Asahi Ramen coming to Brookline in mid-March, in former Oak Hill Post spot.

Photo via Brookline Today Facebook group.

Work continues on Asahi Ramen, the Japanese-style ramen place be coming to Brookline in the spot most recently occupied by Oak Hill Post (map). Ownership says they are aimning for a mid-March opening.

2025 movie Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Infinity Castle (劇場版「鬼滅の刃」無限城編) returns to Pittsburgh, from March 6.

The 2025 movie Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Infinity Castle (劇場版「鬼滅の刃」無限城編), which played in Pittsburgh from September 11 through November 5, will return from March 6.

The Demon Slayer Corps plunge into Infinity Castle to defeat Muzan. However, the remaining Hashiras and the Demon Slayers who survived Tanjiro's Final Selection are pitted against the remaining members of the Twelve Kizuki first.

It will play locally at the AMC Loews Waterfront and the Cinemark theater in Robinson, and tickets are available online.

New Chinese movie Pegasus 3 (飞驰人生3) in Pittsburgh, from February 27.

The 2026 Chinese movie Pegasus 3 (飞驰人生3) will play in Pittsburgh from February 27.

After the final stage at Bayanbulak, Zhang Chi (played by Shen Teng) is invited to compete in a brand-new event, the “Muchen 100 Rally,” as the head coach of the team. The once “wild” racer now steps onto the international stage. Facing a completely new course filled with top-tier competitors, Sun Yuqiang (played by Yin Zheng) and Ji Xing (played by Zhang Benyu) once again fight side by side with Zhang Chi. Powerful drivers such as Lin Zhendong (played by Huang Jingyu) are also invited to join, and a team built on top-level speed and shared belief is formed. However, Zhang Chi soon realizes that the true challenge does not seem to come from the race itself. Beneath the surface, tensions are rising beyond the track, casting uncertainty over their high-speed journey ahead.

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

2024 Japanese animated movie Umamusume: Pretty Derby – Beginning of a New Era (ウマ娘 プリティーダービー 新時代の扉) in Pittsburgh, from February 26.

The 2024 Japanese animated movie Umamusume: Pretty Derby – Beginning of a New Era (ウマ娘 プリティーダービー 新時代の扉) will play in Pittsburgh from February 26.

After witnessing Fuji Kiseki win a race, young Jungle Pocket is inspired to become the fastest horse girl alive. Training alongside Fuji and her veteran trainer, Pocket's goal looks to be within reach—right up until she encounters Agnes Tachyon. In the face of Tachyon's impossible speed and polar opposite personality, beating Tachyon becomes an obsession. But all too soon, that obsession becomes a looming specter—the final barrier that stands between Pocket and her dream.

It plays locally at the AMC Loews Waterfront and AMC Westmoreland in Greensburg, and tickets are available online.

Squirrel Hill's Viet Nom Nom closing February 28.

Squirrel Hill's Viet Nom Nom will close its doors on February 28. From its Instagram story:

There's a little sadness in letting go but there's plenty of beauty in starting over. Squirrel Hill was home to 2 of my businesses the last 14 years. This community has welcomed me with open arms as I introduced Vietnamese cuisine to the neighborhood with the opening of Tan Lac Vien in 2012. It was my first dine-in restaurant where i Offered more unique and authentic dishes. I had a great run. In 2023 I decided to down size to what is currently Viet Nom Nom. It was a fun, quirky and cozy spot. I offered quick and casual dine-in where I served no fuss dishes. I will forever be grateful for the patronage and friendships that I have created here over the years. I am honored to have served the Squirrel Hill community. Life is filled with changes and I have to allow my new priorities to align with my home and work balance. A reset is deeply desired, but Please don't worry because if any of you know me, you'll know that I am a "serial entrepreneur " - to be continued...

It opened January 2023 at 1711 Murray Ave (map).

In a Bind: Bookbinding Workshop with Brent Nakamoto, March 21 at Bunker Projects.

Brent Nakamoto, curator of the Stuck in Saṃsāra< exhibition at Bunker Projects, is hosting "In a Bind: Bookbinding Workshop" on March 21.

