Matsuri 2018, April 10 at Carnegie Mellon University.

The Carnegie Mellon University Japanese Student Association will present its 8th annual Matsuri, "a celebration of Japanese culture and diversity," on April 10.

Enjoy a variety of foods from our food booths, and performances by student groups and members of the Pittsburgh community, while immersed in traditional Japanese decorations and festival games! Matsuri is the biggest event hosted by JSA. Last year, more than 600 people showed up to the celebration.

The event runs from 3:30 to 8:00 pm in Wiegand Gym of the Cohon University Center (map), and is free and open to the public.

Top two movies in China, Operation Red Sea (红海行动) and Detective Chinatown 2 (唐人街·探案2) , continue in Pittsburgh through March 7 (at least).

The top two movies currently playing in China, Operation Red Sea (红海行动) and Detective Chinatown 2 (唐人街·探案2), will continue in Pittsburgh through March 7.

Tickets now available for Shaw Brothers Kung Fu Cinema series at Row House Cinema, March 9 - 15.

Four classic kung fu movies will play at the Row House Cinema in March, part of its Shaw Brothers Kung Fu Cinema series that highlights the legendary Hong Kong production company. The lineup includes 1966's Come Drink With Me (大醉俠), 1978's Five Deadly Venoms (五毒), 1982's Legendary Weapons of China (十八般武艺), and 1978's The 36th Chamber of Shaolin (少林三十六房). The series runs from March 9 to 15.

Intersections of Colonialism and Medicine in East Asia, March 10 and 11 at Pitt.

The University of Pittsburgh's Asian Studies Center will host the Intersections of Colonialism and Medicine in East Asia conference on March 10 and 11.

King Hu's Legend of the Mountain (山中传奇) at Regent Square Theater, Sundays in March.

Pittsburgh Filmmakers and the Silk Screen Asian Arts & Cultural Organization are showing a different classic Asian film each month in 2018, with King Hu's 1979 movie Legend of the Mountain (山中传奇) featured in March. A February 1 New York Times review provides an introduction:

A magical mystery marathon, King Hu’s “Legend of the Mountain” takes place (maybe, as the narrator waggishly says) in the 11th century during the Song dynasty. It tells of a cheerful, underemployed scholar, Ho Yunqing (Shih Chun), who makes a meager living as a copyist. Soon after the movie opens, he is entrusted to copy a Buddhist sutra (a dialogue or sermon) that can liberate souls stuck in limbo. Ho isn’t a believer, but he needs the money and so enthusiastically heads out on a seemingly simple mission, one that eventually leads to an isolated outpost where curious and curiouser things occur.

Filled with lovely natural landscapes that have been meticulously framed and photographed, “Legend of the Mountain” is often a visual ravishment. (It was shot in the South Korean countryside.) There’s a mesmerizing appeal to many of its panoramas, with their variegated colors, dense vegetation and drifting, swirling white mist. And while King Hu certainly likes to move the camera — it sweeps, swoops and sometime breaks into a near-run — he also likes to linger on images as if encouraging you to admire their compositional harmony. You can get lost in these pictorial reveries as you trace the rays of light piercing the trees, brightening the dark waters and the reality-softening haze.

All shows start at 6:00 pm at the Regent Square Theater (map), and tickets are only available for purchase at the door.

2017 documentary The Departure, on punk-turned-priest Ittetsu Nemoto, at CMU International Film Festival, March 30.

The Carnegie Mellon University International Film Festival recently announced its full lineup for this spring's Faces of Inequality iteration, and it includes the 2017 documentary The Departure. Its subject is Ittestsu Nemoto,

a former punk-turned-Buddhist-priest in Japan, has made a career out of helping suicidal people find reasons to live. But this work has come increasingly at the cost of his own family and health, as he refuses to draw lines between his patients and himself. The Departure captures Nemoto at a crossroads, when his growing self-destructive tendencies lead him to confront the same question his patients ask him: what makes life worth living?

Tickets for the March 30 screening of The Departure are now available online. It will play at McConomy Auditorium (map) from 7:00 pm, and the evening also includes a discussion panel.

2017 Taiwanese dark comedy The Great Buddha+ (大佛普拉斯) in Pittsburgh, March 2 through 8.

The 2017 Taiwanese film The Great Buddha+ (大佛普拉斯) will play at the Regent Square Theater from March 2 through 8. A November South China Morning Post review has a summary:

The debut feature from Taiwanese documentarian Huang Hsin-yao is an acerbic satire of small-town corruption that has earned awards attention, including 10 nominations (one for best picture) at this month’s Golden Horse Awards. The Great Buddha+ follows a pair of frustrated labourers who find themselves surrounded by businessmen and local officials throwing around more money than they could accumulate in a lifetime.

