Yaoi-Con

---

title: "Yaoi-Con" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["defunct-anime-conventions", "erotic-events", "san-francisco-bay-area-conventions", "boys'-love", "recurring-events-established-in-2001", "recurring-events-disestablished-in-2017", "2001-establishments-in-california", "lgbtq-events-in-california", "2017-disestablishments-in-california"] description: "Anime convention" topic_path: "general/defunct-anime-conventions" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yaoi-Con" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Anime convention ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox Convention"]

Field	Value
name	Yaoi-Con
image	File:YaoiConLogo.png
status	Defunct
venue	Hyatt Regency Santa Clara
location	Santa Clara, California
country	United States
first	2001
last	2017
organizer	Since 2012: Digital Manga Publishing
attendance	1,500 in 2007
::

| name = Yaoi-Con | image = File:YaoiConLogo.png | caption = | status = Defunct | venue = Hyatt Regency Santa Clara | location = Santa Clara, California | country = United States | first = 2001 | last = 2017 | organizer = Since 2012: Digital Manga Publishing | attendance = 1,500 in 2007 | website =

Yaoi-Con (sometimes YaoiCon) was an annual three-day anime convention, founded in 2001, aimed at fans of yaoi-related anime, manga, and other aspects of Asian culture. It typically took place during the fall in California.

Since the 2012 edition, its organizer and main sponsor has been Digital Manga Publishing. It was known mostly for its unique events that use volunteers known as "bishounen". The bishounen were male volunteers who represented the attractive characters shown in yaoi manga and ran many of the events.

Programming

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9f/Yaoicon_cosplayers.jpg" caption="Two [[cosplay]]ers (as Sora and Roxas from the video game [[Kingdom Hearts]]) strike a pose at Yaoi-Con 2008."] ::

As with other anime conventions, Yaoi-Con had panels and workshops (with a yaoi twist), a 24-hour video room, a manga library, swap meet, a Dealers' Room filled with merchandise, a cosplay masquerade, and an anime music video contest. In addition, Yaoi-Con held a fan fiction contest, Bishounen Bingo, and its extraordinarily popular Saturday night fundraising Bishounen Auction. At bingo, and the auction, the bishounen volunteers put on shows and stripped to entertain the convention goers.

Each year Yaoi-Con sponsored at least one Japanese yaoi manga artist as guest of honor. And, as yaoi publishing expanded in the U.S., the companies who attended Yaoi-Con became interested in bringing guests with them. Guests of honor usually participated in question and answer/autograph sessions as well as sketch sessions where they demonstrated to attendees how they produced their work.

Because of the adult nature of its theme, Yaoi-Con required all attendees to be at least 18 and checked the legal ID of all attendees upon registration. As of 2003, 85% of Yaoi-Con membership was female, and mostly heterosexual.

Inactivity

In December 2017, DMP announced that Yaoi-Con was taking "a one-year break", expecting to return "stronger than ever in Fall 2019." A tweet in January 2019 indicated that a new, non-profit organization might take over the event, but this never materialized. While the Yaoi-Con website went offline at the beginning of 2020, a public Facebook group page is still semi-active.

History

Event history

::data[format=table]

Dates	Location	Guests
date = September 1, 2001	venue = Radisson Miyako Hotel	location = San Francisco, California
::

References

References

1. "Digital Manga Publishing's CEO Talks About Taking the Reins of YaoiCon in 2012".
2. Masaki, Lyle. (2008-01-06). ""Yowie!": The Stateside appeal of boy-meets-boy YAOI comics". [[AfterEllen.com and AfterElton.com.
3. "Anime, mon amour: forget Pokémon—Japanese animation explodes with gay, lesbian, and trans themes".
4. (2017-12-13). "YaoiCon takes 1-Year Break in 2018". Anime News Network.
5. YaoiCon. (2017-12-12). "YaoiCon will be taking a one year break".
6. YaoiCon. (2019-01-01). "Our resolution this year is to have and enjoy more Yaoi events and be utter unrepentant teases.".
7. "Yaoi-Con homepage".
8. "Yaoi-Con". Facebook.
9. "Yaoi-Con 2001 Information". AnimeCons.com.
10. "Yaoi-Con 2002 Information". AnimeCons.com.
11. "Yaoi-Con 2003 Information". AnimeCons.com.
12. "Yaoi-Con 2004 Information". AnimeCons.com.
13. "Yaoi-Con 2005 Information". AnimeCons.com.
14. "Yaoi-Con 2006 Information". AnimeCons.com.
15. "Yaoi-Con 2007 Information". AnimeCons.com.
16. "Yaoi-Con 2008 Information". AnimeCons.com.
17. "Yaoi-Con 2009 Information". AnimeCons.com.
18. "This Weekend: Manga Fans' Guide to Yaoi-Con 2010".
19. "Yaoi-Con 2010 Information". AnimeCons.com.
20. "Yaoi-Con 2011 Information". AnimeCons.com.
21. "Yaoi-Con 2012 Information". AnimeCons.com.
22. "Yaoi-Con 2014 Information". AnimeCons.com.
23. "Yaoi-Con 2015 Information". AnimeCons.com.
24. "Yaoi-Con 2016 Information". AnimeCons.com.
25. (March 2022)
26. "Yaoi-Con 2017 Information". AnimeCons.com.

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::