobilesuits 2010 - September 24-26, 2010 in Minneapolis, MN, USA
- FanimeCon 2010 - May 28-31, 2010 in San Jose, CA, USA 2009
- Anime at UMSL 2009 - October 3, 2009 in St. Louis, MO, USA Live via Video Feed
- FanimeCon 2009 - May 22-25, 2009 in San Jose, CA, USA 2008
- FanimeCon 2008 - May 23-26, 2008 in San Jose, CA, USA 2007
- FanimeCon 2007 - May 25-28, 2007 in San Jose, CA, USA 2006
- AOD: San Francisco Animation Convention 2006 - August 4-6, 2006 in San Francisco, CA, USA
- FanimeCon 2006 - May 26-29, 2006 in San Jose, CA, USA 2005
- FanimeCon 2005 - May 27-30, 2005 in San Jose, CA, USA
- Anime Overdose 2005 - March 4-6, 2005 in San Francisco, CA, USA 2004
- FanimeCon 2004 - May 28-31, 2004 in San Jose, CA, USA
- Anime Overdose 2004 - March 5-6, 2004 in Santa Clara, CA, USA 2003
- JapanTown Anime Faire 2003 - September 13-14, 2003 in San Francisco, CA, USA
- FanimeCon 2003 - June 20-22, 2003 in Santa Clara, CA, USA
- Anime Overdose 2003 - May 3-4, 2003 in Santa Clara, CA, USA 2002
- Otakon 2002 - July 26-28, 2002 in Baltimore, MD, USA
- RECCA Con 2002 - June 8-9, 2002 in Pittsburg, CA, USA
- FanimeCon 2002 - April 26-28, 2002 in Santa Clara, CA, USA 2001
- Yaoi-Con 2001 - September 1, 2001 in San Francisco, CA, USA
- Otakon 2001 - August 10-12, 2001 in Baltimore, MD, USA 2000
- Otakon 2000 - August 4-6, 2000 in Baltimore, MD, USA
- A-Kon 2000 - June 2, 2000 in Dallas, TX, USA
- FanimeCon 2000 - February 24-27, 2000 in Santa Clara, CA, USA 1999
- AnimeFEST 1999 - September 3-6, 1999 in Dallas, TX, USA
- Anime Expo 1999 - July 16-18, 1999 in Anaheim, CA, USA
- FanimeCon 1999 - March 19-21, 1999 in San Jose, CA, USA
37 confirmed guest appearances
Bluesky Feed
@gillespoitras.bsky.social
11 hours ago
https://japannews.yomiuri.co.jp/society/obituaries/20241125-224443/
11 hours ago
https://japannews.yomiuri.co.jp/culture/museum/20241125-224385/
12 hours ago
https://unseen-japan.com/port-store-tokyo-bay-area/
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