Baltimore, MD (June 11, 2013) – Singer/Songwriter Chiaki Ishikawa will be featured as the opening act to Sunday’s concert of Yoko Kanno’s Piano Me.This will be Chiaki’s first time appearing at Otakon.

Chiaki Ishikawa

As a child Chiaki was invited to join a Sunday school choir. There she was impressed with the voice of a boy soprano and soon she joined and started singing in the choir. After graduating from the school she wanted to challenge herself as a vocalist, she joined her sister’s band and made several live show appearances in Tokyo.

Later, Chiaki made her major debut as the vocalist of See­Saw, and the artist activity grew through their work on various anime themes such as in Mermaid’s Forest, You’re Under Arrest: Full Throttle, and the movie Mobile Suit Gundam 00 The Movie: A Wakening of the Trailblazer. She has also written songs for other vocalists that were featured in shows such as Mobile Gundam Suit SEED, Kaze no Stigma, and Mobile Gundam Suit 00.

Now she focuses her work on a solo artist activity as Chiaki Ishikawa and has for the last few years appeared as one of the artists at Animelo Summer Live (the biggest annual anime songs concert in Japan) for theme song singles.

Ishikawa­san’s performance rounds out the Sunday concert line­up featuring Yoko Kanno, and ­ along with the previously announced Saturday Concert featuring T.M.Revolution with Home Made Kazoku ­ finalizes the musical guest selection for Otakon’s 20th show.

Otakon 2013 will be held August 9-­11 at the Baltimore Convention Center in Baltimore, MD.

ABOUT OTAKON AND OTAKORP, INC.: Now entering its twentieth year, Otakon is an annual celebration of Japanese and East Asian popular culture, and also one of the largest gatherings of fans in the United States. Otakon celebrates popular culture as a gateway to deeper understanding of Asian culture, and has grown along with the enthusiasm for anime, manga, video games, and music from the Far East. Since 1999, Otakon has been held in Baltimore, Maryland; currently, Otakon is one of Baltimore’s few large, city­wide events, drawing over 32,000 people for three days each year (for a paid attendance of over 89,000 turnstile attendees). Otakon is a membership based convention sponsored by Otakorp, Inc., a Pennsylvania­based, 501(c)3 educational non­profit whose mission is to promote the appreciation of Asian culture, primarily through its media and entertainment. Otakorp, Inc. is directed by an all­volunteer, unpaid staff – we are run by fans, for fans.