ORIENTED, featuring ceramic artists who identify with both Western and Eastern cultures, in Pittsburgh from March 13 to 17.

From "Clean and Bleed" by Jennifer Ling Datchuk."

The 2018 National Council On Education For The Ceramic Arts will bring hundreds of national and international artists to venues across Pittsburgh in March. One exhibition of particular relevance here is ORIENTED, on display from March 13 to 17, which

explores the concept of ceramists who identify with both Western and Eastern cultures; their stories are unique and give a taste of what goes on in contemporary America.

Featured are Adam Chau, Ayumi Horie, Steven Lee, Jennifer Ling Datchuk, and Beth Lo.

Screening of Tsunami Punx: The Tōhoku Live House Movement and Q&A with event promoter Matthew Ketchum, February 23 at Pitt.

On February 23, the University of Pittsburgh's Asian Studies Center will hold a screening of Tsunami Punx: The Tōhoku Live House Movement, presented by Pittsburgh native and 2011 Tohoku earthquake survivor Matthew Ketchum on the tsunami and Japan's underground punk rock scene.

Matt Ketchum left his hometown of Pittsburgh and arrived on the shores of Japan in the fall of 2009. He was living in Miyako, Iwate, enjoying the Slow Life and playing Fast Metal, but then the Tohoku earthquake changed his life forever. After assisting in frontline relief efforts he was transferred to Tokyo where he became involved in various projects concerned with Tohoku and the arts.

​He formed Kaala after years of experience performing in bands, booking and promoting tours, and seeing all of the good that underground extreme music can provide its members. The system that dictates cultural movements in music is far from perfect, and he aims to better it through applied data science, thoughtful content production, and boots-on-the-ground community engagement and participation.

He's currently in Seattle getting international music tourism pipelines established, so if you're at a show in the area shout his name and he'll probably appear. It's happened before.

The screening will be accompanied by a Q&A with promoter and community organizer Matthew Ketchum. The event starts at 5:00 pm in room 548 of the William Pitt Union (map) and is free and open to the public.

Chengdu Gourmet's Wei Zhu semifinalist for 2018 James Beard Award in Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic category.

By Laura Petrilla for Pittsburgh Magazine

Chengdu Gourmet's Wei Zhu has been named a semifinalist for a 2018 James Beard Award in the category of Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic. Zhu, who opened Chengdu Gourmet in Squirrel Hill in 2014, was a semi-finalist last year and is among 20 others in the category this year. His restaurant was named one of Pittsburgh Magazine's Best Restaurants in 2016 and 2017, and Zhu was one of six local chefs recognized by the magazine for his contributions to the local culinary scene:

“The food here is my style, Wei Zhu’s style,” says Zhu, 49, a native of the city of Chengdu in China’s Sichuan province.

A recently added beef soup dish combines traditional Sichuan elements such as garlic, ginger, pea shoots and Sichuan peppercorns, but it also is served with Japanese ramen noodles and dressed with fresh and pickled jalapeño peppers. Or there’s Zhu’s addictive Chinese winter sausage, an item on the menu for only a few months of the year. The rich, fatty links are enhanced with organ meat and ferment into funky, delicious bites as they age.

“At other Chinese restaurants, they just make the same dishes. I am always trying to keep updated on what chefs are doing in China,” he says.

“Fences, Maps, and Darkness: Visualizing Okinawa” at Chatham University, February 19.

From Gama series, via artist's official site.

Via the Japan America Society of Pennsylvania newsletter comes notice that Chatham University will host Japanese photographer Osamu James Nagakawa and his lecture “Fences, Maps, and Darkness: Visualizing Okinawa” on February 19.

Osamu James Nakagawa is Ruth N. Halls Distinguished Professor of Photography at Indiana University, where he directs the Center for Integrative Photographic Studies. Nakagawa is best known for his Okinawa trilogy, a series of works that address the atrocities of WWII in Japan. His illustrated lecture Fences, Maps, and Darkness: Visualizing Okinawa explores Okinawa's diverse ecosystems, primeval forests, and its history as a prime crossroads of war and colonial expansion for centuries. Nakagawa's photographs of Okinawa bridge the inherently different interpretations of this history through a cross-cultural lens.

