Ran (乱), Castaway on the Moon (김씨 표류기), Yi Yi (一一) comprise Maridon Museum's Spring Film Series.

Butler's Maridon Museum announced its 2014 Spring Film Series today, which will be comprised of the Japanese film Ran on March 20, the South Korean film Castaway on the Moon on April 24, and the Taiwanese film Yi Yi on May 15. More-detailed posts on each will follow closer to the dates.

The Maridon Museum of Asian Art is located at 322 N. McKean St. in downtown Butler, some 40 miles north of Pittsburgh (map). It holds film series throughout the year, with recent themes of relevance to this blog being Vietnamese and Taiwanese films.

Wong Kar Wai's The Grandmaster (一代宗師) at Erie Art Museum, March 5.

Wong Kar Wai's latest film The Grandmaster (一代宗師), which opened throughout the US in August 2013, will play at the Erie Art Museum (map) on March 5. Starring Tony Leung and Zhang Ziyi, the New York Times wrote last year it's

a hypnotically beautiful dream from the Hong Kong filmmaker Wong Kar-wai, opens with curls of smoke, eddies of water and men soaring and flying across the frame as effortlessly as silk ribbons. The men are warriors, street fighters with furious fists and winged feet, who have massed together on a dark, rainy night to take on Ip Man (Tony Leung), a still figure in a long coat and an elegant white hat. Even amid the violent whirlpools of rain and bodies, that hat never leaves his head. It’s as unyielding as its owner.

The movie starts at 7:00. Tickets are $5 at the door, or $6.17 online.

Oakland's Sushi Boat cited, temporarily closd by Allegheny County Health Department.

The Pitt News wrote on Wednesday that Sushi Boat Asian Food on Oakland Ave. was cited by the Allegheny County Health Department on February 18 "for numerous critical violations of the county’s Food Safety Rules and Regulations."

"Still Watching a Movie?: Korean National Cinema in the Post-Film Era" lecture at Pitt, March 3.

Korean Popular Culture Reader, 2014.

The University of Pittsburgh's Film Studies program will host Dr. Kyung Hyun Kim and his lecture "Still Watching a Movie?: Korean National Cinema in the Post-Film Era" on Monday, March 3, in room 501 of the Cathedral of Learning (map). Dr. Kim is a professor at the University of California Irvine, author on numerous articles and books on Korean film and pop culture, and editor of the forthcoming The Korean Popular Culture Reader. The talk runs from 1 to 3 pm and is free.

On a related topic at Pitt on the same day, Ph.D. candidate Seung-hwan Shin in the Department of English will defend his dissertation "New Korean Cinema: Mourning to Regeneration" at 9:30 am in the same room, 501 Cathedral of Learning.

Pitt alumnus named chancellor of Baekseok Culture University.

Young Shik Kim (김영식) was named the 7th chancellor of Baekseok Culture University (백석문화대학교) on February 19. Kim, 63, earned a Ph.D. from the University of Pittsburgh in 2000 in Administrative and Policy Studies / Higher Education Management. His dissertation is titled The Higher Educational Policy-Making Process in Korea: A Case Study for the National Policy of University Autonomy (1986-1990).


From the 2001 University of Pittsburgh commencement program, via Documenting Pitt.

Dinh Q. Lê lecture at CMU School of Art on March 4, discussion at Carnegie Museum of Art on March 5.

Dinh Q. Lê, from the "Vietnam to Hollywood" series, via Blendspace.

The Carnegie Mellon University School of Art will host Dinh Q. Lê on March 4 as part of its Spring 2014 Lecture Series. From the Lecture Series homepage:

Born in Vietnam during wartime in 1968, artist DINH Q LE moved to the US at 10 years old and was brought up amid Western depictions of his homeland. In his artistic practice, Lê developed an innovative multidisciplinary technique that combined traditional Vietnamese craft with images and fragments of history and modern truths. His work continued after he returned to Vietnam in his 20s, where he examined complex and contradictory topics such as the continuing legacy of the war and the marketing of Vietnam as a tourist's paradise. Lê is the co-founder of the Vietnam Foundation for the Arts, which initiates artistic exchanges between Vietnam and the West, and Sán Art, the first independent not-for-profit art space in Ho Chi Minh City. In 2010, Lê was the recipient of the Prince Claus Award. He will discuss past projects and his work for the 2013 Carnegie International.

Lê is one of several Asian artists with works on display at the 2013 Carnegie International, which runs through March 16 at the Carnegie Museum of Art (map). The day after the CMU lecture, March 5, Lê will participate in a discussion at the Carnegie Museum of Art Theater. From the museum's website:

Explore Dinh Q. Lê’s work in the 2013 Carnegie International in greater depth. Life and Belief: Sketches of Life from the Vietnam War, an installation of 100 drawings and paintings made by Vietnamese artist-soldiers on the front lines of the Vietnam War accompanied by a documentary film, will be the starting point of a discussion focused on art, war, and image. Lê, who will speak to the artists’ inside interpretation of the war, will converse with Dr. Daniel Lieberfeld, associate professor at Duquesne University, and Dr. Philip Nash, Vietnam historian and associate professor of history at Penn State Shenango, about the power of images during and after the conflict. Lê will also discuss his follow-up companion project to this piece—a look at the non-communist artists and their lasting legacy. Exhibition co-curator Dan Byers will moderate the discussion. Cosponsored by Carnegie Mellon University School of Art and Jeff Pan.