Stop by any time during this drop-in bookbinding workshop to make and take home an exclusive chapbook featuring images and writing about the exhibition. No experience necessary. Please register so we can plan materials accordingly.

The event runs from 1:00 to 4:00 pm. Registration is required. Bunker Projects is an art gallery located at 5106 Penn Ave. in Bloomfield (map).

1975's Wolf Guy (ウルフガイ 燃えろ狼男), 1968's The Snake Girl and the Silver-Haired Witch (蛇娘と白髪魔) comprise Cult-O-Rama: Japan-O-Rama!, March 6 at Row House Cinema.

The Row House Cinema in Lawrenceville will host Cult-O-Rama: Japan-O-Rama! on March 6, a week before the start of its annual Pittsburgh Japanese Film Festival. Japan-O-Rama! will feature 1975's Wolf Guy (ウルフガイ 燃えろ狼男) and 1968's The Snake Girl and the Silver-Haired Witch  (蛇娘と白髪魔).

Your Cult-O-Rama hosts are priming you for the upcoming 10th Annual Japanese Film Festival with the first-ever all foreign language double feature! In the history of this program, we’ve never asked you to read; now there’s subtitles, but the same amount of wild stuff happening on the screen above it.

Wolf Guy (1975) – The legendary Sonny Chiba plays a private detective who gets mixed up in gritty city yakuza nonsense. This could be a lot more challenging if he wasn’t also the last-remaining descendant in a long line of lycanthropes who can use his paranormal powers to solve crimes and do other neat stuff (like use his mind to remove his own disembowelment). But will he be able to stop the CIA from harvesting his blood to steal his werewolf juice? You’re just gonna have to watch to find out! (Please note that Wolf Guy contains a scene of sexual assault.)

The Snake Girl and the Silver-Haired Witch (1968) – While American audiences were distracted by Romero’s introduction of zombies and what was going on with Rosemary’s kid, Japanese horror was firing on all cylinders. One of their offerings was this weird tale of a girl who gets reunited with her family after living at an orphanage for most of her life! It sounds heartwarming, right? It could be, but her mom seems to have a bad case of the forgets and her sister seems… reptilian.

The double-feature starts at 9:00 pm and runs for 200 minutes. Tickets are available online.  The Row House Cinema is a single-screen theater located at 4115 Butler St. in Lawrenceville (map)

Toshiko Akiyoshi’s ‘Kogun’: Narrating a Lone Soldier’s Experience in Nō Jazz, February 24 at Pitt.

The University of Pittsburgh's Asian Studies Center will host E. Taylor Atkins and his talk "Toshiko Akiyoshi’s ‘Kogun’: Narrating a Lone Soldier’s Experience in Nō Jazz" on February 24.

In March 1974, Lt. Onoda Hiroo emerged from the jungle on the Philippine island of Lubang, where he had been hiding for almost three decades after the end of the Pacific War. He immediately became a worldwide media sensation as an exemplar of samurai-like devotion to duty. Moved by his story and the tragedy of a life wasted for a fruitless war, jazz composer Toshiko Akiyoshi dedicated a composition to him. Entitled “Kogun” (lone soldier), the piece drew on thematic and narrative elements of medieval nō theater, situated within a jazz orchestral setting, to highlight this tragedy, thereby bringing to fruition her desire to create a seamless “blend” (yūgō) of Japanese music and the jazz idiom. This presentation also blends conventional cultural historical and musical analysis to argue for the landmark status of “Kogun” within jazz history.

E. Taylor Atkins is Distinguished Teaching Professor of History at Northern Illinois University. His major publications include Toshiko Akiyoshi-Lew Tabackin Big Band’s Kogun (2024); A History of Popular Culture in Japan, From the Seventeenth Century to the Present (second edition, 2022); Primitive Selves: Koreana in the Japanese Colonial Gaze, 1910-1945 (2010); Jazz Planet (editor, 2003); and Blue Nippon: Authenticating Jazz in Japan (2001), winner of the Association for Asian Studies’ John Whitney Hall Prize. He also plays bass for the Jazz in Progress Big Band and the Wild Blue Ukulele Orchestra and produces and hosts House of Funk on Hot Rocks Radio.

