Psycho-Pass: The Movie (劇場版 PSYCHO-PASS サイコパス) at Hollywood Theater, March 15 and 16.

The 2015 Japanese animated movie Psycho-Pass: The Movie (劇場版 PSYCHO-PASS サイコパス) will play at the Hollywood Theater in Dormont on March 15 and 16. The theater provides a summary:

One of the most popular sci-fi anime series in the past five years is making its way to the big screen. Possessing an animation and production budget only possible with a feature film, Psycho-Pass: The Movie will blow away movie-goers with its explosive action sequences and thought-provoking storytelling. This film is a must-see for fans of the TV series and fans of sci-fi action films like Akira, Blade Runner, and Minority Report.

In this culmination of the two-season Psycho-Pass TV series, Inspector Tsunemori is sent to a neighboring war-torn nation, where the Sibyl System is being introduced as an experiment, to find Shinya Kogami, her former enforcer who went rogue three years ago.

The movie will play at the Hollywood Theater both nights at 7:30 pm, and tickets are available online. Southside Works Cinema will also be one of the 100+ theaters showing the film during its North American premiere on the 15th and 16th, though ticket information has not yet been announced.

“Who is Not Afraid of Contaminated Pleasure?: Anna May Wong’s Thrilling Tear” at Pitt, March 1.

The University of Pittsburgh Film Studies Department is hosting a talk by Dr. Yiman Wang of the University of California Santa Cruz titled "Who is Not Afraid of Contaminated Pleasure? Anna May Wong’s Thrilling Tear". Not much information exists about the talk, other than it starts at 6:00 pm in 407 Cathedral of Learning (map). Wang has written a good deal about Anna Mae Wong, a pioneering Chinese-American actress who rose to prominence in the 1920s.

Japanese psychedelic-rock group Acid Mothers Temple in Pittsburgh, March 31.

The Japanese psychedelic-rock group Acid Mothers Temple will play at Club Cafe on March 31.

Cheongju delegation visits Pittsburgh to learn winter weather response.

We had a great meeting with delegates from Cheongju, S. Korea comparing notes on snow removal. @CityPGH @billpeduto pic.twitter.com/3ZzfpHjCoy

— PGH Public Works (@PGHDPW) February 26, 2016

Following a visit to Paterson, NJ on the 24th, The Record writes that Pittsburgh was an upcoming destination for a group of visiting Cheongju public servants. Cheongju is a South Korean city of about 843,000, located at roughly the same longitude as Virginia Beach.

"As the winter weather response and safety issue has become direr to the needs of our residents," Po Young Yi, the natural-disaster director for [Cheongju], wrote the county in a Jan. 29 letter requesting a visit [to Patterson], "we have formed a delegation to send to the USA to learn the best practices of winter weather response."

. . .

For the rest of their trip, they planned to visit public works departments in Montgomery County, Md., and Pittsburgh.

The delegation met with the Pittsburgh Department of Public Works on Friday the 26th.

The Propaganda Game, Coffin in the Mountain (心迷宫) at CMU International Film Festival in March.

The CMU International Film Festival recently announced the schedule for its 2016 iteration, with two movies of special interest to this site: 2014's The Propaganda Game and the 2015 Chinese film Coffin in the Mountain (心迷宫).

"The Voice of a New China: Democratic Behavior in Chinese Reality Shows Super Girl and Happy Girls" at Pitt, February 26.

The University of Pittsburgh's Department of East Asian Languages & Literatures will host MA in East Asian Studies candidate Wan Chun Huang and her colloquium "The Voice of a New China: Democratic Behavior in Chinese Reality Shows Super Girl and Happy Girls" on Friday, February 26.

1978 movie Shaolin Challenges Ninja (中華丈夫) at Hollywood Theater, February 27.

The movie Shaolin Challenges Ninja (中華丈夫) will play at the Hollywood Theater in Dormont on February 27.

"Strange Beauty: Radiography from Fukushima" at University Art Gallery, March 15 - 18.

The University of Pittsburgh's University Art Gallery will host photographer Takashi Morizumi and his exhibit "Strange Beauty: Radiography from Fukushima" from March 15 through 18.

East Asian Library Update at Pitt, February 24.

The University of Pittsburgh's East Asian Library will host an information session on its new resources on Wednesday, February 24, in 4130 Posvar Hall (map).

2016 movie Kizumonogatari Part 1: Tekketsu (傷物語Ⅰ 鉄血篇) at Hollywood Theater, from February 27.

The Hollywood Theater in Dormont will show the 2016 Japanese animated movie Kizumonogatari Part 1: Tekketsu (傷物語Ⅰ 鉄血篇) from February 27.

Mayor Peduto hosts delegation from Sister City Da Nang.