The lecture starts at 6:00 pm in the Beckwith Lecture Hall in the Buhl Hall of Science and Science Laboratory Building (map), and is free and open to the public.

Korean rappers San E and Mad Clown in Pittsburgh, April 10.

Two Korean rappers, San E and Mad Clown, will hit Pittsburgh on April 10 as part of an extensive North American tour this year:

Mad Clown and San E are two of the biggest stars in Korean pop music. With numerous hits songs in Korea, these rappers are joining forces to tour every corner of America and Canada. For both MCs, this tour is a homecoming, as Mad Clown is originally from the Chicago area, and San E grew up in Atlanta. Mad Clown and San E's "We Want You 2018 Tour" will hit North America in April 2018, with Korean American singer Sobae opening.

The concert will be at the August Wilson Center in the Cultural District. Tickets will go on sale February 19 at 9:00 am.

Asian-American rapper+actor Awkwafina at Pitt, February 24.

The University of Pittsburgh's Chinese American Student Association and Korean Student Association are bringing rapper and actor Awkwafina to Pitt on February 24.

Come out to hear her speak, Q&A, and a meet and greet!

Nora Lum, better known as Awkwafina is a Chinese-Korean American rapper, comedian, television personality, television host and actress. She works to break down barriers in both rap and Hollywood scenes. Awkwafina touches on many important issues surrounding mental health, cultural identity, feminism, and Asians in media. Her most upcoming appearances will be in Crazy Rich Asians (2018) and Ocean's 8 (2018).

To RSVP fill out this google form! SEATS ARE LIMITED AND FIRST COME FIRST SERVE!

The event is free for Pitt students and $5 for everyone else, though registration is required. The event is at Bellefield Auditorium (map) and the doors open at 6:40 pm.

Ambassador Reiichiro Takahashi and his talk "US-Japan Collaboration," February 22 in Pittsburgh.

The Japan-America Society of Pennsylvania will host Ambassador Reiichiro Takahashi, Consul General of the Japanese Consulate in New York, on February 22 for his talk on "US-Japan Collaboration." The ambassador

will share his insights in this talk about collaboration between Japan and the United States.

Chinese movies in Pittsburgh for Lunar New Year: Monster Hunt 2 (捉妖記2) from February 15, The Monkey King 3 (西遊記女兒國) and Detective Chinatown 2 (唐人街·探案2) from February 16.

Three new sequels to popular Chinese movies will play in Pittsburgh this Lunar New Year Weekend: The Monkey King 3 (西遊記女兒國), Monster Hunt 2 (捉妖記2), and Detective Chinatown 2 (唐人街·探案2).

The distributor provides a summary of the The Monkey King 3:

The third installment of the blockbuster fantasy series sees the return of the Monkey King (Aaron Kwok) in his most action-packed adventure yet! While continuing their epic journey to the West, the Monkey King and his companions are taken captive by the Queen of an all-female land, who believes them to be part of an ancient prophecy heralding the fall of her kingdom. With a lot of sorcery and a little bit of charm, the travelers devise a plan to escape. But when their trickery angers the mighty River God, they realize they might just bring about the foretold destruction - unless they can find a way to quell her wrath.

The Monkey King 2 played in Pittsburgh in 2016, and was the second-highest-grossing domestic film in China that year.

Monster Hunt played in Pittsburgh in 2015, and was the highest-grossing Chinese film of all time until being overtaken by several 2016 releases. The production company summarizes:

This sequel to the mega blockbuster follows monster king Wuba as he faces another threat from the dark lord who plots to overthrow the empire.

Detective Chinatown was released in 2015 and was the ninth-highest grossing domestic film in Mainland China that year. The theater provides a synopsis:

A follow up to the Chinese hit “Detective Chinatown,” the new film reunites writer/director Chen Sicheng and stars Wang Baoqiang and Liu Haoran, who reprise their roles as detectives Tang Ren and Qin Feng, respectively. When the case of New York Chinatown godfather Uncle Qi’s missing son turns into a murder investigation, the detective duo Tang and Qin team up again to hunt down the killer—this time with some help from the International Detective Alliance.

