"Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) Program Information Session: Live and Work in Japan!," September 30 at Pitt.

The University of Pittsburgh's Asian Studies Center will host "Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) Program Information Session: Live and Work in Japan!" on September 30.

Are you interested in living and working abroad? 
Have you been studying Japanese and looking to apply your skills after graduation? 
Do you want to make an impact on the lives of young people?
Would you like to find out where the ultimate ramen shop is found?

 

If any of these questions apply to you, then please join the Asian Studies Center and JET Alumni group in Pittsburgh for an information session to learn more about the Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) Program. This hybrid Information Session will be in room 4130 Posvar Hall, on the 4th floor of W. Wesley Posvar Hall on September 30, 2026 starting at 6:00pm. Learn about the requirements of the JET Program and learn from your future-JET Program sempai with our JET Alumni Panel.

Love in Another Big City: An Evening with Sang Young Park, October 22 at Carnegie Mellon.

Carnegie Mellon University's Languages, Cultures & Applied Linguistics Department and the University of Pittsburgh will present "Love in Another Big City: An Evening with Sang Young Park" on October 22.

Author of Love in the Big City, long-listed for the International Booker Prize, Park writes about desire, friendship and queer life in contemporary Seoul with humor and startling honesty. He will read from his work and talk about writing the city — followed by audience questions.

Presented in Korean with English interpretation. Free and open to the public.

It runs from 5:00 to 6:30 pm, though the exact location has not yet been announced. 

1997 Japanese animated film Princess Mononoke (もののけ姫) in Pittsburgh from September 26, part of Studio Ghibli Fest 2026.

The 1997 Japanese animated film Princess Mononoke (もののけ姫) will play in the Pittsburgh area from September 26 through September 30 as part of Studio Ghibli Fest 2026.

From the legendary Studio Ghibli and Academy Award®-winning director Hayao Miyazaki comes an epic masterpiece that has dazzled audiences worldwide with its breathtaking imagination, exhilarating battles, and deep humanity. Inflicted with a deadly curse, the young warrior Ashitaka heads west in search of a cure. There, he stumbles into a bitter conflict between Lady Eboshi, the proud people of Iron Town, and the enigmatic Princess Mononoke, a young girl raised by wolves, who will stop at nothing to prevent the humans from destroying her home and the forest spirits and animal gods who live there.

It plays at many local theaters--depending on the day--including AMC Loews Waterfront, AMC Westmoreland in Greensburg, GQT Pittsburgh Mills, the Cinemark theaters in Robinson and McCandless, and the CHartiers Valley Luxury 14 + PTX. Tickets are available online; please note, some shows are in Japanese with English subtitles while others are dubbed in Japanese.

Filipino-Icelandic singer-songwriter Yaelokre performing in Pittsburgh, November 14.

Filipino-Icelandic singer-songwriter Yaelokre will perform in Pittsburgh on November 14.

If you ever feel as if music has lost its capacity for surprise, the beguiling wonder and infinite creativity of Yaelokre will respark your belief. The Filipino-Icelandic artist - real name Keath Ósk (they/it) - fuses three imaginative strands to their visionary expression: intimate, innocent folk infused with leftfield surrealism and instant pop accessibility; artwork which is intricately detailed and beautifully alluring; and storytelling which brings personal experience and poetry into rich, fable-like narratives. What’s more, all three of these elements are crafted by this one visionary artist.

The scale of the fantastical world they have created is vast, both in terms of narrative and lore. But its essence is relatively simple. The songs are set in the fictional world of Meadowlark and chart the adventures of four masked children who comprise a musical ensemble known at The Lark: Cole Seymour, Clémente Dearworth, Peregrine August, and Kingsley. They perform as representatives of The Harkers, mythical beings who express the fundamental principles of nature, wonder and chaos. What’s more, Yaelokre voices all of the different characters within their universe.

The show starts at 8:00 pm, doors at 7:00, at Mr. Smalls Theater in Millvale (map). Tickets are available online.

4K presentation of Ghost in the Shell (攻殻機動隊) stays in Pittsburgh through (at least) September 30 for film's 30th anniversary.

A 4K presentation of Ghost in the Shell (攻殻機動隊) for the film's 30th anniversary, which opened in Pittsburgh on September 17, will stay here through (at least) September 30. A synopsis, from the Anime News Network:

In the year 2029, the barriers of our world have been broken down by the net and by cybernetics, but this brings new vulnerability to humans in the form of brain-hacking. When a highly-wanted hacker known as "The Puppetmaster" begins involving them in politics, Section 9, a group of cybernetically enhanced cops, are called in to investigate and stop the Puppetmaster. The pursuit will call into question what makes a human and what is the Puppetmaster in a world where the distinction between human and machine is increasingly blurry.

It will continue locally at the AMC Loews Waterfront and tickets are available online.

