Homestay hosts needed for visiting Yasuda Women's University students, May 9 - September 13.

Via Yasuda Women's University.

Two groups are recruiting homestay hosts for visiting Yasuda Women's University students who will be here from May to September studying at Pitt's English Language Institute.

GLOBAL PITTSBURGH

GlobalPittsburgh is actively recruiting host families to welcome female Japanese students ages 19-21 participating in the University of Pittsburgh English Language Institute's intensive English program from May 9 - Sept. 13, 2022.

Host families would need to be located on a bus line, preferably, direct to Oakland, and be willing to include the student(s) in their family meals. Families can host one or more students if they are provided with separate bedrooms. Compensation for hosting is $780/month per student.

If you are interested in hosting one or more students or if you have any questions, please reach out to Nadya Kessler at 412-282-3815 or nkessler@globalpittsburgh.org.

Please help us spread the word about hosting among your friends, family, and networks by sharing my contact information and/or forwarding this message.

OvECS Ltd.

Interested in opening your home to Japanese exchange students attending Pitt? Host families have been enjoying AMAZING experiences year after year. Another group arrives in May and another in September and more host families are needed. You will be financially compensated AND you will likely make a new friend for life! Contact Elana at 724-630-8176 or pahomestay@hotmail.com to learn more about this rewarding experience.

2021 Japanese animated film Pompo: The Cinéphile (映画大好きポンポさん) remains in Pittsburgh through (at least) May 4.

The 2021 Japanese animated film Pompo: The Cinéphile (映画大好きポンポさん), which opened in Pittsburgh on April 27, will remain here through (at least) May 4. A synopsis, from the distributor:

Pompo is a talented and gutsy producer in “Nyallywood,” the movie-making capital of the world. Although she’s known for B-movies, one day Pompo tells her movie-loving but apprehensive assistant Gene that he will direct her next script: a delicate drama about a tormented artistic genius, starring the legendary and Brando-esque actor Martin Braddock, and a young actress seeking her first break. But when the production heads towards chaos, can Gene rise to Pompo’s challenge, and succeed as a first-time director?

Directed by veteran animator Takayuki Hirao and produced by brand-new animation studio CLAP, Pompo the Cinephile is a rollicking, exuberant ode to the power of the movies, and the joys and heartbreak of the creative process, as a new director and his team devote their lives to the pursuit of a “masterpiece.”

After the initial screenings on the 27th and 28th, it will play through (at least) May 4 at AMC Loews Waterfront, and tickets are available online.

Director's cut of 2000 Japanese film Battle Royale (バトル・ロワイアル) at Row House Cinema, from May 20.

The director's cut of the 2000 Japanese film Battle Royale (バトル・ロワイアル) will play at the Row House Cinema from May 20, part of its Y2K film series. A summary from Row House's 2019 Pittsburgh Japanese Film Festival:

In the future, the Japanese government captures a class of ninth-grade students and forces them to kill each other under the revolutionary “Battle Royale” act.

Battle Royale became a cultural phenomenon, and has been highly influential in global popular culture. Since the film’s release, the term “battle royale” has been used to refer to a fictional narrative genre and/or mode of entertainment inspired by the film, where a select group of people are instructed to kill each off until there is a triumphant survivor. It has inspired numerous media, including films, manga, anime, comics, visual novels, and video games; the battle royale game genre (including Fortnight), for example, is named after the film.

It plays from the 20th through 25th, and tickets are available online. The single-screen theater is located at 4115 Butler Street in Lawrenceville (map).

"Japanese-English Social Hour," May 24 at Pitt.

"Tokyo," by Marc Veraart.

The University of Pittsburgh's Asian Studies Center will host a "Japanese-English Social Hour" on May 24.

Japanese-English language social hour with students studying foreign language (English or Japanese)

The in-person event starts at 4:00 pm at the Global Hub on the first floor of Posvar Hall, and is open to the Pitt community.

"We Learn: Intermediate Korean Learning Circle" at Carnegie Library in Oakland (and online), every Saturday from May 7.

via the Republic of Korea's Flickr page.

The Carnegie Library Main Branch in Oakland will host "We Learn: Intermediate Korean Learning Circle" every Saturday in May.

In this intermediate-level class, we will cover the textbook published by the Korean government for foreigners who learn Korean as a secondary language. We will cover basic Korean grammar and vocabulary, and practice how to speak and write using what we’ve covered in each lecture.

The hybrid event runs from 11:00 am to 12:00 pm. Registration is required. This is in addition to the "We Learn: Beginner Korean Learning Circle" to be held every other Saturday at the same library from 12:00 to 1:00 pm.