Monster Hunt 2 opens on the 15th, while The Monkey King 3 and Detective Chinatown 2 open on the 16th at the AMC Loews Waterfront theater. Ticket and showtime information for all three movies are available online via Fandango. The theater is located at 300 West Waterfront Dr. in the Waterfront shopping complex in Homestead (map), across the Monongahela River from Greenfield, Squirrel Hill, and the rest of Pittsburgh.

"A New Korean War?" at Church of the Redeemer in Squirrel Hill, February 18.

The Church of the Redeemer in Squirrel Hill will host a Korea Panel on the topic of "A New Korean War?" on Sunday, February 18. From the University of Pittsburgh's University Center for International Studies:

Tensions are heating up over North Korea's nuclear program, intensified by an exchange of insults between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. Will the conflict between the two countries result in war? Why does North Korea want nuclear weapons? For aggression? Or for self-defense? Do South Koreans regard a nuclearized North as an existential threat or as something they can live with? How would a new Korean War end?

The event runs from 2:00 to 4:00 pm and is free and open to the public. The Church of the Redeemer is located at 5700 Forbes Ave. (map).

Reading with Korean-American author Min Jin Lee, February 20 at City of Asylum.

via minjinlee.com

City of Asylum @ Alphabet City will host bestselling author Min Jin Lee on February 20 for a reading of her 2017 book Pachinko. Her website provides a summary of the book:

PACHINKO follows one Korean family through the generations, beginning in early 1900s Korea with Sunja, the prized daughter of a poor yet proud family, whose unplanned pregnancy threatens to shame them all. Deserted by her lover, Sunja is saved when a young tubercular minister offers to marry and bring her to Japan.

So begins a sweeping saga of an exceptional family in exile from its homeland and caught in the indifferent arc of history. Through desperate struggles and hard-won triumphs, its members are bound together by deep roots as they face enduring questions of faith, family, and identity.

The reading runs from 8:00 to 9:30 pm at Alphabet City on the North Side, and is free and open to the public, though RSVP is required.

Nanoha (魔法少女リリカルなのは Reflection), A Silent Voice (聲の形) screenings cancelled as Hollywood Theater in Dormont closes.

Trigun: Badlands Rumble (トライガン バッドランズ ランブル) in 2011; Magical Girl Lyrical NANOHA Reflection (魔法少女リリカルなのは Reflection) was scheduled to play tonight and Wednesday.

The Friends of the Hollywood Theater, which had been operating in the the Hollywood Theater in Dormont, announced this evening that it has ceased programming and closed its doors as of Sunday, February 11.

It is with heavy hearts that we are announcing that Sunday, February 11th was our last day of programming, and after settling our obligations with the previous building owners, we will be fully vacated from the premises by Wednesday, February 14th.

The full statement on the theater's website indicates it may reopen in a different capacity in the future.

The Hollywood Theater was one of the few venues that played both new and classic Asian movies, and was long the only place around that would screen new anime releases.

Spring Festival Celebration at Pitt, February 16.

The University of Pittsburgh's Chinese Program will present a Spring Festival Celebration on Friday, February 16 in 4130 Posvar Hall (map).

Free! Take Your Marks (特別版 Free!-Take Your Marks-」) in Pittsburgh, March 14.

The 2017 anime film Free! Take Your Marks (特別版 Free!-Take Your Marks-」) will play at Southside Works Cinema on March 14, part of a one-day screening in the US.

Anne Allison and "Matter of Death" at Pitt, February 16.

The University of Pittsburgh's Asian Studies Center will host Anne Allison of Duke University and her talk "Matter of Death" on February 16.

