1966 yakuza film Tokyo Drifter (東京流れ者) at Row House Cinema from April 29.

The Row House Cinema will show the 1966 yazkuza film Tokyo Drifter (東京流れ者) from April 29 to May 5 as part of its Spirit of '66 series. A 2012 A.V. Club review offers a summary:

Blank-faced Tetsuya Watari stars as the titular wanderer, a gifted yakuza enforcer trying to stay true to his own idea of honor. The film traffics in a lot of familiar crime movie archetypes: the pretty girl kept on the sidelines; the father-son relationship between Watari and Ryuji Kita, his trying-to-go-straight boss; and all the complicated lines of loyalty and betrayal that come into play when a rival gang tries to muscle in on Kita’s turf. The story is engaging enough, and Watari makes for an appropriately implacable (but still soulful) lead, but what sets the film apart from countless others telling a similar tale are the lengths [director] Suzuki goes to in order to make each scene a feast for the eyes. Violent reds, purples, greens, and blues paint the screen, and the editing forgoes traditional cinematic logic in favor of impressionistic cuts and a jagged, jazzy rhythm. Through it all, Suzuki walks a knife-edge of ironic sincerity, poking at yakuza clichés in an attempt to reveal some larger, wordless truth.

Showtimes and ticket information are currently online. The single-screen theater is located at 4115 Butler Street (map).

Signage up for Tan Izakaya in Shadyside.

Signage is up for Tan Izakaya at 815 S. Aiken Ave. (map) in Shadyside, the former location of the S. Aiken Bar and Grille.

First Bruster's in Seoul to open May 2.

Seoul will have its first Bruster's Ice Cream on May 2, when it opens at 9:30 am on the 7th floor of the Lotte Department Store in Gwanak-gu. The country's first Bruster's opened on March 31 in Cheonan, a city some 80 kilometers south of Seoul. Bruster's is a chain based in Beaver County, just northwest of Pittsburgh.

Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack (ゴジラ・モスラ・キングギドラ 大怪獣総攻撃) at Row House Cinema, April 22 - 28.

Row House Cinema will show the 2001 movie Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack (ゴジラ・モスラ・キングギドラ 大怪獣総攻撃) from April 22 through 28 as part of its Massive Movie Monsters film series. A 2003 Boston Globe review writes:

As a movie, "Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack" is as absurd as its title, and by those standards it's a hilarious success. Phony and retrograde to the max - the shaky ground has rarely seemed more fake, and the run-for-your-lives hysterics of the soon-to-be-trampled never fail to exhilarate - "All Out Attack" picks up where any old 1960s sequel might.

Tickets information and showtimes are now available online. The single-screen theater is located at 4115 Butler Street in Lawrenceville(map).

Peelander-Z documentary Mad Tiger at Hollywood Theater, from May 6.

A 2015 documentary about Japanese punk group Peelander-Z will play at the Hollywood Theater in Dormont from May 6.

"Sounds from the East: Composers in Japanese Musical Modernity" at Pitt, April 20.

The University of Pittsburgh's Asian Studies Center will host Dr. Bonnie Wade of UC Berkeley and her talk "Sounds from the East: Composers in Japanese Musical Modernity" on April 20. An Asian Studies Center newsletter provides a synopsis:

Who "the creator of new music" is in Japanese culture changed from the pre-modern performer-composer of traditional musical contexts when the mid-19th century government of the emerging nation-state decided to absorb and normalize music from Europe and America as a technology in a massive modernization process. In this talk, Dr. Bonnie Wade will elucidate how the separation of the functions of performing and composing in the creation of new music was a response to the emergent conditions of Japanese musical modernity and situate composers as creative individuals who by exercising considerable artistic flexibility in their creative production remain "close to the people" while also participating in the shared
international cultural space of Western music.

Wade is the author of a 2013 book Composing Japanese Musical Modernity. The talk begins at 4:00 pm in 4217 Posvar Hall (map) and is free and open to the public.

1989 China/Avant-Garde Exhibition at Pitt through October 31.

Wang Youshen, Newspaper-Advertising, 1993

Hillman Library at the University of Pittsburgh will is hosting an 1989 China/Avant-Garde Exhibition – from Gao Minglu Archive through October 31.

Dr. Minglu Gao is a research professor in the Department of the History of Art and Architecture (HAA) at Pitt, and a leading scholar of Chinese contemporary art. Over three decades Dr. Gao has been building a collection of Chinese contemporary art unique in the world today. These unique primary materials include manuscripts, posters, paintings, and exhibit catalogs, as well as slides, videos, recordings, etc.

Since 2014, the University Library System has been working the HAA department, Asian Studies Center, and University Center for International Studies to create a digital archive of Dr. Gao's collection. This exhibit will showcase many of the items in Dr. Gao's collection, and present an unparalleled look into the world of Chinese contemporary art.

The Spring 2006 issue of Pitt Magazine has one of many lengthy profiles on Gao. Hillman Library is located at 3960 Forbes Ave. (map) in Oakland.

Ramen, robata restaurant coming to downtown Pittsburgh.

The Pittsburgh Business Times writes about restauranteur Teejay Li and his plans to bring Yuzu Kitchen to 409 Wood Street downtown:

[Yuzu Kitchen is] a restaurant focused on a menu of ramen dishes and robata grill items.

It’s a mix expected to also include tapas-style appetizers and a full bar that Li is optimistic will offer a cuisine available nowhere else in central business district.

“I do believe there’s a big need for this kind of restaurant downtown,” said Li. “There’s no competition for my concept."

Against a popular perception of it consisting of cheap instant noodles often eaten by college students, Ramen noodle dishes have become a hot food trend elsewhere based on ingredients focused on a rich broth base and a range of toppings that include pork belly, poached eggs, scallions and a host of others.

. . .

Li added he expects the robata grill component, a traditional cooking method in which meats are served on skewers, to have strong appeal with downtown residents living in high-rise buildings that don’t have the opportunity to grill. With the restaurant’s central location, he also sees potential for Yuzu Kitchen to be a destination draw for the city’s growing Asian population who can access downtown on public transportation for a cuisine hard to find elsewhere.

He is shooting to get his full approvals and renovate the property for use as a two-level restaurant and open in September. If all goes as planned, he hopes to expand it elsewhere as well.

Japanese rock group ONE OK ROCK at Mr. Smalls, April 16.

The Japanese rock group ONE OK ROCK will play at Mr. Smalls on April 16 as part of the Monster Energy Outbreak Tour.

"Imperial-Time-Order: The 'People' and the 'Empire' in Historical Plays in Mao's China", April 15 at Pitt.

The University of Pittsburgh's Asian Studies Center will hold another "Talking About Asia" event on April 15, with Kun Qian and her "Imperial-Time-Order: The 'People' and the 'Empire' in Historical Plays in Mao's China" talk.