Pickle (Cres Chuang I-tseng) is a middle-aged security guard at a factory that makes bronze Buddha statues. Living with his ailing mother, his only pleasure comes from best friend Belly Button (Bamboo Chen Chu-sheng), a recycler who brings him leftover food each night and, if he’s lucky, an old porno magazine to help wile away the small hours.

One night, they decide to watch footage from the dash-cam in the Mercedes of Pickle’s wealthy boss, Kevin (Leon Dai Li-ren). In among numerous steamy encounters and grovelling phone calls, they uncover a dark secret that could change all of their lives.

Showtimes are available online, though tickets are only available for purchase at the door. The Regent Square Theater is located at 1035 S. Braddock Ave. (map) in the neighborhood of the same name.

AT&T store in Waterfront hiring part-time bilingual Mandarin-English sales associate.

The AT&T retail store at the Waterfront is hiring a part-time bilingual Mandarin-English sales associate.

Traveling to Japan, March 1 at Northland Public Library.

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

Kana Komaki, who hosted "Journey to Japan" on February 18 in Oakland, will present "Traveling to Japan" at Northland Public Library on March 1.

Whether you are traveling to Japan for business or pleasure, you will be fascinated by the beauty and culture of this ancient country. This presentation will explore the delectable cuisine, breathtaking landscapes, and unique business etiquette of one of the most influential places in the world. Join Japan native Kana Komaki as she shares original stories as well as insights and recommendations that are not found online or in a standard travel guide.

Registration is required for this adult program. Everyone attending will have access to two free Japanese language lessons with local language center T&L Global.

Registration is required for this adult program and begins on February 1st. You may register online, in person at the adult reference desk or by calling 412-366-8100, extension 113.

The event runs from 7:00 to 8:30 pm. The library is located at 300 Cumberland Road in the North Hills (map).

The Slow Way Home, a documentary on "how a society intent on keeping streets safe for kids made them walkable for everyone," at Pitt on April 3.

A 2016 documentary The Slow Way Home, followed by a discussion with the producer, will play at the University of Pittsburgh on April 3.

The way children travel to school structures daily life for families around the world—but differs dramatically. In Japan, 98 percent of children walk to school every day, unaccompanied by a parent. In the United States, just 13 percent of children walk or bike to school, and most are driven to school by a parent.

Border Passages with Viet Thanh Nguyen, April 9 at City of Asylum.

Via Nguyen's Facebook page.

The City of Asylum will host Pulitzer Prize-winning author Viet Thanh Nguyen for a reading on April 9, ahead of his sold-out lecture that evening.

Join us for a reading with Viet Thanh Nguyen presented in partnership with Pittsburgh Arts & Lectures and the Carnegie Nexus: Becoming Migrant series.

“A major writer with firsthand knowledge of the human rights drama exploding on the international stage—and the talent to give us inroads toward understanding it.”—THE WASHINGTON POST

Pulitzer Prize-winning author Viet Thanh Nguyen can’t remember a time when he wasn’t a refugee. When he was four, in 1975, his family joined the masses of South Vietnamese fleeing the Viet Cong. His first reliable memories began when his family arrived at a Pennsylvania resettlement camp and was temporarily split up.

Join Nguyen, author of The Refugees and The Sympathizer, Divya Heffley of Carnegie Museum of Art, and Patrick McShea of Carnegie Museum of Natural History for a live reading and discussion, followed by a hands-on workshop that layers passages of text with memories of what we perceive to be home.

Nguyen will give a lecture at Carnegie Music Hall that evening, and will participate in a discussion with University of Pittsburgh students and faculty on April 5.

This event runs from 1:00 to 3:00 pm and is free and open to the public, though space is limited and registration is required. Alphabet City is located at 40 N. West Ave. on the North Side (map).

Pittsburgh-based logistics firm hiring bilingual Mandarin-English administrative assistant.

Prop Ocean Logistics, headquartered in Monroeville, is hiring a bilingual Mandarin-English administrative assistant (行政助理).

Top three movies in China playing in Pittsburgh: Chinese-Hong Kong film Operation Red Sea (红海行动) opens February 23; Monster Hunt 2 (捉妖記2) and Detective Chinatown 2 (唐人街·探案2) continue for another week.