At a moment when marriage and childbirth are on the decline, employment is increasingly short-term and precarious, and more and more people are living longer and all alone, sociality is changing in Japan. Away from the workplace or the family, ever more attention is placed on a free-floating, mobile but responsible self. Consistent with this streamlining of the social is a new trend in “simple living” spurred by de-clutter guru, Marie Kondo. Encouraged to detach from all but the most essential, most joyful of personal possessions, the stress is on matter that materializes life in a very particular way. But in this presentist, self-oriented lifestyle, what happens at the time of death? To those possessions the deceased has left behind, and to bodies of the dead, in cases when there is no social other to attend to these persons and things? Asking what the matter of death is in an age of decluttered belonging(s), I examine new businesses emerging in Japan (ihin seiri gaisha) that help clients sort through the possessions left behind, or that they may leave behind themselves, at the moment of death. Special clean-up of the "lonely dead" is one of their services—sanitizing the landscape of the waste left behind by a wounded sociality.

The event runs from 3:00 to 4:30 in 3306 Posvar Hall (map) and is free and open to the public.

"Journey to Japan," February 18 at Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh in Oakland.

The Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh's Main branch in Oakland will host "Journey to Japan" on Sunday, February 18.

2018 Year of the Earth Dog Lunar New Year Celebration, February 17 in Squirrel Hill.

Pittsburgh will begin this year's Lunar New Year festivities with the 2018 Lunar New Year Kick-Off on February 17 at the Jewish Community Center in Squirrel Hill.

For the third year in a row, Squirrel Hill is celebrating the 2-week Lunar New Year Festival. Beginning with a kick-off celebration on Saturday, February 17th at the Jewish Community Center and culminating with the Year of the Earth Dog Parade on March 4th on Murray Avenue, be awed by dragons and dancers, taiko drummers and martial artists, and eat in some of the best Asian restaurants in the city!

Throughout the building, attendees can enjoy free arts and crafts for the kids including calligraphy, origami, making hand-drums (for the parade of course!), Chinese paper cutting, and more. There will be door prizes and free give-aways throughout the afternoon, be sure to submit your name! There will also be delicious, authentic Asian foods and drinks, savory and sweet for sale.

In addition to the activities inside the JCC, two teams of lion dancers will be visiting and blessing our merchants on Forbes and Murray from 10am to 3pm.

On stage in Levinson Hall, we have planned over 21 live performances.

The event runs from 1:00 to 5:00 pm in the JCC (map) and is free and open to the public. The annual Lunar New Year Parade will be held in Squirrel Hill on March 4.

Ghibli Fest 2018 brings nine films to Pittsburgh area, including two rarely seen in theaters, from March through November.

Nine Studio Ghibli films will play at Pittsburgh-area Cinemark theaters in 2018 as part of this year's GKIDS Ghibli Fest. The lineup, which includes two films that rarely play in Pittsburgh:

Ponyo (崖の上のポニョ)
English dubbed: March 25 and 28
English subtitled: March 26

The Cat returns (猫の恩返し) - First time in Pittsburgh since 2009
English dubbed: April 22 and 25
English subtitled: April 23

Porco Rosso (紅の豚)
English dubbed: May 20 and 23
English subtitled: May 21

Pom Poko (平成狸合戦ぽんぽこ) - First time in Pittsburgh since 2010
English dubbed: June 17 and 20
English subtitled: June 18

Princess Mononoke (もののけ姫)
English dubbed: July 22 and 25
English subtitled: July 23

Grave of the Fireflies (火垂るの墓)
English dubbed: August 12 and 15
English subtitled: August 13

My Neighbor Totoro (となりのトトロ)
English dubbed: September 30 and October 3
English subtitled: October 1

Spirited Away (千と千尋の神隠し)
English dubbed: October 28 and 30
English subtitled: October 29

Castle in the Sky (天空の城ラピュタ)
English dubbed: November 18 and 20
English subtitled: November 19

Area Cinemark theaters currently scheduled to show these films are in Monaca, Monroeville, Pittsburgh Mills, and Robinson. Tickets and showtime information are available online.

Coming of Age Ceremony Brings Japanese Tradition, Pittsburgh Community Together

Below is an article covering the first Coming of Age Ceremony for Japanese students at the University of Pittsburgh, a profile from the University of Pittsburgh's official news source reprinted in its entirety with permission. Visit pittwire.pitt.edu for additional photos.


