"Movies & Motors" with Row House Cinema's Japanese Film Festival and Pittsburgh Kyūsha, March 22.

Row House Cinema in Lawrenceville and Pittsburgh Kyūsha will collaborate on "Movies & Motors" on March 22.

Join @pittsburgh_kyusha on March 22nd at @rowhouse_lawrenceville for a special feature taking place during the Pittsburgh Japanese Film Festival ( @jffpgh )

Come get up close and personal with iconic right-hand-drive (RHD) cars imported from Japan. Also, experience Japanese cultural demonstrations from our friends at @japanamericasocietypa and see some of @milliestinyvan tiny JDM fleet vehicles!

For anyone wishing to participate in the show with their RHD vehicle please RSVP no later than March 15th to ensure we have a spot for you.

For more info about the films being shown and to buy tickets to all screenings, you can visit the Japanese Film Fest website at:

https://jffpgh.org/

"Movies & Motors" festivities start at 2:30 pm.  Several movies are scheduled to run that day: The Hidden Fortress (隠し砦の三悪人) at 12:00 pm, The Colors Within (きみの色)  at 2:50 pm, Ice Cream Fever (アイスクリームフィーバー) at 5:00 pm, Cha Cha (チャチャ) at 7:15 pm, and Onibaba (鬼婆) at 9:30 pm. The Pittsburgh Japanese Film Festival opens on March 14 and runs through March 27 at the Row House Cinema in Lawrenceville. The single-screen theater is located at 4115 Butler St. (map).

Story Saturday: Sashiko’s Stiches, April 12 at Carnegie Museum of Art.

The Carnegie Museum of Art will feature a reading of Sachiko's Stitches for the April 12 installment of its Story Saturday series.

Join us in the Ailsa Mellon Bruce Decorative Arts and Design galleries for an in-person morning story time with Alyssa Velazquez as she reads Sashiko’s Stitches by Sanae Ishida. Following the reading stick around for a making activity for children 12 and under.

This reading is made possible by Worthy Kids.

About the Book

Sashiko is girl with very big feelings. Sometimes the feelings weigh her down, or make her feel all tangled up inside. But when she learns about sashiko, the traditional Japanese practice that inspired her name, she finds hope and comfort in creative expression.

The storytime runs from 11:00 am to 12:00 pm and is free with museum admission, but registration is required. The Carneige Museum of Art is located at 4400 Forbes Ave. in Oakland (map), accessible by numerous city buses.

Free screening of 1927 Chinese silent film The Cave of the Silken Web (盤絲洞) at Pitt for SCREENSHOT: Silent Asia 2025, April 7.

The University of Pittsburgh's SCREENSHOT: Asia and the Department of Music will present a free screening of 1927 Chinese silent film The Cave of the Silken Web (盤絲洞) for SCREENSHOT: Silent Asia 2025 on April 7. From the Asian Studies Center newsletter:

The film, which was thought lost until a partial copy was rediscovered in Norway, has been translated into English by UBC professor Christopher Rea. The silent film adapts an episode from the Ming dynasty tale The Journey to the West, in which the monk Tripitaka is held prisoner in a cave by magical spider-women, before being rescued by the Monkey King and his companions.

The version of the surviving print  is a restored digital copy that the National Library of Norway shared with the UBC Chinese Film Classics Project, the world’s largest free online collection of early Chinese films with English subtitles.

It will run from 7:00 to 9:00 pm in 125 Frick Fine Arts (map). 

Pittsburgh Opera’s Madama Butterfly Panel Discussion: Women’s Role in Tech, Video Games, Manga, and Comic Books, March 13 in East Liberty.

Photo credit: Philip Groshon, Cincinnati Opera

The Carnegie Library branch in East Liberty will host "Pittsburgh Opera’s Madama Butterfly Panel Discussion: Women’s Role in Tech, Video Games, Manga, and Comic Books" on March 13.

Join us for a free panel discussion with RAD Pass participating organization Pittsburgh Opera where we will explore Women’s Role in Video Games, Anime, Manga, and Comic Books. Women have often been unrealistically represented in these art forms leading to detrimental outcomes in the real world. This discussion aims to unpack the origins of female representation in art and explore the fine line between fandom and fetish.

Pittsburgh Opera leads this discussion in anticipation of its groundbreaking new production of Puccini’s Madama Butterfly. Created by an all-Japanese and Japanese American creative team, the story is set in a fantastical realm where reality and dreams intersect.

“The male protagonist, Pinkerton, puts on a VR headset and transports us into a vibrant virtual reality playground where he has ultimate control. As his avatar, a U.S. Navy Lieutenant, he can seduce and marry Cio-Cio San, his fantasy girl, and abandon her just as easily. But to Cio-Cio San, this is no game and the love and betrayal she feels is all too real.”

Attendees receive a discounted ticket offer to the performance of Madama Butterfly of their choice (March 22nd, 25th, 28th, and 30th) and will be entered into a raffle to receive a pair of free tickets. All performances of Madama Butterfly will take place downtown at the Benedum Center.

The event runs from 6:30 to 7:30 pm at 130 S. Whitfield St. in East Liberty (map).