The discussion runs from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. and is free with admission to the museum.

“Spiritual Health vs. Mental Health: The Uses of Japanese Naikan Meditation” lecture at Pitt, February 27.

The Asian Studies Center at the University of Pittsburgh will host Associate Professor of Religious Studies Dr. Clark Chilson and his lecture "Spiritual Health vs. Mental Health: The Uses of Japanese Naikan Meditation" on February 27 as part of the Asia Over Lunch lecture series. It takes place at 12:00 pm in room 4130 Posvar Hall (campus map) and is free. Upcoming lectures in the series this term are printed on the flyer above.

"Japan and Its Asian Neighbors: History, Islands and National Identity” video-conference lecture at Pitt, February 25.

The second installment of the "Japan in the Broader Context of Asia" lecture series is "Japan and Its Asian Neighbors: History, Islands and National Identity”, by Dr. Constantine Vaporis, a professor in the University of Maryland Baltimore County's History department. The presentation begins at 6:00 pm, and is followed by light refreshments and a networking reception. An overview of the series from the University of Pittsburgh's Asian Studies Center newsletter:

The next lecture of the NCTA video-conference lecture series is “Japan and Its Asian Neighbors: History, Islands and National Identity,” featuring Constantine N. Vaporis, Professor of History and Director of the Asian Studies Program, University of Maryland. A light dinner will be served for all participants starting at 5:30

This lecture is part of a series of an NCTA video-conference lectures “Japan in the Broader Context of Asia,” which will feature a variety of talks by professors from Pitt, Elizabethtown College, and the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.

These lectures are free, but space is limited and registration is required by emailing Patrick Hughes at hughespw@pitt.edu (please let him know which lectures you wish to attend). You may register for as many of the sessions as you like.

Like Father, Like Son (そして父になる) from tomorrow night through March 6 at Harris Theater.

The 2013 Japanese film Like Father, Like Son (そして父になる) will be in Pittsburgh from February 21 through March 6 at the Harris Theater downtown.

Japanese film Key of Life (鍵泥棒のメソッド) at Carnegie Library Oakland, March 2.

As part of its International Cinema series, the Oakland branch of the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh (map) will show the 2012 Japanese film Key of Life (鍵泥棒のメソッド). The library website borrows a plot summary from IMDB:

Sakurai is a failed actor who switches identities with a stranger at a bath house, only to find out that he is suddenly filling the shoes of an elite assassin.

Key of Life was part of the 2013 Silk Screen Asian American Film Festival in Pittsburgh last April. The movie will play on the 2nd from 2:30 to 4:30.

Lecture "'Catfish' Catastrophe in Japan", February 26 at IUP.

Indiana University of Pennsylvania's Department of Asian Studies will host "'Catfish' Catastrophe in Japan" by Dr. Gregory Smits of Penn State.

Gregory Smits will present an illustrated lecture discussing representations of the Ansei Edo earthquake in popular prints. The talk will be in the Susquehanna Room of the HUB on February 26 at 7:00 p.m. All are welcome.

At about 10:00 p.m. on November 11, [1855], a strong earthquake shook Edo (modern Tokyo), Japan’s de facto capital. The earthquake killed roughly 8,000 and did extensive damage to certain areas of the city. Along with death and destruction, the earthquake created opportunities for windfall profits for many of the city’s ordinary residents. One product of this earthquake was hundreds of varieties of broadside prints. These prints came to be called “catfish prints” (namazue) because many of them featured catfish, which symbolized the power of earthquakes.

An article by Dr. Smits on the topic published in the Journal of Social History , "Shaking up Japan: Edo Society and the 1855 Catfish Prints," is available online.

The Raid 2: Berandal at Hollywood Theater, March 19.

The Hollywood Theater in Dormont announced its March schedule on Facebook today, which provides some advance notice for the 2014 Indonesian martial arts movie The Raid 2: Berandal playing on March 19. A January Variety review summarizes:

With its blissfully crude setup and ferociously inventive fight sequences, Gareth Evans’ “The Raid: Redemption” (2011) was an exhilarating, exhausting treat for those who like to take their genre poison straight. If “The Raid 2: Berandal” disappoints somewhat by comparison, it’s not for lack of ambition: At nearly two-and-a-half hours, this sensationally violent and strikingly well-made sequel has been conceived as a slow-burn gangster epic, stranding the viewer in a maze-like underworld that doesn’t really get the adrenaline pumping until the film’s second half. Once the carnage kicks in, Evans’ action chops prove as robust and hyperkinetic as ever, delivering deep, bone-crunching pleasure for hardcore action buffs. Still, given its diminished novelty and hefty running time, the Sony Classics item . . . may have trouble wooing as many viewers theatrically as it will in homevid play.

