2013 J-pop Summit Festival Announces Illustrator Katsuya Terada as a Guest of Honor

Prolific Artist And Illustrator Katsuya Terada Promotes A New Retrospective Art Book ‘KATSUYA TERADA 10 TEN’ And Will Appear For A Special Live Freehand Drawing And Autograph Session During J-POP SUMMIT FESTIVAL 2013

San Francisco, CA, June 5, 2013 – The 2013 J-POP Summit Festival, the popular yearly San Francisco summertime Japanese Pop Culture celebration, has announced the appearance of one of Japan's greatest illustrators – Katsuya Terada – as a special Guest of Honor. The popular annual weekend event, which returns for its 5th year to San Francisco's Japantown district, celebrates Japanese pop culture, music, art, anime, fashion, and film and will place on Saturday and Sunday, July 27th - 28th, 2013.

Katsuya Terada's special J-POP Summit appearance will also promote his new art book, KATSUYA TERADA 10 TEN - 10 Year Retrospective, published by PIE International. The artist will meet attendees during an autograph session on Saturday, July 27th from 11:30am to 1:30pm, and again on Sunday, July 28th from 2:00pm-4:00pm, at the Kinokuniya Booth that will be stationed on Post St. (in front of the NEW PEOPLE building) during the festival.

Tickets to the autograph session will be available to the first 50 people each day that purchase either his book or a Kinokuniya Gift Card (at least $25.00) from the Kinokuniya Booth during the J-POP Summit Festival. Tickets to the autograph session will be distributed 30 minutes prior to the event at the Kinokuniya Booth each day. Limited to 1 ticket per person.

Also taking place on Saturday, Jul 27th as a special treat for fans and J-POP Summit attendees, Katsuya Terada will do a live freehand drawing from 4:00pm to 6:00pm on a blank wall in the 1st floor of the Kinokuniya Bookstore, located inside the Kinokuniya Shopping Mall (also on Post Street) in Japantown. Witness a true master at work as Terada will leave his unique artistic mark on the Kinokuniya décor.

KATSUYA TERADA 10 TEN -10 Year Retrospective was released in conjunction with the artist's recent exhibition that opened in Japan at the Kyoto International Manga Museum. The book contains an expansive collection of Terada's massive body of work, including illustrations for art books, novel covers, and character concept designs for games/films, panels from his comics, miscellaneous doodles, sketches and much more.

The J-POP Summit Festival is the Bay Area's premier annual Japanese Pop Culture celebration that features live bands and artists from Japan, pop culture panel discussions, film premieres, fashion shows, DJ dance events, and celebrity appearances. The Festival is hosted by J-POP Summit Festival Committee in cooperation with the Japantown Merchants Association. In 2012, the two-day event attracted more than 65,000 attendees. Additional information and updates on the 2013 J-POP Summit Festival will be posted over coming months at www.J-POP.com.

“We're very excited to announce our first J-POP Summit Guest of Honor appearance by Katsuya Terada and his unique live illustration session that will take place at Kinokuniya Bookstore,” says Seiji Horibuchi, the President/CEO of NEW PEOPLE, Inc. and Chairman of the J-Pop Summit Festival Committee. “Fans will also have the opportunity to meet the artist, purchase his brand new retrospective art book, and also receive his autograph as a special bonus. Don't miss this rare opportunity to join in the fun at his year's J-POP Summit Festival and savor the work of one of Japan's most acclaimed illustrators!”

Katsuya Terada is a prolific artist and illustrator born in Okayama, Japan. His work varies from illustration to character designs for numerous video games and films. He is probably best known in the United States as the character-designer for the anime film, Blood: The Last Vampire. He has also done work related to American comics, such as Iron Man and Hellboy.

Terada has often defined himself as a "rakugaki" artist, more of a philosophy than a style of drawing, in which one draws a little everywhere, all the time, without thinking too much, and one of his collections of sketches numbers more than 1000 pages. His use of CG tools is also integrated very well into his illustrations, giving his work a vivid and rich appearance. Tarada also points to various influences on his work, particularly European ones, like Jean Giraud (a.k.a. Moebius) and the magazine, Métal Hurlant, which he has said gave him a taste for strong women that are slightly stripped.

About J-POP SUMMIT FESTIVAL
The J-POP Summit Festival is an annual San Francisco Japanese Pop Culture celebration that features live bands and artists from Japan, pop culture panel discussions, film premieres, fashion and DJ dance events, and celebrity appearances. The Festival is hosted by NEW PEOPLE in cooperation with the Japantown Merchants Association. In 2012, the two-day event attracted 65,000 attendees.

Additional information about the J-POP Summit Festival is available at www.J-POP.com.