"The Age of Daredevils: Money Game, Consumers & Literature of the Bubble Economy," March 24 at Carnegie Mellon.

Carnegie Mellon University's Department of Languages, Cultures & Applied Linguistics will host Dr. Ikuho Amano and her talk "The Age of Daredevils: Money Game, Consumers & Literature of the Bubble Economy" on March 24.

Join us for a lecture by Ikuho Amano, vice chair of the Department of Modern Languages & Literatures and professor of Japanese at the University of Nebraska, on the cultural impact of Japan's Bubble Economy (1986-1991). This era of rapid economic growth fueled a surge in luxury consumerism, financial speculation and societal shifts that continue to shape Japan today.

Professor Amano will explore how literature from authors like Shimizu Ikkō and Murakami Haruki captured the era's excesses and anxieties, offering insight into its lasting effects. Don't miss this engaging discussion on the intersection of economy, culture and literature in modern Japan.

The talk runs from 4:30 to 6:00 pm in Posner Hall Grand Room (map).

2025 Chinese animated film Ne Zha 2 (哪吒之魔童闹海), now the top-grossing animated film of all time, remains in Pittsburgh through (at least) March 19.

The 2025 Chinese animated film Ne Zha 2 (哪吒之魔童闹海), which opened in Pittsburgh on February 13, will remain here through at least March 19.

After the catastrophe, although the souls of Nezha and Aobing were saved, their bodies would soon be shattered. Taiyi Zhenren planned to use the seven-colored lotus to rebuild their bodies.

Ne Zha 2 recently became the highest-grossing animated film of all time. It plays locally at the AMC Loews Waterfront, and tickets are available online.

1997 animated film Princess Mononoke (もののけ姫) in Pittsburgh from March 26 with 4K IMAX screenings.

The 1997 animated film Princess Mononoke (もののけ姫) will play in Pittsburgh from March 26 in a series of 4K IMAX screenings.

While defending his village from a demonic boar-god, young warrior Ashitaka becomes afflicted with a deadly curse that grants him super-human power in battle but eventually will take his life. Traveling west to find a cure and meet his destiny, he journeys deep into sacred depths of the Great Forest where he meets San (aka Princess Mononoke), a girl raised by wolf-gods. Mononoke is a force of nature, riding bareback on a great white wolf and terrorizing the human outpost of Iron Town on the edge of the forest.

It will play locally at the AMC Loews Waterfront on March 26 and March 28 through April 1, and tickets are available online.

Pitt Japanese Student Association Matsuri, March 23.

The Japanese Student Association at the University of Pittsburgh will present its annual Matsuri on March 23.

JSA’s biggest event of the semester is here! 🤩🤩

Get ready for a night filled with many fun booths of games🕹️ and food 🍡🍣, awesome student-led performances 🎤, and even a special guest performer 🎸🎫!!!

Event Details:
Sunday, March 23rd
4-7:30pm
WPU Assembly Room

Over the next few weeks, keep an eye out for fun reels and post pertaining to Matsuri, and look at our story to see hints for our guest performer!!!! 🤔🤔

🫶We can’t wait to see you there 🫶

2025 Pittsburgh Japanese Film Festival opens March 14.

The annual Pittsburgh Japanese Film Festival will run from March 14 through March 27 this year, with special opening night screenings of Ghost Cat Anzu (化け猫あんずちゃん).

We are kicking off The 2025 Pittsburgh Japanese Film Festival with a wildly fun new anime film from GKids!

“The film is both outrageously fun and, while largely family-friendly, feels like it genuinely shouldn’t exist: imagine Spirited Away via Viz comic.”  – Daily Telegraph

Precocious tween Karin finds herself abandoned by her father in rural Japan. Living in a temple with her grandfather, she meets Anzu, a giant “ghost cat” and notorious layabout tasked with looking after her. Distrustful of her new guardian, Karin sabotages Anzu’s odd jobs for the townsfolk and befriends the eccentric local forest spirits. In an effort to win Karin over, Anzu accidentally makes a deal with the devil, and all Hell breaks loose.

Opening night tickets come with gift bags and other fun surprises to mark the start of our favorite fest of the year!

Ghost Cat Anzu plays at 6:30 and 9:15 pm on opening night. 

The full lineup of 17 films is available online. Tickets are available for a variety of special events, too, including "Baby Assassins with an Intro" on March 15, "Sake Tasting with Yojimbo" on March 21, "Ice Cream Fever with Ice Cream Mochi" on March 23, "The Hidden Fortress with Tea Tasting" on March 25, and  two screenings of "Closing Night with 13 Assassins" on March 27. 

The single-screen theater is located at 4115 Butler St. (map).

2025 Vietnamese movie The 4 Rascals (Bộ Tứ Báo Thủ) in Pittsburgh, from March 13.

The 2025 Vietnamese movie The 4 Rascals (Bộ Tứ Báo Thủ) will play in Pittsburgh from March 13.

The 4 rascals decide to take matters into their own hands and plot their own plan to “solve” a love triangle.

It plays locally at the AMC Classic South Hills Village and tickets are available online.