Tomoko Omura’s Post Bop Gypsies, August 14 at City of Asylum.

via @tomokoomura

The City of Asylum will host Tomoko Omura’s Post Bop Gypsies, a jazz trio out of New York City fronted by violinist Tomoko Omura, on August 14.

Tomoko Omura’s Post Bop Gypsies are a modern take on the classic, violin, guitar and bass instrumentation.

The New York City based trio also features Alex Goodman on guitar and George DeLancey on bass. The band is on the road celebrating their self titled 2017 debut release (Inner Circle Music 2017).

The show runs from 8:00 to 10:00 pm; it's free, but online RSVP is required. The City of Asylum's Alphabet City is located at 40 N. West Ave. on the North Side (map).

Princess Mononoke (もののけ姫) around Pittsburgh for Studio Ghibli Fest, July 22, 23, and 25.

The 1997 film Princess Mononoke (もののけ姫) will play at Pittsburgh-area Cinemark theaters on July 22, 23, and 25 as part of this year's Studio Ghibli Fest. A 1999 Roger Ebert four-star review summarizes:

Hayao Miyazaki is a great animator, and his "Princess Mononoke" is a great film. Do not allow conventional thoughts about animation to prevent you from seeing it. It tells an epic story set in medieval Japan, at the dawn of the Iron Age, when some men still lived in harmony with nature and others were trying to tame and defeat it. It is not a simplistic tale of good and evil, but the story of how humans, forest animals and nature gods all fight for their share of the new emerging order. It is one of the most visually inventive films I have ever seen.

The July 22 and 25 screenings will be dubbed in English, and the July 23 screening will have English subtitles. It will play at the Cinemark theaters in Monaca, Monroeville, Pittsburgh Mills, and Robinson. Tickets are available online.

"Storytime: Japanese and English" at Carnegie Library in East Liberty, July 17.

The next installment of the monthly program "Storytime: Japanese and English" will take place on July 17 at the Carnegie Library in East Liberty.

Celebrate our city’s diverse culture as we explore new words through songs, action rhymes and stories in both English and Japanese for children and their parents or caregivers. For children age birth – 5 and their caregivers.

It runs from 11:00 to 11:30 am. The library is located at 130 S. Whitfield St. (map).

Michael Kors at Tanger Outlets hiring Mandarin-speaking sales associate.

The Michael Kors store at Tanger Outlets, an outlet mall roughly 25 miles south of Pittsburgh, is hiring a Mandarin-speaking sales associate.

Hiossen Implant hiring bilingual Korean-English sales trainee.

Hiossen Implant, a subsidiary of a Korean dental implant company, has an opening for a bilingual Korean-English Branch Manager Sales Trainee. The job posting, via Indeed and a staffing agency:

2001's Cowboy Bebop: The Movie (カウボーイビバップ 天国の扉) at Southside Works, August 15 and 16.

Funimation Films announced today that Cowboy Bebop: The Movie (カウボーイビバップ 天国の扉) will play in Pittsburgh on August 15 and 16.

Caught up in a world of dreams, lost in the cruelty of reality.

What should have been an easy bounty turns into biological war after a terrorist gets ahold of a deadly virus. Drawn in by the pretty price on the mastermind’s head, Spike and the Bebop crew are ready to collect a much-needed reward. Unfortunately, the gang’s about to find themselves in more trouble than money when the terrorist threatens to unleash the virus on Halloween—effectively killing everyone on Mars. With little time and leads that seem more dreamy than helpful, they’ll have to use their own bag of tricks to stop a dangerous plot.

The August 15 show will be in Japanese with English subtitles, and the August 16 show will be dubbed in English. Tickets are not yet available for purchase at the time of this post. Southside Works Cinema is located at 425 Cinema Drive in the Southside, one block from the Hot Metal Bridge (map).

Seminal Japanese pop punk band Shonen Knife back in Pittsburgh, September 4.

The Japanese pop punk band Shonen Knife (少年ナイフ) will return to Pittsburgh on September 4 as part of their 2018 US tour, the band announced today. According to a press release:

Boasting a nearly 40 year career, these three luminaries of rock & roll have wielded fun and food-centered bops that earned them the love and respect of music goliaths like Nirvana andSonic Youth. They’ve made their way from their home of Osaka, Japan to the United States many times, but this year they’re putting their personal affection for each and every city on display. Following the release of their tenacious live DVD/CD ALIVE! In Osaka (Released onRobby Takac of THE GOO GOO DOLLS’ Good Charamel Records), Shonen Knife have prepared to deliver that same hometown energy from Buffalo on August 28th to Brooklyn on August 31st, Chicago on September 9th, Los Angeles on October 5th, and so much more. Each city will have its own personalized and limited edition artwork available at the show, because for Shonen Knife, home is where the fans are.

Shonen Knife frontwoman Naoko comments, “Our first live album Live in Osaka was released in 2006, and was recorded at the same venue as this new one. After the first live album, we toured, released music constantly, grew as a band and improved. This year we would like to bring the fever from ALIVE! in Osaka on our US tour. Not only will we play songs from the record, but we are also preparing special rarely played songs from earlier albums to the present. Let’s have a fun time together!”

Tickets for the show at Spirit Lounge are not yet available. The band played in Pittsburgh previously in 2016 and 2011.

SAP Ariba hiring for bilingual Mandarin-English Procurement Operations Specialist positions in Pittsburgh.

SAP Ariba, "the world’s business commerce network," is again hiring for bilingual Mandarin-English Procurement Operations Specialist positions in Pittsburgh. The job posting, via a staffing agency:

The Big Picture – Top Skills You Should Possess:

• Full Mandarin and English Bilingual must be able to write and speak both fluently
• Superior communication and telephone skills.

What You’ll Be Doing:

• Provides inbound application and functional support for all relevant Company applications, both internally and externally, by way of chat, web form and phone.
• Resolves 80% of issues without escalation.
• Respond to customer inquiries in a timely manner and within service level objectives.
• Help our customers maximize the benefits of solutions to facilitate a global exchange of goods and services in the world’s largest business to business trading community.

What You Need to Bring to the Table:

• Full Mandarin and English Bilingual must be able to write and speak both fluently
• Bachelor’s degree or 2-year Technical school degree preferred.
• Minimum of 1 year work experience preferred

2017 documentary Ryuichi Sakamoto: Coda at Southside Works, July 31.

The 2017 documentary on composer Ryuichi Sakamoto, Ryuichi Sakamoto: Coda, will play in Pittsburgh on July 31 at the Southside Works Cinema. A July 6 Variety review provides a summary:

Admirers of the highly respected Japanese musician (and occasional actor) will enjoy “Ryuichi Sakamoto: Coda,” a leisurely look at a multi-talent best known in the west for composing memorable original scores for directors from Bertolucci and Oshima to Inarritu and Miike. Stephen Nomura Schible shot this documentary over a five-year span, during which Sakamoto survived a serious cancer scare. That lends some drama to a tastefully elegiac portrait that otherwise demurs from any discussion of its protagonist’s personal life or background.

Tickets for the 7:30 pm show are now available online. The theater is located at 425 Cinema Drive in the Southside, one block from the Hot Metal Bridge (map).

Pittsburgh Korean School now enrolling for the fall semester.

The Pittsburgh Korean School (피츠버그 중앙한국학교) is now enrolling students ages 3 to 14 for the fall semester. The school meets every Saturday at the Korean Central Church of Pittsburgh in Shadyside from 12:30 to 3:30 pm from September 1 through December 1 (no class on November 24). The cost is $200 and payment is made by check to PKS. Volunteer instructors are being sought as well. Registration closes on August 26.