"Have yourself an 'Oriental Ball' by coming to the mall!"

This week marks the anniversary of when Northway Mall opened its enclosed section in 1964, becoming the first indoor shopping mall in Pennsylvania. The shopping center itself existed there since 1953 and became a destination for decades, until being suprassed by nearby Ross Park Mall and eventually closing and rebranding as The Block at Northway. The spring before its transition to an indoor mall, it hosted an "Oriental Festival" in April and May 1964. The April 23, 1964 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette has a few profiles of the events and attractions---which included "Oriental Bombshell" Japanese-American singer Marie Misakura, dancer Joel Awai, and (somehow) rickshaw giveaways---as well as advertisements that sought to evoke 1964's image of the Orient.

Pittsburgh-based Duolingo hiring Senior Brand Marketing Designer, proficiency in Japanese or Mandarin preferred.

Pittsburgh-based Duolingo is hiring a Senior Brand Marketing Designer, with a preference for someone proficient in Japanese or Mandarin Chinese, among a few other languages. An excerpt from the job ad:

You Will...

• Execute design and content needs for a variety of branded marketing content including seasonal campaigns, performance marketing, newsletters, social media and systems, splash pages, among additional partnership collateral.
• Design, experiment and test creative content across performance marketing including App store optimization and systems.
• Closely collaborate with our Design Studio of illustrators, designers and animators to bring a cohesive brand to the world across all marketing touchpoints with the utmost attention to craft and detail. This includes illustrative, typographic and design compositional craft, and some motion graphics.
• Scale the brands guidelines and content clearly, concisely, and fearlessly through existing content and pushing the barriers of where we will be next.
• Provide design feedback and guidance to production designers, internal teams as well as partner vendors, agencies on local and global marketing initiatives when needed.
• Partner with other cross functional teams such as PR, Content Studio, Product, and community teams to creatively scale out brand moments through content.
• Actively seek and openly receive feedback for your work; Give and solicit feedback and constantly strive for excellence.

Taiwanese short film "Glitches" part of Pittsburgh Independent Film Festival, August 5.

The Annie Chen short film "Glitches" will play as part of the Pittsburgh Independent Film Festival at the Parkway Theater on August 5.

A down-on-his-luck lawyer meets a mysterious woman while waiting for his delayed flight. After she admits to causing a fatal house fire, the young lawyer becomes torn in doing the right thing while learning the reasons behind her heinous crime, and becoming sympathetic to her.

The festival runs from the 5th through the 8th, but "Glitches" plays as part of an 11:00 am block on the 5th. Tickets are available online. The theater is located at 644 Broadway Ave. in McKees Rocks (map).

Shirobako: The Movie (劇場版『SHIROBAKO』) in Pittsburgh, August 10.

The 2020 Japanese animated film Shirobako: The Movie (劇場版『SHIROBAKO』) will play in Pittsburgh on August 10. A summary of the movie, based on an anime series in turn based on aspects of the anime industry, from the distributor:

Four years after the events of SHIROBAKO the series, Musashino Animation has gone through unprecedented changes and things are looking bleak for the studio. One day, Aoi Miyamori is offered a role managing a new theatrical animation project. With only a few months left before the deadline, can MusAni complete the project in its current state? It’s up to Aoi to work alongside both familiar faces and new to finish the project in time!

It will play at the AMC Loews Waterfront and at the Cinemark theaters in McCandless, Monaca, Monroeville, and Robinson, and tickets are now available online.

Screening of 2019 Filipino-American film Yellow Rose, August 21 at Pittsburgh Philippine Center.

Screenshot: Asia and the Pittsburgh Philippine Center will present a screening of the 2019 Filipino-American film Yellow Rose on August 21.

Please join us at the Pittsburgh Philippine Center (200 Church St. West Mifflin, PA 16122) for an in-person screening of Yellow Rose (2019, Diane Paragas). A Filipino teen from a small Texas town fights to pursue her dreams as a country music performer while having to decide between staying with her family or leaving the only home she has known. Indie Wire notes that "Diane Pagras' film finds fresh ground to explore the price and the power of the American Dream, bolstered by country crooning and heartbreaking (and very real) legal worries."

