Japan Exchange & Teaching Program (JET) Information Session, October 23 at Pitt.

The University of Pittsburgh's Asian Studies Center and the Pittsburgh JET Alumni Association will host a Japan Exchange & Teaching Program Information Session on October 23.

Are you graduating soon? Thinking about the future? Come to the Japan Exchange & Teaching Program information session to find out if this program could be your next adventure! If you're at all interested in working abroad in Japan, this is a great opportunity for you! Positions are available as Assistant Language Teachers or as Coordinators for International Relations. Pittsburgh JET Alumni Association's President, Smitha Prasadh, will be leading the session and a panel of alumni will be available to answer questions.

The event starts at 5:00 pm in 4217 Posvar Hall (map).

Documentary Never-Ending Man: Hayao Miyazaki (終わらない人 宮崎駿) in Pittsburgh area, December 13 and 18.

Tickets went on sale today for the US premiere of the 2016 documentary, Never-Ending Man: Hayao Miyazaki, which will play locally at the Cinemark theater in Robinson on December 13 and 18. A summary from the distributor:

In 2013, Academy Award®-winning film director and animator Hayao Miyazaki suddenly announced his retirement at the age of 72. But he can’t shake his burning desire to create. After an encounter with young CGI animators, Miyazaki embarks on a new project to utilize CGI for the first time ever. But the artist, who has been adamant about hand-drawn animation, confronts many challenges that threaten to cancel the film. Can an old master who thinks he’s past his prime shine once again? This program goes behind the scenes over two years as Miyazaki overcomes struggles to create his short film Boro the Caterpillar using CGI.

The shows are in Japanese with English subtitles, and tickets are available online.

WholeRen's American Homestay Services (美国寄宿家庭服务中心) hiring bilingual Mandarin-English Biology instructional coordinator.

American Homestay Services (美国寄宿家庭服务中心), a branch of the Pittsburgh-based Chinese education consultancy company WholeRen Education, is hiring a bilingual instructional coordinator for Chinese students studying Biology in the US.

2019 Pittsburgh Humanities Festival to feature Crazy Rich Asians author Kevin Kwan, "Crazy Rich Asians and the Power of Representation."

via @kevinkwanbooks

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette writes today that the 2019 Pittsburgh Humanities Festival will feature Crazy Rich Asians author Kevin Kwan. The festival introduces "An Evening with Kevin Kwan: Crazy Rich Asians and the Power of Representation":

Kevin Kwan’s breakout debut novel, Crazy Rich Asians, has become something of a cultural phenomenon, topping bestseller lists worldwide, spawning two bestselling sequels and inspiring a #1 movie. Also the first romantic comedy from a major Hollywood studio to feature a lead actor and actress of Asian descent, the release of this film is now considered a watershed moment to many Asians and Asian-Americans.

In this interview, Kwan discusses the (unanticipated) cultural impact of his novels and describes how the climate in many industries, particularly entertainment, is already changing. Discussing the wide spectrum and multiple facets of Asians around the world, Kwan also explores the unimaginable wealth disparity rarely discussed.

Asian Film and Family Film Screenings and Discussion, October 21 at Pitt.

via Hankook Ilbo.

The University of Pittsburgh's Alumni Association will host "Asian Film and Family Film Screenings and Discussion" on October 21.

Plan to attend a captivating screening of three short films that poignantly and candidly depict modern Asian family life. The lens through which each of us sees “family” is unique to our own personal experiences and is strongly influenced by the cultures in which we live. This cross-cultural presentation will enlighten participants on the differences and similarities we share when it comes to the human concept of family. The subject matter of the films may not be appropriate for children.

After the screening, Meghan Hynson from the Department of Music will do a hands-on demonstration and talk on the Indonesian angklung, a small, portable bamboo rattle that is pitched to the Western scale and played by shaking.

The cost is $20 per person and will include an alumni and friends networking reception.

It runs from 1:00 to 3:00 pm in the Frick Fine Arts Cloisters (map). Registration and payment may be completed online.

All-you-can-eat sushi place opens in Robinson.

Sushi Bomb recently opened across from The Mall at Robinson, offering all-you-can-eat sushi. It replaces York Buffet and the short-lived Sushi Cho, both of which are part of a recent spree of Asian buffet closings that includes Dynasty in Cranberry, Old Town Buffet in the South Hills, and TJ Buffet in the North Hills.

New Pokemon movie The Power of Us (劇場版ポケットモンスター みんなの物語) around Pittsburgh in November.

The latest Pokemon movie The Power of Us (劇場版ポケットモンスター みんなの物語) will play in the Pittsburgh area from November 24. The distributor provides a summary:

A young athlete whose running days might be behind her, a compulsive liar, a shy researcher, a bitter old woman, and a little girl with a big secret—the only thing they have in common is the annual Wind Festival in Fula City.

The festival celebrates the Legendary Pokémon Lugia, who brings the wind that powers this seaside city. When a series of threats endangers not just the festival, but all the people and Pokémon of Fula City, it’ll take more than just Ash and Pikachu to save the day! Can everyone put aside their differences and work together—or will it all end in destruction?

The movie plays in English on November 24, 26, 28, and December 1 at Southside Works, AMC Loews Waterfront, and the Cinemark Theaters in Monroeville, Pittsburgh Mills, and Robinson. Tickets are available online.

Japanese Conversation Table, October 19 at Pitt.

"Osaka, Japan" by Pedro Szekely (Creative Commons)

Pitt's Department of East Asian Languages & Literatures will hold its next Japanese Conversation Table on Friday, October 19. It's a chance for native Japanese speakers and members of the Pitt community learning Japanese to meet and practice outside of the classroom. The sessions meet in 244A of the Cathedral of Learning (map) from 4:00 pm to 5:00 pm on October 19, November 2, and November 30.

"Comfort Women: The Legacy of Sexual Slavery in Asia," October 19 and 20 at Pitt.

Twenty Two, by Guo Ke, screens on October 19.

The Allegheny County Bar Association and the University of Pittsburgh's Asian Studies Center will present a "Comfort Women: The Legacy of Sexual Slavery in Asia" conference on October 19 and 20.

As a collaborative partnership between the Allegheny County Bar Association and the Asian Studies Center, the Comfort Women: The Legacy of Sexual Slavery in Asia conference will focus on the historical and legal aspects of sexual enslavement of women by the military in the years before and during World War II. Reaching beyond the actual historical events, the conference will explore the reasons for the long silence and how performance practices—protests, tribunals, theater, and memorial building projects are used to demand justice for those who suffered the state-sponsored acts of sexual violence both in Asia and here in America. The conference provides the framework for understanding how actions designed to bring about redress can shift from the legal aspects to its cultural and social possibilities.

2018 movie Love, Chunibyo & Other Delusions The Movie: Take O (映画 中二病でも恋がしたい！ -Take On Me) in Pittsburgh, November 4.

The 2018 Japanese animated movie Love, Chunibyo & Other Delusions The Movie: Take O (映画 中二病でも恋がしたい！ -Take On Me) will play in Pittsburgh on November 4.