The movie starts at 7:30 pm on the 19th, and will be released nationwide across Indonesia and the United States on March 28. The Hollywood Theater (map) is located at 1449 Potomac Ave. in Dormont and a block south of Potomac Station.

[edited 26-Jan-2015 to remove poster image]

"It’s Greek to me! A Fascination with the Idea of Greece in the making of modern Japan" at Pitt, February 21.

Dr. Hiroshi Nara of the Department of East Asian Languages & Literatures at the University of Pittsburgh will present "It’s Greek to me! A Fascination with the Idea of Greece in the making of modern Japan" on February 21. It will be held in room 4130 Posvar Hall (map) from 12:00 pm, and is free and open to the public.

Chinese Video Art & Documentary (1985-2005), from Gao Minglu’s Archive at Pitt, through March 21.

This evening there was an opening reception for an exhibition by Gao Minglu, currently a faculty member in the University of Pittsburgh's History of Art & Architecture department, which will run through March 21 in the Frick Fine Arts building (map). From the department's website:

The exhibition is curated by Gao Minglu, assisted by Madeline Eschenburg and other student interns of the gallery. Visitors will have the opportunity to experience Chinese artworks that have not been shown in the U.S. before, or have not previously been available in this part of the world.

This exhibition will feature video work from Chinese artists produced at the turn of the 21st century. Through these artworks, the curator intends to show how Chinese artists and intellectuals responded to the rapid political and economic changes in China in the late 20th century, and how artists used their eyes and even their own bodies to address certain social concerns. The videos can be categorized as documentation which features avant-garde activities such as performance and exhibitions, or video art with certain particular themes such as urbanization.

The University Art Gallery is located in the Frick Fine Arts building at the University of Pittsburgh. Public hours are Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. or by appointment. The exhibition is open through Mar. 21st, but will be closed for spring break Mar. 10-14th. For more information, contact uag@pitt.edu or call 412-648-2423.

Panel discussion "Vietnam: New Lessons from an Old War, a Half-Century On" at Pitt, March 4.

The University of Pittsburgh Honors College will host a panel discussion on March 4, "Vietnam: New Lessons from an Old War, a Half-Century On".

Unlike other American wars, the Vietnam War never really ended. It is being re-fought in scholarly works, at college reunions, in family living rooms, and among veterans. Aside from the Civil War, Vietnam was America's most divisive military conflict, and the University of Pittsburgh's Honors College program features some of the war's most outspoken scholars, participants and journalists.

The panel consists of former Nebraska Senator and governor Bob Kerrey, journalist Peter Arnett, writers Edward G. Miller and Laura Palmer, and former director of the Harvard Kennedy School's Vietnam Program Thomas J. Vallely. It begins at 7:30 pm in the University Club's Second Floor Ballroom (map). Registration is required and can be completed online.

Yanlai Dance Academy's "Chinese Nutcracker", March 1.

Yanlai Dance Academy will present its annual performance on March 1 at the August Wilson Center downtown (map). This year's production is "Chinese Nutcracker":

The production borrows elements from the classic ballet, but infuses it with Chinese culture, costumes, traditions & dance. It is a family-friendly production which not only celebrates the cultural diversity of the Pittsburgh region, but also introduces Pittsburgh audiences to the beauty of Chinese dance.

There are two times, 4:30 and 7:30 pm, and tickets range from $15 to $50.

1929 film Piccadilly at Hollywood Theater, February 23.

The 1929 silent movie Piccadilly will play at The Hollywood Theater in Dormont on Sunday, February 23.

Starring cinema's first Chinese-American movie star and fashion icon, Anna May Wong, Piccadilly tells the story of a young Chinese woman, working in the kitchen at a London dance club, who is given the chance to become the club's main act - which soon leads to a plot of betrayal, forbidden love and murder.

It starts at 7:00 pm and tickets are $7 for seniors and students, and $10 for everyone else. The evening will also feature live music from Appalasia, a local group which

combines the influences of Appalachian and Asian music traditions with original composition and inspired improvisation to create their unique musical voice.

The theater is located at 1449 Potomac Ave. (map) in Dormont and a block south of Potomac Station.

Pirates sign Taiwanese pitcher Yang to minor-league contract.

The Pittsburgh Pirates on Thursday signed Taiwanese pitcher Yao-Hsun Yang (陽耀勳) to a minor-league contract. The 31-year-old Yang has pitched for Chinese Taipei in two World Baseball Classic series and spent the last several years with Fukuoka in Nippon Professional Baseball.

He is one of two Taiwanese players in the Pittsburgh Pirates organization, along with catcher Jin-de Jhang (張進德).

*Including 1 Japanese

The Pittsburgh City Council proclamations this year and last that honor the local Organization of Chinese Americans branch contains the line

WHEREAS, since the 1800s, the local Chinese community has been an asset to the City of Pittsburgh and its social, cultural, and economic development[.]

