Umai Thai & Sushi coming soon to Bellevue.

Umai Thai & Sushi is coming soon to Bellevue. It will open at 172 Lincoln Ave (map), in the spot occupied by Thai Tamarind until it relocated to 513 Lincoln Ave., a few blocks away, and rebranded as Thai Tamarind Noodle & Rice in June. A menu is available online but the restaurant, which draws its name from a Japanese word meaning delicious, isn't aiming to open until the fall.

Fujiya Ramen to open location in Robinson.

Fujiya Ramen, a Japanese ramen restaurant located in Shadyside, is planning to open a second location in Robinson. It will be located at 210 McHolme Dr (map), in what was the home of the Sushi Atarashi revolving sushi restaurant from September 2024 to January 2025. Fujiya Ramen, says the official site,

is the result of a passion for Japanese cuisine and collaboration between father and son, Minoru and Zen Yoshida. Minoru worked for more than 40 years making delicious ramen in both Tokyo and its surrounding Japanese prefectures. When he began his business in Tokyo in the 1960’s, ramen at the time only cost $1.40. Minoru’s business has come very far as his dream of opening a ramen shop in America has finally come true. We hope you will enjoy our family’s authentic ramen every time you visit.

Yi Fang Taiwan Fruit Tea (一芳台灣水果茶) soft opens in Squirrel Hill.

The Taiwanese fruit tea chain Yi Fang Taiwan Fruit Tea (一芳台灣水果茶) has soft opened its first Pittsburgh location. The US-based chain's Squirrel Hill spot is located at 5825 Forbes Ave (map), in what has been empty for a couple years but what was most recently Classic Lines bookstore. The soft open hours are 12:00 to 9:30 pm.

Paperwork and planning for the new tea spot---which will join Mango Mango, Tiger Sugar, Tsaaoca, and Meetcha on the same block---started back in October 2024. Yi Fang currently has locations throughout California, the East Coast, and elsewhere in North America.

Travel Japanese Class with Japan America Society of Pennsylvania and University of Pittsburgh, five weeks from August 30.

The Japan America Society of Pennsylvania will present a five-session Travel Japanese Class at the University of Pittsburgh from August 30.

Planning a trip to Japan? Want to feel comfortable interacting with locals while traveling? Join our Travel Japanese Course, a 5-week in-person course designed for complete beginners. Learn essential phrases for greetings, directions, dining, shopping and more, all focused on real-life travel situations. This course is intended for those with no prior experience studying Japanese; if you have studied the language before, it may be too basic for you.

Taught by a native Japanese professor from the University of Pittsburgh, each 90 minute class offers immersive, conversation-based instruction to help build speaking confidence.

JASP Members save $25 over the semester, paying $125 instead of the standard $150. Register now and speak Japanese before you land

Please note, the class is intended for those with no prior experience studying Japanese. Classes are held Saturdays from 10:00 to 11:30 am in 4130 Posvar Hall (map). Registration and payment can be completed online.

English dub of 2025 Chinese animated film Ne Zha 2 (哪吒之魔童闹海), the highest-grossing animated film of all time, in Pittsburgh from August 21.

The 2025 Chinese animated film Ne Zha 2 (哪吒之魔童闹海), which played here in February and March, returns to the area from Augsut 21, this time dubbed in English.

A rebellious young boy, Ne Zha, is feared by the gods and born to mortal parents with wild, uncontrolled powers. Now he's faced with an ancient force intent on destroying humanity, he must grow up to become the hero the world needs.

It is scheduled to play in Digital 3D, Real 3D, and Standard Formats, so far, at the AMC Classic South Hills Village, AMC Westmoreland in Greensburg, and the Cinemark theater in McCandless. Tickets are available online.

Let's Sushi, an all-you-can-eat sushi place and "unlimited Japanese fusion," to soft open August 4 in Wexford.

Let's Sushi, an all-you-can-eat sushi place in the works for Wexford Plaza (map), plans to soft open on August 4 from 11:00 am to 9:30 pm. The restaurant offering "unlimited Japanese fusion," according to a sign in the window, will be located in the spot formerly occupied by Nakama. Paperwork indicates Let's Sushi is owned by the properietor behind other Asian buffets that used to operate in the area: Misaki, Yamato Hibachi Grill, and Old Town Buffet.

Koi Steakhouse and Sushi Bar eyes August opening in Monroeville.

Koi Steakhouse and Sushi Bar is coming soon to Monroeville and is eyeing an August opening. It will be located at 1782 Golden Mile Hwy (map), in what was most recently Golden Palace Restaurant. The menu is hundreds of items long, consisting of a variety of hibachi items, poke bowls, sushi, rolls, standard Chinese and Thai entrees, boba tea, and more.

2005 Studio Ghibli film The Cat Returns (猫の恩返し) at Row House Lawrenceville, August 1.

The 2005 Studio Ghibli film The Cat Returns (猫の恩返し) will play for one night only at the Row House Cinema in Lawrenceville on August 1 to kick off the CatVideoFest series.

Young Haru rescues a cat from being run over, but soon learns it’s no ordinary feline; it happens to be the Prince of the Cats.

Tickets for the 8:00 pm show are available online. The single-screen theater is located at 4115 Butler St. (map).

2024 Japanese film Cloud (クラウド) in Pittsburgh, August 15 - 21.

The 2024 Japanese film Cloud (クラウド) will play in Pittsburgh from Auguat 15 through 21.

Kiyoshi Kurosawa (Cure, Pulse) delivers one of his most chillingly prescient films with this riveting fusion of social satire, techno-thriller, and survival-action. Yoshii (Masaki Suda), a T-shirt factory worker, supplements his income by flipping merchandise online—dubious medical devices, counterfeit designer handbags, collectible figurines—until disgruntled customers begin organizing against him on an anonymous message board. As his profits grow and he quits his day job (even hiring an assistant), he becomes the target of a coordinated vendetta that ratchets into something increasingly brutal, absurd, yet eerily plausible. At once a pulse-pounding provocation and a cautionary tale for our atomized, hustle-economy era, Cloud—Japan’s official submission for the 97th Oscars—is a genre-bending vision of virtual grievances mutating into real-world terror, orchestrated with Kurosawa’s signature precision and nerve.

It plays at the Harris Theater in downtown's Cultural District (map) and tickets are available online.

Lucky Bites, featuring boba and poke bowls, coming soon to Bellevue.

via @bellevueforward

Another new Asian place is coming soon to Bellevue: Lucky Bites, serving boba tea and poke bowls will be opening at 549 Lincoln Ave. (map), the former home of Dietz Floral and Gifts. Ownership is aiming for an August opening.