The talk runs from 2:00 to 3:00 pm in 4130 Posvar Hall (map).

SILENT: Asia presents 1926 Japanese silent film A Page of Madness (狂った一頁), April 14 at Pitt.

SILENT: Asia, part of the University of Pittsburgh's SCREENSHOT: ASIA film festival and programming, will present the 1926 Japanese silent film A Page of Madness (狂った一頁) on April 14. A synopsis from the Row House Cinema, where the film played in 2021:

Set within the walls of a mental asylum in Japan, the film follows the story of a janitor (Masao Inoue) who takes a job at the institution in order to be closer to his wife (Yoshie Nakagawa), a former performer who has been institutionalized after suffering a mental breakdown. As the janitor navigates the eerie corridors of the asylum, he encounters a cast of characters haunted by their own inner demons, including patients, doctors, and nurses.

It will play at 6:30 pm in Frick Fine Arts (map) and is free and open to the public.

Sushi restaurant Sokoya coming to former Patron spot in East Liberty.

A sushi restaurant called Sokoya is coming to the former Patron spot in East Liberty, located at 135 S. Highland Ave. (map). Patron closed in November 2025. Beyond new signage, no changes are expected to the exterior, but permitting paperwork is still pending for the sushi bar and other interior changes.

2026 Hong Kong film Night King (夜王) in Pittsburgh, from February 20.

The 2026 Hong Kong film Night King (夜王) will play in Pittsburgh from February 20.

The year is 2012. The once-glamourous Club EJ suddenly experiences a hostile takeover. Much like the nightclub industry, the glory days are over for the club’s manager, Foon (Dayo Wong), despite having stood tall in East Tsim Sha Tsui for decades. To make things worse for Foon, the club’s new CEO is none other than his cutthroat ex-wife, Madame V (Sammi Cheng)! Determined to change things up, she leaves Foon and his hostesses with no choice but to transform and modernize in order to breathe new life into their business. Little did they know, a powerful conglomerate had been pulling the strings all along to shut down Club EJ for good. To save their neon empire, Foon and V must join forces and make an epic last stand with the hostesses against what seems to be inevitable doom.

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

Zhang Yimou's Scare Out (惊蛰无声) remains in Pittsburgh through February 25.

The 2026 Chinese movie Scare Out (惊蛰无声), which opened in Pittsburgh on February 17 for the Chinese New Year, will remain here through (at least) February 25.

A major breach of China’s classified intelligence triggers an urgent response from a national security unit, determined to expose the traitor behind it. However, successive arrest missions suffer severe setbacks, driving tensions ever higher. As the investigation deepens, suspicion unexpectedly turns inward—toward members of the task force itself. Caught in a vortex of trust and betrayal, a silent struggle quietly unfolds.

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

2026 Chinese martial arts film Blades of the Guardians (镖人：风起大漠) stays in Pittsburgh through February 25.

The 2026 Chinese martial arts film Blades of the Guardians (镖人：风起大漠), which opened in Pittsburgh on February 16 to coincide with Chinese New Year, will stay here through (at least) February 25.

Dao Ma, the "second most wanted fugitive," who is entrusted by his benefactor, the chief of Mo family clan, to take on a mysterious escort mission-escorting the "most wanted fugitive," to Chang'an.

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

Bring Lunar New Year Wishes to Squirrel Hill's Trees in 2026.

Due to the dangers presented to Pittsburgh's Asian communities by ICE and right-wing citizens, the Squirrel Hill Urban Coalition has cancelled the Lunar New Year Parade that sometimes passes through the neighborhood (last held in 2023). However, it has launched a "Bring Lunar New Year Wishes to Squirrel Hill's Trees" initiative to celebrate the holiday and the Asian businesses and residents that comprise much of its vibrancy. From the latest Squirrel Hill Urban Coalition newsletter:

In light of recent events directly impacting the safety and well-being of our
migrant and immigrant community members and allies, we have made the
difficult decision to cancel our Squirrel Hill Lunar New Year Celebration
to ensure the safety of all who would attend. However, this does not mean
we will stop celebrating the beautiful traditions that enrich our community.

