Pittsburgh Obama 6-12 hiring a Japanese teacher.

Pittsburgh Obama 6-12, a public middle and high school in East Liberty, is hiring a Japanese teacher. The job ad is not especially descripted for this particular role, but is as follows; those interested in applying should do so via the posting:

The position of teacher is directly supervised by the School Principal and is responsible for effectively educating and supporting students by ensuring they are learning academically, developing strong character, and gaining skills that prepare them for college and career. The teacher is responsible for planning lessons that target specific skills, managing classroom behavior, and engaging students in lessons. The position of teacher cultivates student’s interest in education and incorporates culturally responsive pedagogy into their classroom.

Mid-Autumn Festival Celebration at Pitt, October 3.

The University of Pittsburgh's Asian Studies Center and Global Hub will host a Mid-Autumn Festival Celebration on October 3 from 12:00 pm.

中秋快乐!
추석 잘 보내세요!
Chúc Mừng Tết Trung thu!
Happy Mid-Autumn Festival!

Come celebrate the Mid-Autumn festival with the Asian Studies Center! Enjoy snacks and crafts during this cultural holiday. Event is open to the Pitt community and the public.

It will be held at the Global Hub, located on the 1st floor of Posvar Hall (map).

Next monthly Chinese & English Storytime for kids at Cooper-Siegel Library in Fox Chapel, October 4.

The monthly Chinese-English Storytime continues at the Cooper-Siegel Library in Fox Chapel will hold its next session on October 4.

Explore the Chinese language through bilingual songs, books, and playful experiences. This program is designed for kids in grades preschool - 2nd grade with their caregivers. This program occurs on the first Saturday of the month. Please register for all dates you plan to attend.

The event runs from 10:30 am to 11:30 am in the Verne C. Koch Program Room. Future sessions are scheduled for November 1, December 6, January 3, and beyond.  (There are also Chinese-English Storytimes scheduled for October 18, November 15, December 20, January 17, and beyond, from 10:30 to 11:30 am, at the Sharpsburg Community Library.) Registration is required and can be completed online for each session. The Cooper-Siegel Community Library is located at 403 Fox Chapel Rd. (map).

1986 Hong Kong film Peking Opera Blues (刀馬旦) in Pittsburgh, September 28 - October 6, part of Hong Kong Cinema Classics series.

The 1986 Hong Kong film Peking Opera Blues (刀馬旦) will play in Pittsburgh from September 28 through Octoer 6, part of a Hong Kong Cinema Classics series at the Harris Theater featuring 11 Hong Kong films from the 1980s and 1990s.

Perhaps no other film better displays the blink-and-you-miss-it inventiveness of Tsui Hark than Peking Opera Blues. It isn’t just one of the greatest Hong Kong action movies of all time, or merely an exquisite combination of political history and gender-defying performance. Tsui’s enthralling balance of tone, editing patterns, and comedic role-playing means the film is all of these things at warp speed, a dazzling expression of genre multiplicity that shifts between modes moment to moment. This flexibility extends to the cast: three women (Brigitte Lin, Sally Yeh, and Cherie Chung), a spy, an actor, and a musician, are assuming roles to survive the violent end of the Qing Dynasty, aligning themselves with warlords, revolutionaries, seducers, and friends. Each identity opens up traps, expectations, and freedoms. Whether on the stage or in a melee, this is a film that plays out under a ruthless and overwhelming urge to execute the perfect stunt—both for laughs and for something deadly serious.

Tickets are available online. Two other Hong Kong films play there this weekend as part of the series: A Better Tomorrow (英雄本色) from the 27th, and A Better Tomorrow 2 (英雄本色2) one day only on the 28th. These, and the other films to comprise the Hong Kong Classics series, play at the Harris Theater in downtown's Cultural District (map).

Hello Kitty Cafe Truck at Ross Park Mall, October 4.

via @HellyKittyCafeTruck

The Hello Kitty Cafe Truck will return to Ross Park Mall on October 4.