Today Mayor @billpeduto hosted Vice Chairman Phung Tang Viet & guest from Pittsburgh's Sister City Da Nang Vietnam. pic.twitter.com/kq0rR4VeaX

— The Next Pittsburgh (@TheNextPGH) February 19, 2016

Pittsburgh mayor Bill Peduto hosted a delegation from Sister City Da Nang today. The Sister City relationship was established in 2008.

Artist Talk: Zhong Biao, February 22 at Pitt.

Chinese artist Zhong Biao will give a talk at the Frick Fine Arts Center on Monday, February 22. From the University of Pittsburgh Asian Studies Center:

In his earlier paintings from the 1990s and 21st century, Zhong intimately portrayed Chinese urban residents from acute angles or distanced perspectives, often collaging them with religious, traditional, historical, and commercial imagery. Later works tend more toward abstraction, incorporating fantastic and celestial elements. In so doing, he has imaginatively and insightfully captured the lived experience of Chinese urbanization and globalization, with a particular emphasis on the ways urban space and global time influence individual states of being and local contexts.

The talk runs from 6:00 to 7:30 pm in 204 Frick Fine Arts Building in Oakland (map), and is free and open to the public.

Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language Workshops to continue at Pitt this semester, from February 26.

The University of Pittsburgh's School of Education will host more Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language [CFL] Workshops this semester, with the first scheduled for February 26.

The workshop on CFL Assessment will be held from 2:00 to 4:00 pm in 5401 Posvar Hall (map).

Year of the Monkey Lunar New Year Parade, February 21.

Pittsburgh's first Lunar New Year Parade through Squirrel Hill on Sunday, February 21.

Colloquium "Transcreation: Intersections of Culture and Commerce in Japanese Translation and Localization" at Pitt, February 19.

The University of Pittsburgh's Department of East Asian Languages & Literatures will host M.A. candidate Dylan Reilly and his colloquium "Transcreation: Intersections of Culture and Commerce in Japanese Translation and Localization" on Friday, February 19. The abstract:

New Stephen Chow movie The Mermaid (美人鱼) in Pittsburgh from February 19.

The 2016 movie The Mermaid (美人鱼) will play at the AMC Loews Waterfront from February 19. The South China Morning Post provides a summary in a review of the Stephen Chow directed movie:

Mermaid is a solid dramedy with heart and, more importantly, a message. This Chinese production tells the story of Liu Xuan (Deng Chao) a young business mogul attempting to clear a recently acquired bay of its marine life for property development. Unbeknownst to him (and the rest of the world), the waters are home to a clan of mythical half-human, half-fish creatures, who send one of their own to kill Liu. Posing as a human, the mermaid (newcomer Jelly Lin Yun) ends up falling in love with Liu.

With real documentary footage of water pollution, dying sea life and the destruction of natural resources spliced into the film’s opening montage, it’s clear from the start what Chow is trying to say. Credit to the 53-year-old star, then, for crafting a morality play that features the CGI-heavy visual effects that Chinese audiences love so much. There are laughs too, so it’s hit and miss: an early scene, of the mermaid clan’s failed attempt to take Liu’s life despite deploying a vast armoury of weapons, successfully evokes the manic shenanigans of older Chow films; other gags, like an overweight male actor dressing up as a mermaid, fall flat. Stephen Chow-style mo lei tau gags only work when Chow is involved.

The movie was released in China on February 8, 2016, and recorded the largest opening day ever for a Chinese movie in China.

The movie will play in Mandarin with English subtitles, and will have both 2D and 3D showings. Tickets and showtimes are available at the AMC Loews Waterfront website. The theater is located at 300 West Waterfront Dr. in the Waterfront shopping complex in Homestead (map), across the Monongahela River from Greenfield, Squirrel Hill, and the rest of Pittsburgh.

Gabriella Lukacs lecture "Career Porn: Blogging and the Good Life" at Pitt, February 18.

University of Pittsburgh Associate Professor of Anthropology Gabriella Lukacs will give a lecture "Career Porn: Blogging and the Good Life" at Pitt on Friday, February 18. "The talk", says the university's Gender, Sexuality, & Women's Studies Program hosting the event, "is taken from Prof. Lukacs's book manuscript titled: 'Diva Entrepreneurs: Gender and Labor in the Digital Economy.'"

Throat Singing Workshop with Ensemble Alash at Pitt, February 22.

via Alash Ensemble official website.

The University of Pittsburgh's Department of Music and the Center for Russian and Eastern European Studies will host a throat singing workshop with Ensemble Alash, from the Republic of Tuva, on Monday, February 22.

Take part in a throat-singing workshop taught by throat-singers from the Republic of Tuva.
Contact Robbie Beahrs for more info: robeahrs@pitt.edu

The event runs from 2:15 to 4:15 in 132 Music Building (map), and is free and open to the public. More information about Alash Ensemble is available on their website.