2026 Korean movie Hope (호프) stays in Pittsburgh through (at least) September 30.

The 2026 Korean movie Hope (호프), which opened in Pittsburgh on September 9, will remain here through (at least) September 30.

A police chief, a policewoman and a group of hunters try to track down and kill a mysterious creature that's laying waste to a Korean village.

It plays locally at the AMC Loews Waterfront andtickets are available online.

Bilingual Chinese-English Story Hour at Carnegie Library in Oakland, September 26.

The Chinese Library for Children will present Bilingual Story Hour on Saturday, September 26.

Join us for stories, songs, movement and hands-on activities–designed to introduce children to language and culture through play and shared reading.

The target audience is for children age 0 through 5 and their caregivers. It runs from 10:30 to 11:30 am. The tOakland (Main) branch is located at 4400 Forbes Ave. (map), accessible by a number of city buses.

4K restoration of 1988 Japanese animated film Akira (アキラ) returns to Pittsburgh, from September 25.

A new 4K restoration of the 1988 Japanese animated film Akira (アキラ) will return to Pittsburgh from September 25.

Set in 2019, Kaneda is a bike gang leader whose close friend Tetsuo gets involved in a top-secret government project known as Akira. On his way to save Tetsuo, Kaneda runs into a group of anti-government activists, greedy politicians, irresponsible scientists, and a powerful military leader. Considered one of the greatest films ever made.

It plays at the Row House Lawrenceville on September 25, 27, 30, and October 1, multiple times per day, and tickets are available online. The Row House Lawrenceville is a single-screen theater located at 4115 Butler St. in Lawrenceville (map).

The Yoshida-ryo Dormitory (対話のゆくえ 京都大学吉田寮), 2026 Japan Documentary Film Award (JDFA) winner, screening in Pittsburgh on September 23.

The Yoshida-ryo Dormitory (対話のゆくえ 京都大学吉田寮), which was named the 2026 Japan Documentary Film Award (JDFA) winner in August, will play at the University of Pittsburgh on September 23, part of the SCREENSHOT: ASIA Film Fest.

The Japan Council of the University of Pittsburgh and SCREENSHOT: Asia are pleased to announce the winner of the fifth biennial University of Pittsburgh Japan Documentary Film Award: The Yoshida-ryo Dormitory (『対話のゆくえ 京都大学吉田寮』), directed by Keizo Fujikawa. The film will be screened with the filmmaker in attendance as a special part of the SCREENSHOT: ASIA Film Festival. An award ceremony and screening with the filmmaker will take place on Wednesday, September 23, 2026 at 7:00pm in David Lawrence Hall 121 on campus at the University of Pittsburgh.

The winning film, The Yoshida-ryo Dormitory, takes viewers inside Yoshida-ryō, Kyoto University’s storied self-governing student dormitory, as its residents confront the university’s plans to remove them from a building they have administered themselves for over a century. True to its Japanese title, 対話のゆくえ, which speaks to the continued political importance of dialogue, the film patiently observes the dormitory’s culture of consensus at work: the meetings and negotiations, the compressed history of conflict and litigation, and the recurring celebrations of the dorm festival that bind the students to one another and to the space they are fighting to preserve. With deep roots in the collectivism of the student protest era, the film pushes against familiar stereotypes of Japanese conformity by focusing on the eccentric and communitarian among us, and it speaks directly to questions being asked of universities everywhere: student autonomy, institutional memory, and the reach of administrative power. As one judge noted, the film “captures the essence of the universal, fundamental issue of the world we live in by digging deep into a very local, small world.”

Established by Pitt’s Japan Council to recognize exemplary documentary films promoting the understanding of Japan and Japanese culture, the University of Pittsburgh Japan Documentary Film Award is supported by generous endowments from Japanese donors to promote Japan Studies and deepen cross-cultural understanding at the University of Pittsburgh and across the region. This year’s award marks the tenth anniversary of the program’s founding.

The film starts at 7:00 pm, is followed by an award ceremony with the director, and is free and open to the public in room 121 David Lawrence Hall in Oakland (map).

1957 Kurosawa film Throne of Blood (蜘蛛巣城) in Pittsburgh, from September 25.

The 1957 Akira Kurosawa film Throne of Blood (蜘蛛巣城) will play in Pittsburgh from September 25, part of the Row House Lawrenceville's Shakespeare Adaptations series.

Akira Kurosawa retells Macbeth by replacing lords and kings with samurai and emperors in this rendition set in medieval Japan. Brutal, suspenseful, and visually stunning — this is by far one of the best Shakespeare adaptations ever made for the screen.

On the 26th the theater will host a Throne of Blood with Shakespeare Monologues special event.

Our friends from Shakespeare in the Park will introduce this amazing adaptation of Macbeth and perform a few monologues before the show! A portion of all ticket sales will go back to supporting their nonprofit mission.

Tickets are available online. The Row House Lawrenceville is a single-screen theater located at 4115 Butler St. in Lawrenceville (map).