The free screening starts at 3:00 pm, followed by a Q&A session, though registration is required. The Pittsburgh Philippine Center is located at 200 Church St. in West Mifflin (map).

More dates for Blackpink: The Movie, in Pittsburgh August 4 through 8.

More dates have been announced for the upcoming concert film Blackpink: The Movie, which will now play in Pittsburgh from August 4 through 8. From the distributor:

The girl group beloved by the world, ‘BLACKPINK’ celebrates the 5th anniversary of their debut with the release of BLACKPINK THE MOVIE, it is also a special gift for ‘BLINKs’—BLACKPINK’s beloved fandom—to revisit old memories and enjoy the passionate performances in the festive spirit. BLACKPINK—consisting of JISOO, JENNIE, ROSÉ, and LISA—has been growing explosively ever since they first stepped out into the world on August 8th, 2016, along with its fandom ‘BLINKs.’ As hectic as the past five years have been, all the memories, delights on the stage, and their shining moments have been wrapped ‘like a gift for all the fans’ in BLACKPINK THE MOVIE.

On the 4th and 8th, the originally-scheduled dates, it will play at the AMC Loews Waterfront and the Cinemark theaters in Monroeville and Robinson; on the 5th, 6th, and 7th, it will play at the Cinemark in Robinson. Tickets are available online.

Hoy Jun Park debuts for Pirates, becoming third Korean in team history.

via Chosun Ilbo
Hoy Jun Park debuted for the Pittsburgh Pirates today, going 1 for 4 and becoming the third Korean to play for the Pittsburgh Pirates in team history. Park was acquired last week from the New York Yankees and made his first MLB start today at shortstop. He is the third Korean to play for the Pirates, after Chan-ho Park in 2010 and Jung-ho Kang from 2015 through 2019, though the Pirates have had several other Korean prospects and players in their system over the last three decades.

"Hoy" is how his name has been romanized, though the Korean corresponds to "Hyo" (효). Though I don't know the details of Park's name, inconsistencies like this do sometimes happen if a family member makes a mistake applying for a passport. A Korean-language wiki, referring to another uncited article, claims the change was intentional when creating his passport in order to make it easier for non-Koreans to pronounce.

Beer distributor moving into old Forward Pathway (续航教育) spot in Greenfield.

A beer distributor is planning to open in the old Forward Pathway (续航教育) spot at 4073 Beechwood Blvd. (map) in Greenfield. Forward Pathway is a Chinese educational consultancy firm that opened in 2016, in what was previously a car repair shop.

2019 Japanese film Lupin III: The First (ルパン三世 THE FIRST) in Pittsburgh, August 29 and 31.

The 2019 Japanese film Lupin III: The First (ルパン三世 THE FIRST) will play in Pittsburgh on August 29 and 31. From the distributor:

The iconic “gentleman thief” Lupin III returns in an action-packed, continent-spanning adventure, as Lupin III and his colorful underworld companions race to uncover the secrets of the mysterious Bresson Diary, before it falls into the hands of a dark cabal that will stop at nothing to resurrect the Third Reich. The gang undertakes trap-filled tombs, aerial escapades and daring prison escapes with the trademark wit and visual finesse that have made LUPIN THE 3RD one of the most storied animation franchises in the world, in a thrilling new caper that is sure to delight fans old and new.

It plays locally at the AMC Loews Waterfront and the Cinemark theaters in Monroeville and the North Hills, and tickets are available online. The shows on the 29th are dubbed in English while the shows on the 31st are in Japanese with English subtitles.

98 K Burger opening in Squirrel Hill.

98 K Burger is coming soon to Squirrel Hill. It will open at 5867 Forbes Ave. (map), in one half of the space occupied by the still-coming-soon Chatea. The Pittsburgh burger place is Chinese-owned and shares a name with two restaurants in New York---98K Hamburg and 98K---though it's not clear what relation, if any, it shares with them.