"Talking About Asia: Chinese Migration in Cuba, Mexico, and Peru: From 19th Century Coolie Labor to 20th Century Nationalist Sinophobia" at Pitt, February 19.

The University of Pittsburgh's Asian Studies Center will host Elliott Young---a professor of history at Lewis & Clark College and his talk "Talking About Asia: Chinese Migration in Cuba, Mexico, and Peru: From 19th Century Coolie Labor to 20th Century Nationalist Sinophobia" on February 19.

Many people are looking to travel to Cuba now that it has opened relations with the US, but did you know Chinese migrants have already been there since the 19th century? Come learn about the effects that Chinese migration has had on views of the Chinese in the western hemisphere for centuries.

The talk will begin at 3:00 pm in 4130 Posvar Hall (map), and is free and open to the public.

Lunar New Year Teen Time at Carnegie Library in Squirrel Hill, February 16.

Via Uncover Squirrel Hill.

The next installment of the Squirrel Hill Carnegie Library's bi-weekly Teen Time is focused on the Lunar New Year, as part of Squirrel Hill's first Lunar New Year Celebration.

If you're into cool art projects, epic games, music, movies and just chilling out, come kick it at Teen Time! For teens in grades 6-12.

The event runs from 3:00 to 5:00 pm, and is free and open to the public. The library is located at 5801 Forbes Ave. (map) and is accessible by buses 61A, 61B, 61C, 61D, 64, and 74.

New executive chef at Shadyside's Soba "obsessed with Jiro ramen right now".

Pittsburgh Magazine takes a quick look at Lily Tran, the new executive chef at Soba. Tran, 30, says she will bring some changes to the menu.

Don’t expect by-the-books throwback cuisine at Soba, though. Tran says she’s interested in blending her heritage with contemporary foodways. Hawker markets, street food, robata grills are all on her mind, as is big Burrito’s deep relationship with area farms such as One Woman Farm and Who Cooks For You? Farm.

Tran says she’s still working on how she plans on changing the Soba menu, but did offer a clue as to what she’s thinking: “I’m obsessed with Jiro ramen right now. I want something towering with really rich broth and slurpy noodles and cabbage, with bean sprouts piled high,” she says.

Ramen Tokyo has a write-up on Ramen Jiro; an excerpt:

Ramen Jiro is certainly not for those who are health conscious, and those of weaker constitutions can feel a bit queasy after eating there for the first time, especially if they force themselves to finish the whole bowl. The general recommendation that I have heard from Ramen Jiro customers is that on the day you go to Ramen Jiro, you should eat a pear ("nashi" or 梨 in Japanese) for breakfast or lunch that day, and nothing else.

2016 movie The Monkey King 2 (西遊記之孫悟空三打白骨精) continues at AMC Loews Waterfront through February 17.

The Monkey King 2 (西遊記之孫悟空三打白骨精), a 2016 release from Hong Kong will continue to play at the AMC Loews Waterfront through, at least, February 17.

"Zhang Ailing and Eileen Chang: Towards a Biography in Two Parts" at Pitt, February 12.

The University of Pittsburgh's Department of East Asian Languages & Literatures will host Chatham University's Karen S. Kingsbury and her colloquium "Zhang Ailing and Eileen Chang: Towards a Biography in Two Parts" on February 12.

1937 Chinese opera film Murder in the Oratory (斬經堂) at The Warhol from February 13.

To coincide with the exhibition Michael Chow aka Zhou Yinghua: Voice for My Father by the eponymous artist, The Andy Warhol Museum will show the 1937 Chinese film Murder in the Oratory (斬經堂) starring Chow's father, daily from February 13. From the museum's website:

Featuring Zhou Xinfang, Michael Chow's father, the film depicts a dramatic tale of deceit, murder, and family quarrels. Fei Mu merges the operatic and the filmic, crossing the stylized flair and song of Beijing opera with expressive camera angles.

The movie will play each day at 2:00 pm through May 8. The Warhol is located at 117 Sandusky St. on the Northside (map). It's open every day but Monday, and adult admission is $20.

BusinessWorld profiles Japanese chef, inventor, former Pittsburgher Machiko Chiba.

The Philippines' BusinessWorld has a profile on Japanese chef and inventor Machiko Chiba, who recently demonstrated her Cook-Zen microwavable cooking pot in Quezon City. Chiba lived in Pittsburgh in the late 1980s where she "discovered microwave cooking", according to her daughter.

"Pittsburgh Series" in Women's Joongang magazine.

