Pittsburgh Taiko beginner lessons, from August 18.

via @PittsburghTaiko

Pittsburgh Taiko, a local Japanese drumming group, will again offers its beginner lessons from August 18.

Over the course of the four-week series, you will learn basic movements and techniques used to play taiko.

Each week, we will do some calisthenics and drills, work on improving skills, and learn some simple taiko repertoire.

Drumsticks will be provided, as will earplugs (although you’re welcome to bring your own if you have some).

This beginner series is designed for adults and students in high school or older.

No experience is necessary!

There are four sessions on four Sundays, from August 18 through September 8, at 2 North Balph Ave. in Bellevue (map). The cost ranges from $20 to $40 for the series.

My Neighbor Totoro (となりのトトロ) in Pittsburgh, August 25, 26, 28.

The classic Japanese animated film My Neighbor Totoro (となりのトトロ) is will play in Pittsburgh on August 25, 26, and 28 as part of this year's GKIDS Studio Ghibli Fest. From a 2001 Roger Ebert review:

Miyazaki's films are above all visually enchanting, using a watercolor look for the backgrounds and working within the distinctive Japanese anime tradition of characters with big round eyes and mouths that can be as small as a dot or as big as a cavern. They also have an unforced realism in the way they notice details; early in ''Totoro,'' for example, the children look at a little waterfall near their home, and there on the bottom, unremarked, is a bottle someone threw into the stream.

The movie tells the story of two young sisters, Satsuki and Mei Kusakabe. As the story opens, their father is driving them to their new house, near a vast forest. Their mother, who is sick, has been moved to a hospital in this district. Now think about that. The film is about two girls, not two boys or a boy and a girl, as all American animated films would be. It has a strong and loving father, in contrast to the recent Hollywood fondness for bad or absent fathers. Their mother is ill; does illness exist in American animation?

It will play locally at the AMC Loews Waterfront and the Cinemark theaters in Monroeville, North Hills, Pittsburgh Mills, and Robinson. The August 25 and 28 shows are dubbed in English and the August 26 show is in Japanese with English subtitles. Tickets are available online.

HCL Technologies hiring Bilingual Product Classification Analysts with proficiency in Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Thai, Indonesian, or Vietnamese for onsite positions at Google in Pittsburgh

HCL Technologies is hiring Bilingual Product Classification Analysts with proficiency in Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Thai, Indonesian, or Vietnamese for onsite positions at Google in Pittsburgh.

Bilingual Product Classification Analyst is a full-time job through HCL America onsite at Google Pittsburgh. This position enhances users’ online shopping experience by performing in-depth research, determining product taxonomy expansion, and improving machine learning classification using highly technical internal tools and processes. It is part of a fast-paced environment, partnering closely with operations and engineering teams.

BTS's Bring the Soul: The Movie in Pittsburgh, from August 7.

The latest BTS concert movie Bring the Soul will play in Pittsburgh from August 7.

On the day following the final concert of their Europe tour, on a rooftop in Paris, BTS tells their very own stories from experiencing new cities to performing in front of thousands of ARMY across the globe. A glimpse into BTS’ world away from the stage, featuring intimate group discussions alongside spectacular concert performances from the tour, this is a cinema event not to be missed.

It will play locally at the Cinemark theaters in Monroeville and Robinson on August 7, and at the AMC Loews Waterfront from August 7th through 11th.

Chinese calligraphy workshop downtown, August 3.

"Chinese calligrapher," by David Boté Estrada (Creative Commons).

The downtown branch of the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh will host a Chinese calligraphy workshop on August 3.

A Chinese calligraphy expert will show us pictures of her home in China, give background on the art of calligraphy, and lead a Chinese calligraphy workshop for all ages! No registration is necessary for these sessions. Seating for all workshops is available to 20 participants on a first-come, first-served basis. You’ll want to come early to be sure you MAKE it on time.

The event runs from 2:30 to 4:30 pm. The Downtown & Business branch is located at 612 Smithfield St. (map).