Kimjang Workshop with Sunni Park (manduhandu), May 15 at Carnegie Museum of Art.

via @manduhandu

JADED will present a Kimjang Workshop with Sunni Park (@manduhandu) on May 15. This workshop on preparing kimchi will be held at the Carnegie Musem of Art in Oakland (map) from 1:00 to 3:00 pm, and registration is required.

Launching Spring 2022, JADED is a public programming series celebrating the art and culture of the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community. Organized by a collective of AAPI artists and organizers, also named JADED, the programming series builds interethnic coalitions to create more safe spaces of kinship and addresses racial trauma while celebrating cultural heritage. Programming and intimate events aim to reanimate local histories, preserve cherished family recipes and practices, and nurture intergenerational dialogue.

2021 animated Japanese film Jujutsu Kaisen 0 (劇場版 呪術廻戦 0) to remain in Pittsburgh through (at least) May 4.

The 2021 animated Japanese film Jujutsu Kaisen 0 (劇場版 呪術廻戦 0), which opened in Pittsburgh on March 17, will remain here through at least May 4. From the distributor:

When they were children, Rika Orimoto was killed in a traffic accident right before the eyes of her close friend, Yuta Okkotsu. "It's a promise. When we both grow up, we'll get married." Rika became an apparition, and Yuta longed for his own death after suffering under her curse, but the greatest Jujutsu sorcerer, Satoru Gojo, welcomed him into Jujutsu High. There Yuta meets his classmates, Maki Zen'in, Toge Inumaki, and Panda, and finally finds his own determination. "I want the confidence to say it's okay that I'm alive! While I'm at Jujutsu High, I'll break Rika-chan's curse." Meanwhile, the vile curse user, Suguru Geto, who was expelled from the school for massacring ordinary people, appears before Yuta and the others. "This coming December 24th, we shall carry out the Night Parade of a Hundred Demons." While Geto advocates for creating a paradise for only jujutsu sorcerers, he unleashes a thousand curses upon Shinjuku and Kyoto to exterminate all non-sorcerers. Will Yuta be able to stop Geto in the end? And what will happen when breaking Rika's curse...?

It will play at the AMC Loews Waterfront and tickets are available online. Please note, some shows are dubbed in English while others are in Japanese with English subtitles.

1995 film Ghost in the Shell (攻殻機動隊) at Row House Cinema, from April 29.

The 1995 film Ghost in the Shell (攻殻機動隊) will play at Row House Cinema from April 29, part of its Artificial Intelligence series. A 2014 Telegraph review provides a summary:

Oshii’s film, which was adapted from a manga series by Masamune Shirow, saw everything coming. In its near-future world, countries are like corporations under siege, whose protective walls are slowly being washed away by an ocean of communal data. Hackers are treated like terrorists, while programmers’ movements are restricted as part of a global arms embargo.

Helping to keep the uneasy peace is Section 9, a team of government agents who include Motoko Kusanagi: a cyborg who can plug herself into the data-sea via four jack ports in the nape of her neck.

. . .

We follow Kusanagi on her hunt for The Puppet Master, a hacker who can access the ‘ghosts’, or souls, of ordinary citizens and carry out cyber-crimes by proxy. Now entirely synthetic, her original human body replaced and improved on piece by piece, Kusanagi is unsure whether her ghost still lingers in her man-made form[.]

It will play in Japanese with English subtitles. Tickets are available online. The single-screen theater is located at 4115 Butler Street in Lawrenceville (map).

Environmental Charter School hiring high school Mandarin teacher.

The Environmental Charter School in East Liberty is hiring a high school Mandarin Chinese teacher for the 2022-2023 academic year.

The High School Mandarin Teacher has strong teaching abilities, an understanding of pedagogy and instructional practices, fluency in Mandarin, and a strong interest in environmental studies. The Mandarin Teacher works collaboratively within a team of educators in a High School setting. The teacher works closely with his/her specialist team and provides an introduction to Mandarin in an age-appropriate and developmentally-responsive manner. This role requires experience in language instruction for high school age students. Candidates should be energetic and progressive minded, with a willingness to work collaboratively with grade level and specialist teams.

Chinese Cemetery & Squirrel Hill Photo Tour with Leo Hsu & Lena Chen, May 21.

From Journey of the Hungry Ghost by Lena Chen.

Leo Hsu and Lena Chen will offer a Chinese Cemetery and Squirrel Hill Photo Tour on May 21, part of this spring's JADED public programming. This event is free and open to the public. It runs from 11:00 to 12:30, and those interested in joining should meet at the parklet at Murray and Darlington Aves. in Squirrel Hill (map).