Yasuda Women's University student Nayu Hattori is dressed in her kimono by Pitt alumnus Evan Mason (left, A&S '15) and Katsuko Shellhammer (right), educational outreach coordinator for the Japan America Society of Pennsylvania.

Most of the Japanese students hadn’t packed colorful and elaborate kimonos in their suitcases when they came to Pittsburgh — they were limited to carrying one bag apiece.

About 25 students from Yasuda Women’s University in Hiroshima, who were at the University of Pittsburgh for five months learning English, were away from home in January, missing out on the annual Coming of Age ceremony, a national holiday in Japan.

So, Pitt’s Asian Studies Center threw a party — kimonos included.

A banner that reads “University of Pittsburgh Coming of Age Day Ceremony” in Japanese greeted student Nika Tanimoto and other participants.

“This Coming of Age ceremony seems like the perfect confluence of the University, our Japanese students and the community to celebrate together,” said Lynn Kawaratani, the center’s acting associate director. Members of the Pittsburgh community, the Japanese Nationality Room Committee and the Japan America Society of Pennsylvania all loaned kimonos for the students to wear. The Asian Studies Center has been partnering with Pitt’s English Language Institute for about a year, developing programming for these international students as well as Pitt students.

The age of 20 is considered the beginning of adulthood in Japan, and the national holiday — with roots dating to 714 A.D. — officially recognizes this transition in grand style. Preparations for the Pittsburgh ceremony began in the early afternoon of Jan. 10 as the women began arriving at the University Club’s Gold Room to be dressed in silk kimonos.

Mazinger Z: Infinity (劇場版 マジンガーZ ／ INFINITY) in Pittsburgh, February 11 and 12.

The 2017 film adaptation of the 1970s manga and TV series Mazinger Z: Infinity (劇場版 マジンガーZ ／ INFINITY) is getting a limited theatrical release in the US next month, and will play at several Pittsburgh-area Cinemark theaters on February 11 and 12. The distributor summarizes:

Ten years ago, the villainous scientist Dr. Hell led his wicked followers, known as the Underground Empire, in a struggle to destroy all of humanity. It was against these forces that the young hero Koji Kabuto fought, piloting the legendary super robot “Mazinger Z.” Koji’s victory stopped Dr. Hell’s evil plan and returned peace to the Earth.

Now Koji has left the pilot seat behind and become a scientist in his own right, following in his father’s and grandfather’s footsteps. Yet an unexpected encounter deep under Mt. Fuji triggers an even greater threat to mankind than ever before and alters Koji’s destiny forever. With humanity’s fate in their hands, Koji and Mazinger Z face a choice between good…and evil.

Audiences who attend the English subtitled premiere will also have the chance to receive an exclusive Mazinger Z: INFINITY mini-poster (limited quantities, while supplies last).

The movie opened in Japan on January 13. It will play in Japanese with English subtitles at the Cinemark theaters in Monroeville, North Hills, and Robinson at 12:55 pm on the 11th and 7:00 pm on the 12th. Tickets are now available online.

Magical Girl Lyrical NANOHA Reflection (魔法少女リリカルなのは Reflection) in Pittsburgh, February 12 and 14.

The 2017 Japanese animated movie 魔法少女リリカルなのは Reflection will play at the Hollywood Theater in Dormont on February 12 and 14.

"Assigning study with Anki as homework," February 9 at Pitt.

The Robert Henderson Language Media Center at the University of Pittsburgh is hosting a new series of language-teaching workshops this semester, the first on February 9, "Assigning study with Anki as homework," with Dr. Stephen Luft of the Department of East Asian Languages & Literatures. Dr. Luft presented on this topic in December:

Assigning study with Anki as homework: This presentation will describe how to hold students accountable for studying with Anki, a free flashcard program, outside of class. While the presentation will focus on using Anki to aid retention of newly learned characters (e.g., kanji), it is considered to be applicable to a wide variety of subjects.

The event runs from 12:00 to 12:50 pm and is free and open to the public. The Language Media Center is located in G-17 Cathedral of Learning (map).