Taiyou Con Shell Game
Last week’s issue quoted a story in the Arizona Republic stating that Kato Tam or Tan, aka Gackto, had stepped down from the management and ownership of Taiyou Con. Gackto had been accused of sexual assault and there was a movement to boycott the convention.
Accusations are circulating on Twitter and on forums that Gackto is not gone, just hidden by a new layer of shell companies. Beskar, LLC, which the Republic reported had been added as a new owner in Gackto’s place, is said to be managed by Limitless Sky Trust, which in turn is owned by AZFoodGuy, LLC. AZFoodGuy is, in turn, Gackto again.
Public records are not quite able to confirm or deny this. The Arizona Corporation Commission currently lists the members of Taiyou Convention, LLC as Rida Son and a blank name at the same address. Beskar, LLC’s only member is a blank name at a different address.
AZFoodGuy, LLC lists Beskar as a member and Limitless Sky Trust as its manager, all at the same address in Scottsdale as Beskar’s nameless member. That address belongs to KEYTLaw, LLC, the agent for both Beskar and AZFoodGuy.
The person behind AZFoodGuy is named as Kay Tea in articles at the Scottsdale Progress and AZ Big Media. On the other hand, the Progress article and the AZFoodGuy’s own website feature pictures of someone who does look a lot like Gackto’s own photos of himself.
It does, in fact, look like Gackto is not entirely divorced from Taiyou Con.
In Brief
SoonerCon (Norman, Oklahoma, USA) is the latest convention to open a Kickstarter to ensure its next con can happen. As of press time, it has just topped its initial goal of $10,000.
Wiscon’s fundraiser (covered a few issues ago) has so far brought in $18,700 toward its $30,000 goal.
Arisia (Boston, Massachusetts, USA), which was to be held January 13-16, has rescheduled to next year.
The WSFA Small Press Award, voted on by local fans and presented at Capclave (Rockville, Maryland, USA, September 30-October 2), is open for submissions of short speculative fiction from small presses. Full rules are available at its official site.
The former Winnipeg in 2023 bid for Worldcon is exploring becoming a NASFiC bid and invites comments from the public.
A bid has formed to hold Corflu in Belfast, Northern Ireland in 2023 (PDF).
Event Calendar
Weekend of January 7-9
Shadowcon XXV (relaxacon), Memphis, Tennessee, USA
GAFilk 2022 (music), Atlanta, Georgia, USA
SuperMAGFest (gaming/videogame music), National Harbor, Maryland, USA
OrcaCon 2022 (gaming), Bellevue, Washington, USA
Animé Los Angeles 17, Long Beach, California, USA
Taiyou Con 2022 (anime), Mesa, Arizona, USA
Anime-ZAP!, East Peoria, Illinois, USA
Fan Expo New Orleans (media), New Orleans, Louisiana, USA
St. Pete Comic Con, St. Petersburg, Florida, USA
Weekend of January 14-16
Chattacon XLVII, Chattanooga, Tennessee, USA
Na Meji Nevidnega, Ljubljana, Slovenia
GenghisCon, Perth, Australia
MarsCon 2022, Williamsburg, Virginia, USA
COSine 2022, Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA
DeCONpression 17 (relaxacon), Columbus, Ohio, USA
Waypoint Norwescon (relaxacon), online
HexaCon (gaming), Broomfield, Colorado, USA
Midwinter Gaming Convention 2022, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA
SCARAB 2022 (gaming), Columbia, South Carolina, USA
Siege of Augusta XXXI (miniatures gaming), Augusta, Georgia, USA
SaltCON Bryce (boardgames), Bryce Canyon, Utah, USA
Further Confusion 2022 (anthropomorphic), San Jose, California, USA
Anime Impulse, Pomona, California, USA
Ichibancon 12 (anime), Concord, North Carolina, USA
OtakuFest (anime), Miami, Florida, USA
Central Florida Comic Con, Lakeland, Florida, USA
Puerto Rico Comic Con, San Juan, Puerto Rico, USA
Wintercon (media), Jamaica, New York, USA
Weekend of January 21-23
Rising ConFusion, Novi, Michigan, USA
AnthroExpo: CasinOwO Royale (anthropomorphic), Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA
KapCon 31 (gaming), Wellington, New Zealand
Polar Vortex 6 (gaming), Lisle, Illinois, USA
ConTingency (gaming), Hunstanton, UK
Rocket City Gamefest, Huntington, Alabama, USA
Cascade Games Convention, Bellingham, Washington, USA
Cancon 2022 (gaming), Canberra, Australia
Niagara Boardgaming Weekend, Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada
TBRCon (literary/gaming), online
Wilkes Comic Con, North Wilkesboro, North Carolina, USA
Fan Expo Portland (media), Portland, Oregon, USA
CONsole Room (Doctor Who), Bloomington, Minnesota, USA
My Hero Convention: TX Smash (My Hero Academia), Irving, Texas, USA
Weekend of January 28-30
Conflikt (music), online (usually Seatac, Washington, USA)
Game-iToba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
MeepleCon (gaming), Melbourne, Australia
Platypus-Con (gaming), Juneau, Alaska, USA
Winter War 2022 (gaming), Champaign, Illinois, USA
Protocon ‘22 (gaming), online (usually Kearns, Utah, USA)
AmberCon NI (diceless RPGs), online (usually Belfast, UK)
Setsucon 2022 (anime), Altoona, Pennsylvania, USA
UChi-Con 2022 (anime), Chicago, Illinois, USA
Mouse-Con Bakersfield (Disney), Bakersfield, California, USA
Weekend of February 4-6
Capricon 42, Wheeling, Illinois, USA
Sci-Fi Fantasy LA (sf and science), Pasadena, California, USA
Running GAGG 25 (gaming), Geneseo, New York, USA
TableTopCon (gaming), Southport, Australia
CaptainCon 2022 (gaming), Warwick, Rhode Island, USA
Adventure Con 2022 (RPGs), Hamburg, Germany
Chattanooga Railgaming Challenge, Chattanooga, Tennessee, USA
SSA+S Toracon (anime), Sarasota, Florida, USA
WeebCon (anime), Allen, Texas, USA
Coda
Some Things That Didn’t Go Wrong in 2021 (Washington Post)
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