I"ve written before about Pittsburgh's former Chinatown, but wanted to look a little closer at historical Chinese populations in and around the city. According to the 1900 Census of the United States (pages 637, 638, and 569), there were 154 Chinese in Pittsburgh that year, 28 in Allegheny city, and a total of 270 in Allegheny county. The Chinese population of the county was 126 in 1890, and 25 ten years before that. The earliest date for which there are data is 1870 (page 59); 14 Chinese people lived in the entire state, but a footnote points out that the number includes 1 Japanese.

"MEPPI Japan Lecture Series – Japanese Architects at Play", February 27.

Tezuka Architects Presented by Raymund Ryan from Carnegie Museum of Art on Vimeo.

"Japanese Architects at Play" is the next installment of the MEPPI Japan Lecture Series, and will be held at the Carnegie Museum of Art on February 27. The event looks at two Japanese artists with works on display in the 2013 Carnegie International art exhibition running through March 16; from the Japan-American Society of Pennsylvania:

Come out to play with the Japan-America Society of Pennsylvania at the 2013 Carnegie International at the Carnegie Museum of Art! The Carnegie International is the preeminent exhibition of new international art in the United States. The 2013 Carnegie International presents new voices rooted in history, a sense of place, and play.

Curator of Architecture Raymund Ryan will guide guests around ‘The Playground Project,’ an exploration of the way we approach childhood, risk, public space, and education. Included are a new installation by Tezuka Architects, a road movie by Ei Arakawa and Henning Bohl, and mid-century designs by renowned Japanese American artist Isamu Noguchi.

Registration is required, and can be done online via the JASP website before February 20.

2014 Kennywood Asian Day, May 12.

Kennywood Pagoda, copyright Kurt Miller.

Advance notice for the 2014 Asian Day, which kicks off Kennywood's community days on May 12. Kennywood's Asian Day and the Silk Screen Asian American Film Festival comprise Pittsburgh's two big events annual for Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month in May.

"Buddhism for the Unenlightened" lecture at Pitt, February 18.

The Japan-America Society of Pennsylvania and the University of Pittsburgh Asian Studies Center will present the lecture "Buddhism for the Unenlightened" on February 18, the first of four lectures in the "Japan in the Broader Context of Asia" series. Dr. Clark Chilson, an Associate Professor of Religious Studies at Pitt, will speak on the 18th.

Join the JASP for “Japan in the Broader Context of Asia” lecture series at the University of Pittsburgh. This free program is presented courtesy of the National Consortium for Teaching About Asia at Pitt and the Toshiba International Foundation (TIFO). All presentations will be in 4217 WW Posvar Hall, University of Pittsburgh. Parking tags for free parking will be provided for Soldiers & Sailors Underground parking.

It runs from 6:00 to 7:00 pm, followed by a question-and-answer session and a reception until 8:00 pm.

Lecture "What Influences Income in the Fisheries of South Korea?" at Pitt, February 13.

The Asian Studies Center at the University of Pittsburgh will host PhD candidate student Seyeon Hwang and her lecture "What Influences Income in the Fisheries of South Korea?" on February 13 as part of the Asia Over Lunch lecture series. It takes place at 12:00 pm in room 4130 Posvar Hall (campus map) and is free. Upcoming lectures in the series this term are printed on the flyer above.

Pittsburgh City Council proclaims February 8 “Year of the Horse OCA New Year's Celebration 4712 Day”.

On January 21, Pittsburgh City Council proclaimed February 8 "Year of the Horse OCA New Year's Celebration 4712 Day”, coinciding with the local Organization of Chinese Americans' annual Lunar New Year's festival.

Japanese, Taiwanese movies at Hollywood Theater's Grrrindhahs 2, February 15 and 16.

The Hollywood Theater in Dormont's "Grrrindhahs 2: Pittsburgh's Exploitation Celebration" will feature three Asian movies next weekend: Taiwan's Master of the Flying Guillotine (獨臂拳王大破血滴子) and Japan's Lady Snowblood (修羅雪姫) and Doberman Cop (ドーベルマン刑事). Films shown at grindhouse theaters, says Wikipedia, "characteristically contain large amounts of sex, violence or bizarre subject matter" and the nine films on the 15th and 16th are classic examples. From the event's Facebook page:

From the folks who brought you 13 Hours of Horror and 13 Hours of Sci-Fi, comes a day-long program of drive-in, grindhouse, and exploitation films from the 60s and 70s! So why didn't we call this 13 Hours of Grindhouse? Because it's OVER 14 HOURS!!! Why GRRRINDHAHS? Because that's how rabid movie fans say "grindhouse" in Pittsburgh! Join us on Saturday, February 15, 2014 as we show you, once again, where Tarantino steals all his best ideas!

The movies begin on the 15th at 10:30 am and conclude the next day at 1:30 am. Tickets for individual films are $5, and an all-day pass for all nine is $15. The theater is located at 1449 Potomac Ave. (map) in Dormont and a block south of Potomac Station.

IUP's 2014 Foreign Film Festival begins February 9, includes one Chinese-Korean film.

