Pitt’s University Gamelan will present “Gamelan Fusion: New and Traditional Music of West Java” on April 9th at Frick Fine Arts Auditorium. Gamelan comprises mainly percussion instruments including tuned gongs, metal-keyed instruments, and drums (as well as bamboo flute and voice). This instrumentation has a unique capacity to saturate the air with resonances that reach from rumbling lows to shimmering highs. The concert will feature student performers and two artists-in-residence: composer Ismet Ruchimat and vocalist Masyuning.. . .
Each year the University Gamelan’s annual spring concert is the culmination of its Artist-in-Residence Program that offers Pitt students a rare opportunity to study music, dance, and theater with some of Indonesia’s finest artists.The concert starts at 8:00 pm in the Frick Fine Arts Auditorium (map). Tickets are currently available online and are free for Pitt students with a valid student ID card. Non-Pitt students and general admission are $5 and $8.50 in advance, respectively, or $8 and $12 at the door.
Blank-faced Tetsuya Watari stars as the titular wanderer, a gifted yakuza enforcer trying to stay true to his own idea of honor. The film traffics in a lot of familiar crime movie archetypes: the pretty girl kept on the sidelines; the father-son relationship between Watari and Ryuji Kita, his trying-to-go-straight boss; and all the complicated lines of loyalty and betrayal that come into play when a rival gang tries to muscle in on Kita’s turf. The story is engaging enough, and Watari makes for an appropriately implacable (but still soulful) lead, but what sets the film apart from countless others telling a similar tale are the lengths [director] Suzuki goes to in order to make each scene a feast for the eyes. Violent reds, purples, greens, and blues paint the screen, and the editing forgoes traditional cinematic logic in favor of impressionistic cuts and a jagged, jazzy rhythm. Through it all, Suzuki walks a knife-edge of ironic sincerity, poking at yakuza clichés in an attempt to reveal some larger, wordless truth.Showtimes and tickets will be available online later. The single-screen theater is located at 4115 Butler Street (map).
Tea Talks at the Asian Studies Center are a chance to meet fellow students with an interest in Asia, learn about events and opportunities, and get involved with Asian Studies in a casual social setting.
The first meeting will focus on “MAKING SUMMER COUNT” – how to turn a lazy summer into time well spent. Whether it’s a job or internship, volunteering, or just personal skill-building, Asian Studies students will share their own stories and ideas onThe get-together will be held in 4217 Posvar Hall (map) from 4:00 pm.
how to use this time off to get ahead!
Pink Box, a Taiwanese-owned "Asian-European fusion bakery" in Squirrel Hill, recently announced a long-rumored delivery option coming
This annual transformation of nature will be celebrated on Friday, April 15, during the hospital’s Cherry Blossom Festival - one of the events held in celebration of our 150th Anniversary. All associates and the public are invited to the free festival, which will include tea ceremonies, performances of traditional Japanese music, and more.The event starts at 11 in the Japanese garden at UPMC Shadyside. I previously posted pictures from May 2015 and March 2014. A 2008 Japan-America Society of Pennsylvania newsletter describes it as "a quiet and unassuming oasis". And a plaque at the entrance reads:
A commissioned work of art by artist Hiromi Katayama, formerly of Ibaraki, Japan, and now a resident of the Pittsburgh region will be displayed at the festival. Her melding of traditional Japanese painting with modern styling demonstrates the fusion of past and present.
Raffle tickets to win her painting will be available for purchase during the festival. Proceeds will be donated to the Shadyside Hospital Foundation.
This garden is a gift from Dr. Kazuo Kodera in honor of nurses. It is a place for health care providers to think about our friends around the world and to reflect on the meaning of our work, which is to care for one another. It is a place to find new friendships, to find new hope, and to find peace.
We hope you enjoy your time here.
September 2005
At the onset of Joseon’s founding, envoys bringing the Emperor’s Seal of State to Joseon lose it to a big whale at sea. A bandit JANG Sa-jung goes out to sea to catch the whale with a big reward on its head. But he soon clashes with Yeo-wol, a female captain of the pirates, and unexpected adventure unfolds.The movie will play in 4130 Posvar Hall (map) from 4:00 to 7:00 pm and is free and open to the public.
