January Guest Chef Dinner featuring Wei Zhu from Chengdu Gourmet, January 29 at Community Kitchen Pittsburgh in Hazelwood.

Community Kitchen Pittsburgh will host Wei Zhu of Chengdu Gourmet for the January installment of the Guest Chef Dinner on January 29.

Get ready for a bold, unforgettable evening as we welcome Chef Wei Zhu of Chengdu Gourmet for a "One Night Only" dinner celebrating the depth and soul of authentic Sichuan cuisine.

Known for his masterful balance of heat, spice, and complexity, Chef Wei brings the flavors that have made Chengdu Gourmet a regional favorite, earning him national acclaim, including multiple James Beard Award nominations.

Recently selected as an official vendor for the NFL Draft, Chef Wei's cooking represents the very best of Pittsburgh's food scene, blending tradition, technique, and unmistakable flavor. You'll enjoy a thoughtfully-curated menu showcasing Sichuan classics and signature dishes, each telling a story of heritage, craft, and community.

Upcoming documentary on Japanese baseball Homecoming: The Tokyo Series in Pittsburgh, February 23 and 24.

The 2026 documentary Homecoming: The Tokyo Series, referring to the Major League Baseball series played in Tokyo at the start of the 2025 season, will play in Pittsburgh from February 23 and 24.

Homecoming: The Tokyo Series explores Japan’s profound bond with baseball, culminating in the 2025 MLB Opening Day games in Tokyo, when hometown heroes Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Shota Imanaga, Seiya Suzuki, and Roki Sasaki return to the field where their journeys began. Through the lives of those shaped by the game, the film reveals how baseball bridges generations, shapes identity, and illuminates the connection between tradition and modern life. More than a chronicle of a sporting event, it is a portrait of a nation’s enduring love for baseball and the pride of watching its stars come home. Alongside the film, the filmmakers captured man-on-the-street interviews with American fans inside the Tokyo Dome who traveled to Japan for the games.

It is scheduled to play locally at the AMC Loews Waterfront, the AMC Westmoreland in Greensburg, the GQT Cinemas at the Pittsburgh Mills, and the Cinemark theaters in McCandless and Robinson. Tickets are available online.

2025 Park Chan-wook film No Other Choice (어쩔수가없다) stays in Pittsburgh through (at least) January 29.

The 2025 Park Chan-wook film No Other Choice (어쩔수가없다), which opened in Pittsburgh on January 15 after a one-day early access screening on December 8, will stay here through (at least) January 29.

From director Park Chan-wook and based on Donald E. Westlake's novel THE AX, the story follows Man-su on his desperate hunt for a new job after his abrupt layoff from the paper company he served for 25 years.

It is scheduled to play at the AMC Loews Waterfront, the Cinemark theaters in McCandless and Robinson, and the Manor in Squirrel Hill. Tickets are available online.

Chinese teahouse Peel coming soon to Squirrel Hill.

Work continues on Peel, a Chinese teahouse coming soon to Squirrel Hill. It will be located at 5806 Forbes Ave., second floor, above Uncle Sam's (map). Permits were first issued for the spot back in April. Recently-added signage on the door advertises PEEL

is a (tea)house for drinks, eats, inquiries & play

Coming this winter

PennsylvAasia will be taking a much-needed break to start the year, so the blog, social media, and email will be quiet for a bit. Apologies for delayed, or no, responses to email or social media messages during this time. Thank you.

More dates and theaters for Stray Kids: The dominATE Experience, including early access screening on February 4 and partnership with StayTiny Pittsburgh in Squirrel Hill.

A day after tickets went on sale for the upcoming concert film Stray Kids: The dominATE Experience around Pittsburgh on February 6, 7, and 9, a new date and new theaters have been added.

Stray Kids : The dominATE Experience is an epic concert film featuring the global K-Pop sensation and their sold-out SoFi Stadium performances, along with behind-the-scenes footage. With more than 30 million albums sold worldwide and a fanbase that spans every continent, Stray Kids : The dominATE Experience will provide fans with a bold, large-scale theater experience, allowing them to see a glimpse behind the curtain of their favorite band.

It is scheduled to play locally, so far, at the AMC Loews Waterfront, the Cinemark theater in Robinson, and the Manor Theater in Squirrel Hill, which is partnering with StayTiny Pittsburgh for its screenings. There is also an Early Access Advance Screening on February 4 at the AMC Loews Waterfront. Tickets are available online.