The February issue of 여성中央 (Women's Joongang) has a brief profile on designer Ha Ji-hoon and his "Pittsburgh series" of chairs, as part of a profile on Korean designers who have made an impression overseas. The "피츠버그 시리즈" of furniture was designed for consultants Arumjigi and the Korean Heritage Classroom, which opened in the University of Pittsburgh's Cathedral of Learning on November 15, 2015. More photos of the chairs, and the teacher's desk to accompany them, are available at Ha's official site.

"The Council of the City of Pittsburgh does hereby declare February 6 to 23, 2016 to be 'LUNAR NEW YEAR' in the City of Pittsburgh".

Honoring Chinese Americans @CityPGH @TheNextPGH @billpeduto @CoreyOConnorPGH @WelcomingPGH pic.twitter.com/SCpxsH9olU

— Pittsburgh I&P (@PghIP) February 2, 2016

On February 2, Pittsburgh City Council issued a proclamation in honor of those who have organized the Lunar New Year Celebration in Pittsburgh, which will run from February 6 through 23 in Squirrel Hill.

2016 Hong Kong movies The Monkey King 2 (西遊記之孫悟空三打白骨精) and From Vegas to Macau 3 (賭城風雲III) in Pittsburgh from February 5.

Two new releases from Hong Kong will show at the AMC Loews Waterfront from Friday, February 5: The Monkey King 2 (西遊記之孫悟空三打白骨精) and From Vegas to Macau 3 (賭城風雲III).

2015's Tokyo Tribe (トウキョウ トライブ トゥー) at Row House Cinema in March.

The Row House Cinema in Lawrenceville announced 2015's Tokyo Tribe (トウキョウ トライブ トゥー) as the fourth film in its Japanese film series this spring. An A.V. Club review of the "demented rap musical" offers a final take:

With its over-the-top violence, cast of bizarre bit characters (a beat-boxing henchwoman, a DJ granny, etc.), and a compulsion to interject phallic imagery that borders on coprographia, Tokyo Tribe throws so much at the viewer that it’s easy to get swept up in its deranged energy and overlook the fact that the movie doesn’t have a flicker of a brain cell, being not much more than a celebration of aggressive stupidity. Sometimes, that’s fine.

The other three films to play from March 18 to March 24 are: 1949's Late Spring (晩春), the 1991 Studio Ghibli film Only Yesterday (おもひでぽろぽろ), and the 1985 Kurosawa film Ran (乱). Details will follow on the theater's official site.

Artist Talk: Michael Chow at Pitt, February 9.

The University of Pittsburgh's Department of History of Art and Architecture will host restauranteur and artist Michael Chow on February 9, ahead of his exhibition Michael Chow aka Zhou Yinghua: Voice for My Father that opens at The Andy Warhol Museum on February 13.

Michael Chow joins Associate Curator of Art Jessica Beck in a discussion about his career as a painter, which first began in the early 1960s. After a 50 year sabbatical, Chow returned to painting and produced a new body of work, which will be on view for the first time in the U.S. at The Warhol. As a successful entrepreneur, Chow made a name for himself and surrounded himself with artists such as Andy Warhol, Jean Michael Basquiat, and Julian Schnabel. Chow also discusses a subtext of the exhibition, the influence and legendary career of his father Zhou Xinfang, a grandmaster of the Beijing Opera.

The talk is free and open to the public and starts at 5:00 pm, following a reception, in the Frick Fine Arts Building (map).

"Examining the pragmatic development of Chinese JFL students" at Pitt, February 5.

The University of Pittsburgh's Department of East Asian Languages & Literatures will present MA Candidate Taranee Cao and her colloquia "Examining the pragmatic development of Chinese JFL students" on February 5. The abstract, via the DEALL website:

This cross-sectional study explores the development of pragmatics of Chinese learners of Japanese in foreign language contexts (JFL) by examining their request usages, which incorporates pragmatic transfer as a tool to interpret data. Discourse completion task (DCT) questionnaires were distributed to first-year, second-year and fourth-year Japanese learners at a university in China, as well as to some native speakers in the U.S. to elicit requests. Not only study years, but also the role of different questionnaire situations (balanced by hierarchy and propriety) are taken into consideration. Requests are examined according to the following categories: perspective, speech level, strategies, syntactic downgraders, semantic downgraders, and supportive moves. Based on data analysis, the preliminary findings are: 1) A significant leap from first-year group to second-year group can be observed. 2) In general, fourth-year group performed similar to or less native-like than second-year group. 3) Regardless of the improvement, the gap still exists between learners and native speakers in terms of pragmatics proficiency. 4) In Japanese, hierarchy plays a more important role in the request-making process than propriety. Hopefully, the study can reveal current teaching and learning situations of Japanese pragmatics at universities in China. By discussing learners' success and potential areas that need improvement, the findings could in turn shed light on language pedagogy.

The talk will begin at 12:00 in 4130 Posvar Hall (map), and is free and open to the public.