Kenny Endo is a world famous taiko drum artist who has the honor of being the first non-Japanese national to receive the title of Natori (stage name and master’s degree) of Hogaku hayashi – traditional drumming. He has performed for Michael Jackson, Princess Di, opened for The Who, and was recorded in motion-capture suit for James Cameron’s “Avatar.”The concert starts at 7:00 pm at 1815 Metropolitan St. (map) on the North Side. Tickets are available online and cost $30 for general admission, $25 for students and seniors, and $20 for JASP members.
A bumbling Chinese talent manager flies to LA in pursuit of his escaped singer, but winds up with five adopted kids and an important lesson in life.
Three times in “Mountains May Depart,” the latest from the transformative Chinese director Jia Zhangke, people stand near a river that weaves through the landscape like a snake. In the first instance, three friends light fireworks that send out modest sparks. In the second, only two return to the river, where they ignite a bundle of dynamite. By the third trip, only one of the original three remains, everyone’s life having changed as profoundly as China, a cataclysm that’s expressed by a series of rapid explosions in the river, suggesting a drowning world.The movie premiered in Pittsburgh last fall as one of two Asian movies in the 2015 3 Rivers Film Fest. Showtimes are now available at the theater's website. The Harris Theater is located at 809 Liberty Ave. in the downtown Pittsburgh Cultural District (map).
Few filmmakers working today look as deeply at the changing world as Mr. Jia does, or make the human stakes as vivid. The three sending out those sparks are Tao (Zhao Tao), and her two close male friends, Zhang Jinsheng (Zhang Yi) and Liangzi (Liang Jin Dong). An affable, easygoing drifter with an expansive smile, Tao works in a small store in the city of Fenyang (Mr. Jia’s birthplace). Mr. Jia likes a slow reveal and it isn’t initially obvious that Tao is the movie’s emotional organizing principle whose feelings run, surge and erupt. The story tracks Tao and her relations with both Liangzi, who works at a coal mine, and Jinsheng, a budding entrepreneur.
The purpose of this paper is to examine three major turning points in Japanese history and the evolution of Japanese culture as a result of disaster. The 1923 Kanto Earthquake, the post-World War II era, and the 3.11 triple disasters will be examined to show not only how Japanese culture has evolved over time in responses to these disasters, but also how some aspects of the culture have remained the same. Government responses, general population responses, film, art, and even literature will all be examined as a means to determine exactly how Japan's culture has evolved over time and how these three disasters represent how Japan experiences what I define as a "culture of disaster". Historical links between these disasters will also be examined such as radiation and food affecting the commerce of Japan. This inter-disciplinary approach to this examination is beneficial in that it examines multiple aspects of the disaster culture instead of focusing on one sole aspect and ignoring the rest of the culture that is occurring congruently with the disasters in question.The talk will start at 12:00 in 4130 Posvar Hall (map) and is free and open to the public.
Japanese Student Association is proud to announce its biggest event of the year: Matsuri. Join us in celebrating aspects of Japanese food, culture and society. We will be hosting the event at Merson Courtyard outside of the University Center on Friday March 25th, from 3:30 to 8 PM. While you enjoy these acts, traditional Japanese decorations and festival games, feel free to eat a variety of foods from our Food Booths such as Takoyaki, Yakisoba, Okonomiyaki, Dango and a variety of other Japanese foods! Small carnival games will be available, and J@CMU's origami and cooking groups will also be in attendance to further promote Japanese culture at CMU.Admission is free and the event is open to the public at the rear of the Cohon University Center (map). Additional information is available at the Japanese Student Association's website.
All profits go to recovery efforts for the Minato Middle School in Japan which is still suffering from the earthquake and tsunami on March 11th, 2011. Your contribution is valuable and we hope to send a sizable amount of supplies this year, as we did last year. For more information regarding donations please go to this site: http://matsuri.cmu-jsa.com/cause.html
One of the most popular sci-fi anime series in the past five years is making its way to the big screen. Possessing an animation and production budget only possible with a feature film, Psycho-Pass: The Movie will blow away movie-goers with its explosive action sequences and thought-provoking storytelling. This film is a must-see for fans of the TV series and fans of sci-fi action films like Akira, Blade Runner, and Minority Report.The movie will play at the Hollywood Theater both nights at 7:30 pm, and tickets are available online. Southside Works Cinema will also be one of the 100+ theaters showing the film during its North American premiere on the 15th and 16th, and tickets for the 7:00 pm show each night are now available via the theater's website.