2025 Japanese animated movie Zombie Land Saga: Yumeginga Paradise (劇場版「ゾンビランドサガ ゆめぎんがパラダイス」 in Pittsburgh, January 19.

The 2025 Japanese animated movie Zombie Land Saga: Yumeginga Paradise (劇場版「ゾンビランドサガ ゆめぎんがパラダイス」 will play in Pittsburgh on January 19.

At the end of the second season, in Saga City, which is about to be held at the Saga EXPO, aliens invaded the earth. In Saga, the survival of the world depends on the protagonists.

It is scheduled to play locally at the AMC Loews Waterfront, for one screening dubbed in English, and tickets are available online.

Toshiko Akiyoshi’s ‘Kogun’: Narrating a Lone Soldier’s Experience in Nō Jazz, February 24 at Pitt.

The University of Pittsburgh's Asian Studies Center will host E. Taylor Atkins and his talk "Toshiko Akiyoshi’s ‘Kogun’: Narrating a Lone Soldier’s Experience in Nō Jazz" on February 24.

In March 1974, Lt. Onoda Hiroo emerged from the jungle on the Philippine island of Lubang, where he had been hiding for almost three decades after the end of the Pacific War. He immediately became a worldwide media sensation as an exemplar of samurai-like devotion to duty. Moved by his story and the tragedy of a life wasted for a fruitless war, jazz composer Toshiko Akiyoshi dedicated a composition to him. Entitled “Kogun” (lone soldier), the piece drew on thematic and narrative elements of medieval nō theater, situated within a jazz orchestral setting, to highlight this tragedy, thereby bringing to fruition her desire to create a seamless “blend” (yūgō) of Japanese music and the jazz idiom. This presentation also blends conventional cultural historical and musical analysis to argue for the landmark status of “Kogun” within jazz history.

E. Taylor Atkins is Distinguished Teaching Professor of History at Northern Illinois University. His major publications include Toshiko Akiyoshi-Lew Tabackin Big Band’s Kogun (2024); A History of Popular Culture in Japan, From the Seventeenth Century to the Present (second edition, 2022); Primitive Selves: Koreana in the Japanese Colonial Gaze, 1910-1945 (2010); Jazz Planet (editor, 2003); and Blue Nippon: Authenticating Jazz in Japan (2001), winner of the Association for Asian Studies’ John Whitney Hall Prize. He also plays bass for the Jazz in Progress Big Band and the Wild Blue Ukulele Orchestra and produces and hosts House of Funk on Hot Rocks Radio.

The talk runs from 2:00 to 3:00 pm in 4130 Posvar Hall (map).

Pirates without a Taiwanese player again.

The Pittsburgh Pirates are without a Taiwanese player again after infielder Tsung-Tse Cheng (鄭宗哲) was claimed off waivers by the Tampa Bay Rays on January 7. Cheng was designated for assignment on December 19th after the Pirates acquired additional roster players in a trade with Tampa Bay.

The Pirates signed Tsung-Tse Cheng as a 17-year-old prospect in 2019. He made his Major League debut on April 9 and played three games for the Pirates. He was the third Taiwanese player in Pittsburgh Pirates history after Wei-chung Wang in 2019 and Yu Chang in 2022. The Pirates have had numerous other Taiwanese players in the system, dating back to at least 2009 with Sheng-qin Hong, Pin-Hong Ji, and Ji-wei Xu.

If Cats Disappeared From The World by Genki Kawamura next installment of Maridon Museum Book Club, January 29.

The next installment of the Maridon Museum Book Club will feature If Cats Disappeared From The World by Genki Kawamura on January 29.

If Cats Disappeared From the World by Genki Kawamura follows a terminally ill postman who is approached by a devil offering an unusual deal: for each thing he agrees to erase from the world, he will be granted one extra day of life. As everyday objects disappear one by one, he is forced to confront what truly gives life meaning, including love, memory, forgiveness, and his bond with his beloved cat, Cabbage. The story is a gentle and emotional reflection on what we lose, what we choose to keep, and what makes life worth living.

Please join us for all our upcoming in-person Book Club meetings. To register, or if you have questions, please call 724-282-0123 or email info@maridon.org.

The meeting begins at 3:00 pm. The Maridon Museum is an Asian art museum located at 322 North Mckean St. in Butler (map). Upcoming Book Club meetings this spring will feature The Emperor of Gladness by Ocean Vuong on February 26, In Order to Live: A North Korean Girl’s Journey to Freedom by Yeonmi Park on March 27, The Color of Air by Gail Tsukiyama on April 30, and Dust Child: A Novel by Phantom Que Mai Nguyen on May 28.