Indiana University of Pennsylvania announced today its lineup for the 2014 Foreign Film Festival, which begins on February 9. A movie of relevance to this blog won't show until April 27, with Dooman River (두만강). From The Global Film Initiative:

Writer-director Zhang Lu’s fascinating window into a rarely seen corner of rural China revolves around 12-year-old Chang-ho, living with his grandfather and mute sister along the frozen river-border with North Korea. Although fraught with unemployment and other tensions, his community seems sympathetic toward the Korean refugees fleeing famine and misery; Chang-ho even bonds over soccer with one young border-crosser who comes scavenging food for a sibling. But he soon turns on his new friend as suspicions mount against the illegal immigrants and his sister reels from unexpected aggression, provoking a quandary over his loyalties in an exquisitely detailed story of compassion and strife across an uneasy geopolitical border.

IUP's festival website has not been updated yet with movie profiles and correct dates, but films will be shown in McVitty Auditorium, Sprowls Hall (campus map) and are free and open to the public.

Linsanity at CMU, February 22.

The 2014 Carnegie Mellon International Film Festival will show Linsanity, a documentary on Taiwanese-American basketball player Jeremy Lin, on February 22 as one of its "Sneak Previews". From a press release:

What do faith, ambition, and basketball have in common? For Jeremy Lin, NBA stardom didnot just happen overnight. Lin, an American basketball player of Taiwanese descent, managed to achieve great success without the aid of any athletic scholarships or drafts upon graduating from Harvard University. In this inspiring story of perseverance, Lin proves that a player of only 6 foot 3 can make it to the top. Now a crucial member of the Houston Rockets, Lin attributes his ability to overcome obstacles to loving family support and devout Christian beliefs. In Linsanity, we watch as Lin shoots hoops and stays positive before going onto achieve NBA fame--a true "slam dunk" of a film. This riveting event is co-sponsored by Carnegie Mellon University's Chinese Students & Scholars Association (CSSA) and the Taiwanese Students Association (TSA).

Come enjoy a special post-screening discussion with producer Allen Lu (perhaps he will reveal some secrets about what it was like to work behind the set with Jeremy Lin). Signed DVDs, posters, and t-shirts will be available for sale, and a reception with samples of delicious Chinese cuisine will be provided for the first 200 guests.

Linsanity will play at McConomy Auditorium (campus map) at 7:00 pm. Tickets are currently available online at the festival's website, and are $5 for CMU students and $8 for everyone else.

Eat at 피츠버그.

Sochi is timely, but it isn't the only foreign city to have Pittsburgh restaurants. South Korea has a pair in Gyeonggi province: a bar in Siheung (경기 시흥시 은행로144번길 21-1) and a pizza place (경기 안산시 상록구 초당2길 14) in Ansan. They appear here courtesy of Daum's Road View:





There is also a hamburger restaurant with locations in Seoul and Boryeong called 더피츠버거, which is how "The Pittsburgher" would be romanized but is written PizBurger, a portmanteau of two primary menu items.

LIke Father, Like Son (そして父になる) at Harris Theater, from February 21.

The 2013 Japanese film Like Father, Like Son (そして父になる) will be in Pittsburgh from February 21 through 27 at the Harris Theater downtown.

Prolific filmmaker Hirokazu Koreeda (Afterlife, Maborosi, Nobody Knows) continues to recall master director Ozu with his tender films of family life in modern Japan. Here, Ryota is a successful Tokyo architect who works long hours to provide for his wife, Midori and six-year-old son, Keita. But when a blood test reveals Keita and another baby were switched at birth, two very different families are forced to make a difficult decision, while Ryota confronts his own issues of responsibility and what it means to be a father. This story of personal redemption is both moving and playful.

The movie arrived in the US in January. It will be shown in Japanese with English subtitles, and showtimes will be announced later in the month are now posted on the Pittsburgh Filmmakers website. The Harris Theater is located downtown in the Cultural District (map).

Lao-language The Rocket at Harris Theater from February 7.

Australian Lao-language film The Rocket will play at the Harris Theater from February 7 through February 13. It was one of four films to open the 2013 Three Rivers Film Festival last fall.

In "The Rocket," a boy believed to bring bad luck leads his family and a couple of ragged misfits through Laos to find a new home. After a calamity-filled journey through a land scarred by war, he tries to prove he's not cursed by building a giant rocket and entering the most lucrative and dangerous competition of the year, the Rocket Festival.

In Lao with English subtitles, "The Rocket" is Australia's submission for consideration in the foreign language film category for the 86th Academy Awards.

The Harris Theater is located downtown in the Cultural District (map).

Every Day is a Holiday at Sewickley Academy, February 9.

As part of the Silk Screen Film Series, on February 9 Sewickley Academy will show the 2012 documentary Every Day is a Holiday, which summarizes itself thus:

Chinese-American filmmaker Theresa Loong creates an intimate portrait of her father, a man fifty years her senior. In this documentary, we explore the bonds of the father-daughter relationship and place themes of growing older, immigration and racism in the context of “living history.” Paul Loong talks of his experiences as a POW in Japan and his subsequent quest to become an American. We discover why, despite much suffering, “Every Day Is a Holiday.”