A Different Tradition: Bring Lunar New Year Wishes to
Squirrel Hill's Trees
For years, students at a local school have observed the beautiful Lunar New
Year tradition of each child writing two wishes on red tags. One wish is for
themselves and one is for the community. The tags are hung from trees around
their school. As one wise 4th grader put it, it's a way to say to our Asian
community, "We see you, we appreciate you, and we think you're awesome!"
This Lunar New Year, let's spread this tradition across all of Squirrel Hill! In
honor and celebration with our Asian neighbors, let’s fill the trees throughout
Squirrel Hill with bright red tags carrying wishes of prosperity, health, and joy
for the year ahead! Thanks to Mardi Isler’s tireless work expanding our tree
canopy, we have plenty of trees ready to bloom with good wishes and
community solidarity.
How to participate:
● SHUC will have red Lunar New Year tags available for pickup at the Silk
Elephant or the SHUC Office. Email mcohen@shuc.org if you'd like to
volunteer to help distribute them throughout our neighborhood
● You can also start this tradition on your own! Hang red tags with wishes
on trees in your neighborhood and share the tradition with neighbors!
● Need tags? Click here to find red Lunar New Year tags on Amazon

All-you-can-eat sushi place Umiya coming to Squirrel Hill, in former Eat n' Park (and failed Kpot) spot.

An all-you-can-eat sushi restaurant called Umiya will be coming to Squirrel Hill, in the former Eat n' Park spot where a Kpot hot pot restaurant was "coming soon" for a few years before abandoning the site. It will be located at 1816 Murray Ave. (map), which has been unoccupied since Eat n' Park left in early 2022.

I drove by the spot on May 28, 2023 as workers were putting up the Kpot banner, which allowed me to be the first to post about it (and have my photo used across local outlets without attribution, of course), but after no movement on the space for two years---not even old EnP furniture was moved---the banner came down and a For Lease sign went up in May 2025. All-you-can-eat Korean-style BBQ and Hot Pot restaurants were a Pittsburgh dining trend in 2023 and 2024, while all-you-can-eat sushi places and Asian buffets took off in the area in 2025 and 2026.

Upcoming documentary on baseball in Japan Homecoming: The Tokyo Series in Pittsburgh, February 23 and 24.

The 2026 documentary Homecoming: The Tokyo Series, referring to the Major League Baseball series played in Tokyo at the start of the 2025 season, will play in Pittsburgh from February 23 and 24.

Homecoming: The Tokyo Series explores Japan’s profound bond with baseball, culminating in the 2025 MLB Opening Day games in Tokyo, when hometown heroes Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Shota Imanaga, Seiya Suzuki, and Roki Sasaki return to the field where their journeys began. Through the lives of those shaped by the game, the film reveals how baseball bridges generations, shapes identity, and illuminates the connection between tradition and modern life. More than a chronicle of a sporting event, it is a portrait of a nation’s enduring love for baseball and the pride of watching its stars come home. Alongside the film, the filmmakers captured man-on-the-street interviews with American fans inside the Tokyo Dome who traveled to Japan for the games.

It is scheduled to play locally at the AMC Loews Waterfront, the AMC Westmoreland in Greensburg, the GQT Cinemas at the Pittsburgh Mills, and the Cinemark theaters in McCandless and Robinson. Tickets are available online.

Pittsburgh Japanese Film Festival, March 13 - 26.

The 2026 Pittsburgh Japanese Film Festival will run from March 13 through 26, and a selection of films have been announced. According to the festival's website,

The 2026 festival will put a special focus on the Cult Cinema of Japan through film selections and special events.