In this culmination of the two-season Psycho-Pass TV series, Inspector Tsunemori is sent to a neighboring war-torn nation, where the Sibyl System is being introduced as an experiment, to find Shinya Kogami, her former enforcer who went rogue three years ago.
Snipers. Marksmen. Hired Guns. Double Agents. A group of exiled rebels are planning a hit on an Army Commander in Japanese-occupied Korea, but the only killer for the job is in prison. Now, the Resistance must devise a jailbreak, escape a hitman...and discover which of them is a traitor.An August 2015 New York Times review praises the cinematography but notes:
Brimming with characters — many in near-identical military garb — and bristling with double crosses, this unnecessarily lengthy homage to resistance chooses breadth over depth at every turn.The movie will play in 4130 Posvar Hall (map) from 4:00 to 7:00 pm and is free and open to the public.
Snipers. Marksmen. Hired Guns. Double Agents. A group of exiled rebels are planning a hit on an Army Commander in Japanese-occupied Korea, but the only killer for the job is in prison. Now, the Resistance must devise a jailbreak, escape a hitman...and discover which of them is a traitor.And the distributor summarizes the latter:
At the onset of Joseon’s founding, envoys bringing the Emperor’s Seal of State to Joseon lose it to a big whale at sea. A bandit JANG Sa-jung goes out to sea to catch the whale with a big reward on its head. But he soon clashes with Yeo-wol, a female captain of the pirates, and unexpected adventure unfolds.The Assassination plays on March 16, and The Pirates on March 24. Both movies show in 4130 Posvar Hall (map) from 4:00 to 7:00 pm and are free and open to the public.
Three times in “Mountains May Depart,” the latest from the transformative Chinese director Jia Zhangke, people stand near a river that weaves through the landscape like a snake. In the first instance, three friends light fireworks that send out modest sparks. In the second, only two return to the river, where they ignite a bundle of dynamite. By the third trip, only one of the original three remains, everyone’s life having changed as profoundly as China, a cataclysm that’s expressed by a series of rapid explosions in the river, suggesting a drowning world.The movie premiered in Pittsburgh last fall as one of two Asian movies in the 2015 3 Rivers Film Fest. Showtimes for this month's run have not yet been announced. The Harris Theater is located at 809 Liberty Ave. in the downtown Pittsburgh Cultural District (map).
Few filmmakers working today look as deeply at the changing world as Mr. Jia does, or make the human stakes as vivid. The three sending out those sparks are Tao (Zhao Tao), and her two close male friends, Zhang Jinsheng (Zhang Yi) and Liangzi (Liang Jin Dong). An affable, easygoing drifter with an expansive smile, Tao works in a small store in the city of Fenyang (Mr. Jia’s birthplace). Mr. Jia likes a slow reveal and it isn’t initially obvious that Tao is the movie’s emotional organizing principle whose feelings run, surge and erupt. The story tracks Tao and her relations with both Liangzi, who works at a coal mine, and Jinsheng, a budding entrepreneur.
A young boy in modern-day Tokyo stumbles into an alternate dimension and becomes the apprentice to a bearlike warrior, in this stunning animated fantasy from writer-director Mamoru Hosoda.. . .
Stunningly animated and brimming with sensational martial arts and sword-fighting scenes, writer-director Mamoru Hosoda's newest fantasy takes us on a memorable and life-affirming journey, in which the tender and funny moments remind us about the importance of family, loyalty, love, and sacrifice.Tickets are available online for the four showings on March 4: the 1:05 pm showing is dubbed in English, while the 4:05, 7:05, and 10:05 pm shows are subtitled. Southside Works Cinema is located at 425 Cinema Drive in the Southside, one block from the Hot Metal Bridge (map).