Hello Pittsburgh! The Hello Kitty Cafe Truck is returning to Ross Park Mall on Saturday, 10/4! Come say hello to us near The Cheesecake Factory & LL Bean between 10am-7pm and pick up some supercute treats & merch, while supplies last! See you there!

More information about the truck and its tours available via Sanrio. Ross Park Mall is located in Ross Township in the North Hills, just off McKnight Road (map).

Work continues on Paris Baguette in Shadyside.

Work continues on the Paris Baguette cafe and bakery coming to Shadyside. It was first announced for Walnut Street in January 2024, back before the region's first Paris Baguette opened in the Norh Hills. The Shadyside location will be located at 5514 Walnut St., in what was William Sonoma until January 2022. In 2024, the year both locations were set to open in Pittsburgh, the franchisee announced plans to open five Paris Baguette cafes in the area.

Paris Baguette is a chain of bakeries ubiquitous throughout South Korea that has over 250 locations across the United States. The menu boasts a wide variety of cakes, baked goods, sandwiches, juices, and coffees, in addition its eponymous French bread.

Phipps Conservatory Fall Flower Show "Visions of Japan" opens October 4 and runs through October 26.

The Fall Flower Show "Visions of Japan" opens October 4 at Phipps.

Starting Sat., Oct. 4, Phipps’ Fall Flower Show: Visions of Japan celebrates the prominence of the chrysanthemum in Japanese culture through vibrant autumnal displays. Mums in a wide variety of shapes, sizes and colors will be presented alongside evocative props including jewel-toned fans, a moon gate, a pagoda, foot bridges and a celebratory ryuu, or dragon, whose brightly colored body floats from end to end of the glasshouse’s iconic Sunken Garden. These mums will be grown using traditional Japanese techniques like disbud and cascade.

The narrative will focus on how the human-nature connection is manifested in Japan. Highlights include the joyous festivals (aki matsuri) and parades that celebrate the autumn harvest season, the symbolism of chrysanthemums in Japanese garden culture and more. Broadly, the show presents an opportunity to discuss some of the unique strategies originated in Japan to promote horticulture as therapeutic, including Shinrin-yoku (forest bathing).

2025 Pittsburgh Dragon Boat Festival, September 27 at North Park.

The 2025 Pittsburgh Dragon Boat Festival will be held on September 27 at North Park. The event runs from 8:30 am to 3:30 pm on North Park Lake (map), and in addition to the races that support breast cancer survivors, there will be a lion dance, food trucks, vendors, and activitiy tables including the Chinese Heritage Room (from the Pitt Nationality Rooms and Intercultural Exchange Program), OCA, the Pittsburgh Chinese School, and the Pittsburgh Taoist Tai Chi Society. The eye dotting ceremony begins at 8:20 am with Allen Peng of the Organization of Chinese Americans and first race begins at 9:10 am. The event is free for spectators.

Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) Program Information Session, October 2 at Pitt.

The University of Pittsburgh's Asian Studies Center will hold its annual Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) Program Information Session on October 2.

Are you interested in living and working abroad?

Have you been studying Japanese and looking to apply your skills after graduation?

Do you want to make an impact on the lives of young people?

Would you like to find out where the ultimate ramen shop is found?

If any of these questions apply to you, then please join the Asian Studies Center and JET Alumni group in Pittsburgh for an information session to learn more about the Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) Program. This hybrid Information Session will be in room 4130 Posvar Hall, on the 4th floor of W. Wesley Posvar Hall on October 2, 2025 starting at 6:00pm. Learn about the requirements of the JET Program and learn from your future-JET Program sempai with our JET Alumni Panel.

The hybrid event starts at 6:00 pm and registration is required; the in-person component is held in 4130 Posvar Hall.

Pitt Surplus auctioning Japanese kei van.

The University of Pittsburgh Surplus Property is auctioning a 2000 Mitsubishi Minicab Microvan GD-U62V that had been used by Pitt-Johnstown dining.

Used. Runs but has extensive rust issues.