Films announced thus far for the 11th annual festival:

• Battle Royale (バトル・ロワイアル)
• Burst City (爆裂都市 BURST CITY)
• Desert of Namibia (ナミビアの砂漠)
• Funeral Parade of Roses (薔薇の葬列)
• His Motorbike, Her Island (彼のオートバイ、彼女の島)
• House (ハウス)
• Kokuho (国宝)
• Lady Snowblood (修羅雪姫)
• Plastic
• Scarlet ( 果てしなきスカーレット)
• Tamala 2010: A Punk Cat in Space 
• The Night is Short, Walk on Girl (夜は短し歩けよ乙女)

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

Berry Fresh II opens in Oakland, in former Little Asia spot that was briefly going to be another Meetcha.

Photos via ownership on Google

Berry Fresh II, a second location of the Berry Fresh frozen yogurt spot in Squirrel Hill owned by Guobao An, recently opened in Oakland. It is located at 301 S. Craig St., in what was formerly Little Asia restaurant and what was briefly, according to license paperwork, going to be a second Meetcha location back in 2023-2024. 

PGHwrites: Jade Song’s “I Love You Don’t Die” (Book Launch), April 6 at City of Asylum and online.

City of Asylum will present a book launch event with Jade Song's I Love You Don't Die on April 6, part of its PGHwrites series.

Though many of us are still reeling from her explosive debut novel, Chlorine, a force like Jade Song cannot be stopped. We are thrilled to welcome Pittsburgh-native Jade back to City of Asylum for the launch of her sophomore novel, I Love You Don’t Die, a coming-of-age for a new generation, in the vein of Sally Rooney and Ottessa Moshfegh.

Jade’s new work introduces us to a macabre young woman named Vicky. For as far back as she can remember, Vicky has been fascinated and obsessed with death as the only inevitable thing in life. From living above a Chinatown funeral parlor to working at a celebrity start-up for bespoke urns, she has surrounded herself with death—in her home, in her work, and in her ever-growing collection of zhizha, paper creations meant to be burned for the dead. When it comes to life and the living, however, she struggles to have meaningful connections—or find any meaning at all.

That changes when a dating app leads her into a throuple with an artist and a labor organizer, who offer exactly the kind of love she needs. For some time, it’s perfect, but no one understands better than Vicky that all things must end. With everything beginning to feel hollow and temporary, Vicky must decide how to keep moving forward. To try and hold on to what she has, or to once again do what she does best: destroy.

Please join Jade and program moderator Marina Fang after the reading for a public reception celebrating this hometown writing phenom!

You can purchase a copy of Jade’s book, I Love You Don’t Die, at City of Asylum Bookstore.

About the Author:

Jade Song is a writer, filmmaker, and artist whose first novel, Chlorine, was lauded as “visionary and disturbing,” selected as a New York Times Editor’s Choice, awarded the Alex Award and the Writer’s Center First Novel Prize, and translated into multiple languages. Jade’s short story collection, Ox Ghost Snake Demon, is forthcoming in early 2027. Born and raised in Pittsburgh, Jade has taught writing at organizations like Tin House, Morbid Anatomy, and Lighthouse Writers Workshop; she has received support from the Vermont Studio Center and the Black List, which selected her adapted screenplay of Chlorine for its annual Writers Lab.

The event is moderated by Marina Fang.

The book launch event runs from 7:00 to 8:30 pm at Alphabet City on the North Side (map) and online; it's free, but registration is required.

AQUARIUS Presents: Ryka Aoki Author Q&A, February 15 at Pitt.

The Alliance of Queer Underrepresented Asians in Recognition of Intersectionality to Uphold Solidarity (AQUARIUS)

at the University of Pittsburgh will host an Author Q&A with Ryka Aoki on February 15. From the Asian Studies Center newsletter:

Ryka Aoki, author of the Hugo Award-nominated Light from Uncommon Stars, is a Japanese-American writer and teacher from Southern California. Her works also include poetry collections like Seasonal Velocities and Why Dust Shall Never Settle Upon This Soul. 

With a degree in chemistry, Aoki spent a year working in a lab before pursuing her Master's degree in creative writing at Cornell University. As a transgender woman, she is also an incredible advocate, often engaging in activities to create safe spaces within the performance arts for transgender people. 

She will be joining AQUARIUS onto answer questions and talk about her experiences in writing and in life!

The talk runs from 2:00 to 4:00 pm in 4130 Posvar Hall (map).