Free Chinese, Japanese, Korean classes in Pittsburgh in August.

via @japangov

The Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh will continue to offer free Chinese, Japanese, and Korean classes at some of its branches this August. Check out the class information below in addition to its language resources on the shelves and online.

As the library notes: these classes are free; registration is not required; no materials are needed and nothing needs to be bought; new participants are welcome at any time; classes are for adults (unless otherwise noted) but well-behaved young people are welcome to join as well.

Stray Kids' "Miroh" at next K-pop Dance Class, August 3.

The weekly K-pop Dance Class at Yanlai Dance Academy will do Stray Kids' "Miroh" for its ninth meeting on August 3. The class is held each Saturday from 4:00 to 5:00 pm, and the cost is $18 for a drop-in session. Yanlai Dance Academy is located at 2260 Babcock Blvd. in the North Hills (map).

New restoration of 2002 Satoshi Kon film Millennium Actress (千年女優) in Pittsburgh, August 13 and 19.

The 2002 Satoshi Kon film Millennium Actress (千年女優) will play in Pittsburgh on August 13 and August 19. The distributor provides a synopsis:

Experience the gorgeous new restoration of what many believe to be Satoshi Kon’s (Perfect Blue, Paprika) greatest work, MILLENNIUM ACTRESS.

When the legendary Ginei Studios shuts down, filmmaker Genya Tachibana and his assistant are tasked with interviewing its reclusive star, Chiyoko Fujiwara, who had retired from the spotlight 30 years prior. As she recounts her career, Genya and his crew are literally pulled into her memories where they witness her chance encounter with a mysterious man on the run from the police. Despite never knowing his name or his face, Chiyoko relentlessly pursues that man in a seamless blend of reality and memory that only Satoshi Kon could deliver. Boasting countless awards, including the Grand Prize in the Japan Agency of Cultural Affairs Media Arts Festival, which it shared with Hayao Miyazaki's Spirited Away, MILLENNIUM ACTRESS is a must-see for anime fans of all ages.

The August 13 shows will be in Japanese with English subtitles and the August 19 shows will be dubbed in English. The Japanese-language version will play locally at the Southside Works Cinema and the Cinemark theaters in Monroeville, the North Hills and Robinson, while the dubbed version will play at the Cinemark theaters in Monroeville, North Hills, Pittsburgh Mills, and Robinson. Tickets are available online.

The Farewell opens August 1 in Pittsburgh.

The Farewell, the new movie starring Awkwafina and Tzi Ma, will play in Pittsburgh from August 1. From the distributor:

In this funny, uplifting tale based on an actual lie, Chinese-born, U.S.-raised Billi (Awkwafina) reluctantly returns to Changchun to find that, although the whole family knows their beloved matriarch, Nai-Nai, has been given mere weeks to live, everyone has decided not to tell Nai Nai herself. To assure her happiness, they gather under the joyful guise of an expedited wedding, uniting family members scattered among new homes abroad. As Billi navigates a minefield of family expectations and proprieties, she finds there’s a lot to celebrate: a chance to rediscover the country she left as a child, her grandmother’s wondrous spirit, and the ties that keep on binding even when so much goes unspoken. With The Farewell, writer/director Lulu Wang has created a heartfelt celebration of both the way we perform family and the way we live it, masterfully interweaving a gently humorous depiction of the good lie in action with a richly moving story of how family can unite and strengthen us, often in spite of ourselves.

It will play at the AMC Loews Waterfront from August 1 and at the Squirrel Hill Manor from August 2, and tickets are available online. The AMC Loews Waterfront theater is located at 300 West Waterfront Dr. in the Waterfront shopping complex in Homestead (map), across the Monongahela River from Greenfield, Squirrel Hill, and the rest of Pittsburgh. The Squirrel Hill Manor Theater is located at 1729 Murray Ave. (map).

Japan Association of Greater Pittsburgh fall picnic, September 7.

The Japan Association of Greater Pittsburgh (ピッツバーグ日本協会) will hold its annual fall picnic on September 7 in O'Hara Township. Details and registration information are available on the JAGP's website.