The film starts at 2 pm and is free, though online registration is required. Sewickley Academy (map) is a private K-12 school in the suburbs of Pittsburgh.

Tiger & Bunny: The Rising at Hollywood Theater, March 15 and 16.

Today the Hollywood Theater in Dormont (map) announced a screening of the upcoming Japanese animated film Tiger & Bunny: The Rising on March 15 and March 16. Tickets are $15 and are available online for both shows (15th and 16th) from 1:00 pm on January 31.

Chinaman's festal period.

The Mansfield Daily Shield out of Mansfield, PA, profiled the Lunar New Year in 1902. The language and the tone are about what one would expect, though the piece does tell us how many Chinese women lived in Pittsburgh at the time:

Ahead of the Lunar New Year on January 31, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette looks at "how to shop at Pittsburgh's Asian markets" and profiles several of the region's largest East Asian grocery stores.

Here in Pittsburgh, four markets are big draws for the city's Chinese, Korean, Japanese and Vietnamese communities. Lotus Food Co. at 1649 Penn Ave. is perhaps the most well-known. With its prime location in the heart of the Strip, and the allure of house-made tofu, Lotus attracts a diverse clientele. On a typical Saturday morning, customers stand shoulder to shoulder in checkout lines.

Wang Fat Hong, just up the block at 2227 Penn Ave., is another stalwart. Open since 1995, it caters to both restaurant and retail customers. Further down the Strip, shoppers are being courted by the newest Asian store, Many More Market, which is looking to appeal to students. And up on McKnight Road, three-year-old Oriental Market caters to suburban customers.

Japanese animated short film Possessions at Regent Square Theater, from January 31.

On January 31, the Regent Square Theater (map) will present the five pieces nominated for an Oscar in the Short Films (Animated) category for 2014, one of which is the Japanese short Possessions. Toonzone provides a summary:

[A] wanderer in Japan is caught in a storm and seeks shelter in a seemingly abandoned house. However, he soon finds that perhaps he should have taken his chances in the storm, as he is confronted with a succession of bizarre household objects come to life, threatening this intruder on their domain.

To some degree, “Posssessions” is a “how are we getting there?” story. The short exploits enough visual tricks and hints early on that we’re not that surprised when something leaps out at the unnamed traveler and goes, “Boo!” What is surprising is the form that these spooks take, and the traveler’s reaction to them. The burly traveler is coarse and unrefined, reminding me of Toshiro Mifune’s performance as Kikuchiyo in Seven Samurai, but he is also quite resourceful and surprisingly unflappable. Much of the fun of “Possessions” comes from waiting for the form of whatever strange household item is about to turn up; much of the rest comes from seeing how the traveler’s initial shock turns to adapting and enduring.

The program of five films begins on Friday, January 31, at 7:00 pm. Additional times for the first week available via the Pittsburgh Filmmakers website.

Documentaries on Vietnam, Cambodia in 2014 Asia Unreeled Film Series.

Winchester Thurston School recently announced its lineup for the 2014 Asia Unreeled Film Series, and this February's installment will feature documentaries on Vietnam and Cambodia. On February 8, As the Call, So the Echo:

Director Keir Moreano’s record of his father’s experience as a volunteer doctor in Vietnam in 2003 as a journey of a professional who has come to question the difference he makes in the lives of his patients in the U.S., and finds renewed passion in his calling spending several weeks conducting surgeries and training staff in a hard-pressed hospital in Hue.

And on February 23, A River Changes Course:

Winner of the World Cinema Grand Jury Prize Documentary at Sundance, A River Changes Course tells the story of three families living in contemporary Cambodia as they face hard choices forced by rapid development and struggle to maintain their traditional ways of life as the modern world closes in around them.

Both films are free and open to the public, and will play at Shadyside's Winchester Thurston School (map) at 2:00 pm.

Korean BBQ is not long for Pittsburgh.

Via Google Maps.

I often drove by the Korean-language 영빈관 sign on the door of Tokyo Japanese Steakhouse & Sushi Bar and only recently learned it closed. A 2006 Pittsburgh City-Paper review called it "a jewel box of authentic Korean and Japanese cuisine", and a July 2004 Post-Gazette review lists a few other places in the city that offered Korean barbeque:

Unfortunately, few joints offer Korean barbecue in Pittsburgh; Sushi Kim, Jimmy's Korean Grill at Jimmy Tsang's and Ginza are the noble few.

Three of the four, including Young Bin Kwan, are now closed, and the fourth has sushi in the name. Bad news for the local Redditor looking for all-you-can-eat Korean BBQ places last week.

Chinese New Year Celebration at Children's Museum of Pittsburgh, February 1.

Via Steel Dragon Kung Fu and Lion Dance.

The Children's Museum of Pittsburgh (map) will host a Chinese New Year Celebration from 1:00 to 4:00 pm on February 1.

