Beyond Chinatown: Pittsburgh's "Chinamen" once entertained idea of "Chinese Building" downtown.

A 1908 Pittsburgh Gazette Times article reports on the efforts to replace Pittsburgh's Chinatown with a state-of-the-art "Chinese building" downtown.

Koreatown at November cookbook club meeting in Squirrel Hill.

Koreatown by Deuki Hong and Matt Rodbard will be featured at the November meeting of the Dish! cookbook club at the Carnegie Library in Squirrel Hill. A summary, from the book's official site:

A trailblazing book featuring nearly 100 recipes, essays, profiles and documentary-style photography concentrating on many of the lesser-known aspects of Korean food, drink and culture. The book is co-written by Deuki Hong and Matt Rodbard, two authorities in the exploding Korean food movement in the United States and abroad. Together Hong and Rodbard spent over two years traveling to the Koreatowns of the United States, researching the book and interviewing over 100 chefs and business owners. Once back in their New York City kitchens, they developed recipes that reflect traditional home and restaurant cooking — translated with historically rich (and entertaining!) notes and easy-to-follow directions.

The event is free but online registration is required.

2019 film Promare (プロメア) in Pittsburgh, September 17.

The 2019 Japanese animated film Promare (プロメア) will play in Pittsburgh on September 17. The distributor summarizes:

The first feature-length film from the acclaimed studio TRIGGER, creators of the hit series KILL la KILL and Little Witch Academia, and director Hiroyuki Imaishi (GURREN LAGANN, KILL la KILL), Promare uses a bold cel-shaded visual style to tell a blistering action-adventure story, and is the spiritual successor to many of director Imaishi’s former works.

Thirty years has passed since the appearance of Burnish, a race of flame-wielding mutant beings, who destroyed half of the world with fire. When a new group of aggressive mutants calling themselves “Mad Burnish” appears, the epic battle between Galo Thymos, a new member of the anti-Burnish rescue team “Burning Rescue,” and Lio Fotia, the leader of “Mad Burnish” begins.

It will play at the Southside Works Cinema, though showtime information has not yet been released.

Japan-inspired T-Swirl Crepe coming soon to Oakland.

T-Swirl Crepe, a chain serving Japanese-style crepes, has a location coming soon to Oakland. Signage recently went up in Schenley Plaza, in a kiosk most recently occupied by Waffallonia. The chain, which opened its first Pittsburgh location in Squirrel Hill in 2017, describes itself like this:

The story of T-swirl Crepe starts thousands of miles away on the shores of Japan. The Japanese Crepe borrows from a western concept and modernized it into new level of versatility that you can gobble on the go. Building on this new concept, T-swirl started to research and have perfected the 100% gluten free rice flour batter, to craft a crispy thin chewy layer that embraces all the decadent condiments. T-swirl is synonymous with using the finest ingredients to construct a trendy/artistic crepe that arrives to your hand with incredible speed. We have standardized the process to give you a consistently clean and delicious crepe.

BTS's "Boy With Luv (작은것들을 위한 시)" at this weekend's K-pop Class, June 22.

The weekly K-pop Dance Class at Yanlai Dance Academy will do BTS's "Boy With Luv (작은것들을 위한 시)" for its fifth meeting on June 22. 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).

Twice's "Fancy" at this weekend's K-pop Class, June 15.

The weekly K-pop Dance Class at Yanlai Dance Academy will do Twice's "Fancy" for its fourth meeting on June 15. 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).

Korean cyclists raising awareness of "comfort women" in US bike tour will be in Pittsburgh on August 14 and 15.

Passing through in 2018, via 3A Project.

The 2019 iteration of the 3A Project will hit Pittsburgh on August 15, according to the itinerary posted online. The 3A Project is an annual nationwide tour by two Korean university students to raise awareness of "comfort women" and the contentious politics surrounding their legacy. The group is arriving in Los Angeles on June 24, heading east through the summer, and leaving Detroit for Pittsburgh on August 12. The cyclists have made Pittsburgh part of its national bike tour the last two years.

2018 Chinese film Long Day's Journey Into the Night (地球最后的夜晚) in Pittsburgh, from June 21.

The 2018 Chinese film Long Day's Journey Into the Night (地球最后的夜晚) will play in Pittsburgh from June 21 through 27. An April Atlantic review calls it "a gorgeous and impossible puzzle of a movie that could become a cult hit when it arrives in the United States."

The plot of Long Day’s Journey, which has nothing to do with the Eugene O’Neill play of the same name, centers on three characters: Luo (played by Huang Jue), a man haunted by his time as a youth in 2000; Luo’s long-lost lover, Wan Qiwen (Tang Wei); and a childhood pal named Wildcat, who was murdered. Roughly 20 years after Wildcat’s death, Luo tries to find Qiwen again and dig into the mystery of what happened between them decades prior. But any simple explanation for what’s going on is never offered. As Long Day’s Journey progresses, its meaning becomes more elusive, and its narrative strands stubbornly refuse to tie together.

The movie will play at the Regent Square Theater at 1035 South Braddock Ave. (map). Tickets are now available online.

Yummyholic's Jasmine Cho at TEDxPittsburgh, June 15.

"Baker and humanitarian" Jasmine Cho of Yummyholic will be one of the speakers at the 2019 TEDxPittsburgh on Saturday, June 15. Jasmine will talk about, among other things, using cookies to further Asian-American representation. Tickets are available online via Trust Arts.

Nakama voted Best Japanese / Sushi by readers of Pittsburgh Magazine in 2019.

Pittsburgh Magazine readers voted Nakama the Best Japanese / Sushi place in the city in their 2019 poll, and Sesame Inn the Best Chinese, in a repeat of the results from last year (and most other years). Nicky's Thai Kitchen was voted Best Thai, to round out the entries of relevance to this site.