Celebrate the Chinese year 4712, the year of the Horse, with Silk Screen Asian Arts and Culture Organization. Make art, enjoy live music, and join the Steel Dragon Lion Dance Team for a parade through the Museum for the finale!

Lecture "The Foundations of Korean Wave (Hallyu)" at Pitt, February 10.

The Asian Studies Center at the University of Pittsburgh and the Department of Music will host Dr. Keith Howard and his lecture "The Foundations of Korean Wave (Hallyu)" on February 10. An early summary:

The beginnings of Korean Wave are typically linked to the term 'hallyu', denoting South Korean cultural exports to China and Taiwan. The ability of South Korea's cultural producers to seize these export opportunities was facilitated by early 1990s changes in domestic consumption and production, which soon made South Korea's recorded music industry the second largest in Asia, despite the Asian financial crisis that followed. Today, the South Korean music industry has shifted from a fan-oriented service business to business servicing, and to a model in which music is made freely available to consumers – as 'Gangnam Style' demonstrated. However, theories explaining the Wave struggle to catch up with reality. Accounts of Korean Wave typically situate it within frames of post-colonialism, nationalism and neoliberalism, and there is an increasing divergence between foreign and local commentaries. My presentation looks back to K-pop in the early 1990s, and charts through two decades to Psy's 'Gangnam Style'.

The free lecture runs from 12:00 to 1:30 pm in room 4130 Posvar Hall (map). Dr. Howard is a professor in the University of London's Department of Music. He gave a similar presentation in October 2013 at the First World Congress on Hallyu, where he was the keynote speaker. His article "The Foundations Of Hallyu– K-Pop’s Coming Of Age" is available online.

Magnifico at Pitt, January 28.

The University of Pittsburgh Global Ties group and Filipino Student Association will present the Filipino film Magnifico on January 28. The Tribeca Film Festival summarizes:

In a poor village outside of Manila, nine-year-old Magnifico does his best to bring joy to his family despite difficult circumstances. His sister is handicapped, his brother just dropped out of college, his parents struggle to make ends meet, and his grandmother thinks the end is near. But Magnifico remains optimistic. He secretly prepares for his grandmother's death by tailoring a dress for her and building and painting a beautiful coffin. He takes his sister to a street festival, which pleases her so much that she actually speaks for the first time. Time and again, Magnifico's kindly actions help his loved ones rise above the squalid conditions in which they live -- until an unexpected tragedy changes everything.

The movie will start at 6:30 pm in room 501 of the William Pitt Union. Admission is free.

Akira Kurosawa's Ikiru (生きる) at Melwood Screening Room, January 29.

The 1952 Japanese film Ikiru (生きる) will play at Oakland's Melwood Screening Room on January 29 as part of the occasional Essential Film Series.

Ikiru presents [Akira Kurosawa] at his most compassionate -- affirming life through an exploration of a man's death. Takashi Shimura portrays an aging bureaucrat with stomach cancer forced to strip the veneer off his existence and find meaning in his final days. Told through a series of flashbacks, it looks at a life through a prism of perspectives.

The movie begins at 8:00 pm and tickets are $2. The theater is located at 477 Melwood Ave. (map).

Malaysian singer Yuna at Altar Bar, February 12.

Malaysian singer-songwriter Yuna will be performing in Pittsburgh on February 12, at the Strip District's Altar Bar. Says MTV:

The ease with which Yuna has transitioned to border-defying mainstream success shouldn't be surprising, considering the effortlessly universal appeal of her organic blend of contemporary pop, acoustic folk and soulful R&B. The artist's personally charged songs are deeply felt yet melodically irresistible, combining her engaging voice and expressive songcraft with imaginative production to create wholly distinctive music that's won her comparisons with the likes of Feist, Adele and Norah Jones.

The show starts at 8:00, and tickets are available online.

Lecture " Thailand as Transgender ‘Mecca’: Transnational Imaginaries of Gender Reassignment" at Pitt, January 23.

The University of Pittsburgh's Women's Studies Program and Asian Studies Center will host Aren Aizura of Arizona State University and his lecture "Thailand as Transgender 'Mecca': Transnational Imaginaries of Gender Reassignment" on January 23. To quote from the above flyer:

Thailand is often described as the global "Mecca" of gender reassignment surgery, which cater almost exclusively to trans women-transitioning from male to female, although one or two surgeons cater to trans men.

This talk looks at Thailand's gender reassignment surgery clinics as part of a transnational imaginary of gender reassignment. This transnational imaginary consists in communities and connections that form across national boundaries, and that circulate practices, ideas, fantasies, anecdotes and information about gender reassignment across the uneven spaces of global/local modernity. Drawing on ethnographic research in gender clinics in Thailand and with trans women and men who obtained gender reassignment surgery there, the talk considers how understandings of Orientalized Thai femininity structured non-Thai patients' experiences of care, community, and transition in the space of the clinic and in tourist encounters with Thailand. By questioning the economic, colonial, and racial relations of "transgender travel", this research contributes a critical voice to the emerging field of transnational transgender studies.

The lecture is at 4:00 pm in room 602 of the Cathedral of Learning.

Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day (あの日見た花の名前を僕達はまだ知らない) at Hollywood Theater in Dormont, January 18.

The Hollywood Theater in Dormont will have a one-time showing of Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day (あの日見た花の名前を僕達はまだ知らない on January 18.

Wong Kar Wai's The Grandmaster (一代宗師) at CMU, January 18.

Wong Kar Wai's latest film The Grandmaster (一代宗師) will play at Carnegie Mellon University next weekend as part of the Activities Board's Dollar Film Series. Showtimes are 8:00 and 10:30 pm on the 18th in McConomy Auditorium (campus map), and tickets are one dollar for those with a CMU student ID and $3 for those without.

Starring Tony Leung and Zhang Ziyi, the New York Times wrote in August:

a hypnotically beautiful dream from the Hong Kong filmmaker Wong Kar-wai, opens with curls of smoke, eddies of water and men soaring and flying across the frame as effortlessly as silk ribbons. The men are warriors, street fighters with furious fists and winged feet, who have massed together on a dark, rainy night to take on Ip Man (Tony Leung), a still figure in a long coat and an elegant white hat. Even amid the violent whirlpools of rain and bodies, that hat never leaves his head. It’s as unyielding as its owner.

Free candy for Kim Jong-un's birthday, January 8.

Conflict Kitchen will be handing out free candy tomorrow, January 8, for Kim Jong-un's birthday.

On Wednesday we will be handing out the same free candy that Kim Jong-Un is giving (in an insidious annual practice) to children throughout North Korea to celebrate his birthday.

Text as it appears on the candy insert:

세상에 부럼없어라
“NOTHING IN THE WORLD TO ENVY”

More at the Conflict Kitchen blog post. Conflict Kitchen is located in Oakland (map) and is "a restaurant that only serves cuisine from countries with which the United States is in conflict".

Evangelion: 3.0 You Can (Not) Redo (ヱヴァンゲリヲン新劇場版：Q) at Dormont's Hollywood Theater, January 10 and 11.

The Hollywood Theater in Dormont will show Evangelion: 3.0 You Can (Not) Redo (ヱヴァンゲリヲン新劇場版：Q) on January 10 and 11, and will be the only theater in the state with the movie on its North American premiere. Evangelion: 3.0 You Can (Not) Redo is the third installment of the Rebuild of Evangelion tetralogy, of which the eponymous EvaWiki has lengthy summaries. Tickets are $10 and are available now online for both English-subtitled and English-dubbed shows:

- January 10, 7 pm (subtitled)
- January 10, 9 pm (dubbed)
- January 11, 7 pm (dubbed)
- January 11, 9 pm (subtitled)

The theater is located at 1449 Potomac Ave. in Dormont (map), south of Pittsburgh. And if you'd like to take the subway to the theater, it's a little more than a block southeast of Potomac Station.

Pittsburgh Tibetan Center Constructs Mandala for Peace, beginning January 12.

The Pittsburgh Tibetan Center

will construct a sand mandala for peace from Jan.12 to the 17th at Spinning Plate Gallery at 5720 Friendship Ave. The Center’s resident Lama, Ven. Khenpo Choephel, and visiting Lama Konchak Sonam will be creating the mandala each day from nine to five. The opening ceremony is at noon on Jan. 12. The mandala is believed to plant a seed of positive, compassionate energy in the mind of viewers and bring blessings of peace and compassion to the entire world by depositing the sand into a body of moving water on the last day.

The Three Rivers Dharma Center website adds:

During the days it will take to complete the mandala, the gallery will be open to visitors from 9 am to 5 pm. Dharma Center members will be on hand to answer questions, and interpretive posters will be on display. There will also be a variety of events throughout the week, introducing viewers to this highly refined and meaningful art form and other aspects of Tibetan culture and spirituality.

Additional events are listed on the flyer above and on the Three Rivers Dharma Center site.

Japanese for Beginners at Carnegie Library - Squirrel Hill, from January 15.

The Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh Squirrel Hill branch (map) will offer a free Japanese for Beginners class on the first and third Wednesdays of the month, starting January 15. Classes begin at 5:30 pm, and the library is accessible via city buses 61A, 61B, 61C, 61D, 64, and 74. Registration is required, and can be done so online.

This offering has been added to the "Learn" page, along with several other free Japanese, Chinese, and Korean classes in Pittsburgh's Carnegie Library branches.

"MEPPI Japan Lecture Series – Ten Things I Like About Osaka", January 23.

The Japan-America Society of Pennsylvania is presenting this year's first installment of the MEPPI Japan Lecture Series, "Ten Things I Like About Osaka":

Dr. Charles Exley, Assistant Professor of Modern Japanese Literature and Film, will introduce Osaka City and the specific sub-culture found there. His talk will illustrate how Osaka’s geography, dialect, literary history, food, and manzai/humor make the culture unforgettable.

The talk will be held at the Residence Inn in Cranberry (map) from 5:30 to 7:00. Registration is required and can be done online, and those interested are requested to do so by January 16.