The top three movies in China are in Pittsburgh this weekend. The new Chinese-Hong Kong film Operation Red Sea (红海行动) will play at the AMC Loews Waterfront theater from February 23. The production company provides a synopsis:

The Chinese Navy’s Jiaolong (“Sea Dragon”) Assault Team is famed for its skill in getting the job done. After its success in rescuing a cargo ship hijacked by pirates off the Somalia coast, the team is assigned an even more perilous mission. A coup in a North African republic has left local Chinese residents in danger, circumstances further complicated by a terrorist plot to obtain nuclear materials. The situation could prove fatal to the hostages and disastrous to the entire region, and presents Jiaolong with a challenge that threatens the very existence of the team and its members.

Holy Hum in Pittsburgh, May 3.

via @holyhum

Holy Hum, fronted by Korean-Canadian multidisciplinary artist Andrew Lee, will play The Funhouse at Mr. Smalls on May 3. Lee introduced the project to Korean Indie readers thus:

Holy Hum is a project I started probably in 2013 but I didn’t release any music or play any shows until 2015. The project is still in its early stages so I can’t really try and pin it down and define it. Sometimes it’s just me and a guitar or synth. Sometimes it’s a five piece post rock band. And sometimes it’s eight speakers in an abandoned fur vault.

Tickets for the 8:00 pm show are available online. The Funhouse at Mr. Smalls is located at 400 Lincoln Ave. in Millvale (map).

Tickets now available for San E (산이) and Mad Clown (매드클라운)'s April 10 Pittsburgh show.

As of 9:00 am this morning, individual tickets are on sale for the San E and Mad Clown concert in Pittsburgh on April 10. The Korean rappers, along with Korean-American singer Sobae, are performing at the August Wilson Center as part of a North American tour this year.

Your Night, You Decide.

Select one, select them all. You own the night with Multiple Choice Events:
[A] Attend a show featuring San E & Mad Clown
[B] Go to a post-show party
[C] Grab a bite to eat at our food truck roundup, or
ALL OF THE ABOVE.

Mad Clown and San E are two of the biggest stars in Korean pop music. With numerous hits songs in Korea, these rappers are joining forces to tour every corner of America and Canada. For both MCs, this tour is a homecoming, as Mad Clown is originally from the Chicago area, and San E grew up in Atlanta. Mad Clown and San E's "We Want You 2018 Tour" will hit North America in April 2018, with Korean American singer Sobae opening.

The 8:00 pm show will be at the August Wilson Center in the Cultural District (map).

"Two Evenings: Exploring the work of Viet Thanh Nguyen," April 5 at Pitt.

Via Nguyen's Facebook page.

Ahead of the sold-out lecture with 2016 Pulitzer Prize winning author Viet Thanh Nguyen on April 9 in Oakland, the University of Pittsburgh's Global Studies Center will host Nguyen and a discussion of his works on April 5.

2017 Japanese animated film Mary and the Witch's Flower (メアリと魔女の花) in local theaters February 24 and 26.

The 2017 Japanese animated film Mary and the Witch's Flower (メアリと魔女の花), which played throughout the Pittsburgh area in January, will return to local Cinemark theaters on February 24 and 26. The distributor provides a summary:

From Academy Award®-nominated Hiromasa Yonebayashi – animator on Studio Ghibli masterpieces Spirited Away, Howl’s Moving Castle, and Ponyo, and director of When Marnie Was There and The Secret World of Arrietty – comes a dazzling new adventure about a young girl named Mary, who discovers a flower that grants magical powers, but only for one night.

Mary is an ordinary young girl stuck in the country with her Great-Aunt Charlotte and seemingly no adventures or friends in sight. She follows a mysterious cat into the nearby forest, where she discovers an old broomstick and the strange Fly-by-Night flower, a rare plant that blossoms only once every seven years and only in that forest. Together the flower and the broomstick whisk Mary above the clouds, and far away to Endor College – a school of magic run by headmistress Madam Mumblechook and the brilliant Doctor Dee. But there are terrible things happening at the school, and when Mary tells a lie, she must risk her life to try to set things right.

Based on Mary Stewart’s 1971 classic children’s book The Little Broomstick, Mary and The Witch’s Flower is an action-packed film full of jaw-dropping imaginative worlds, ingenious characters, and the simple, heartfelt story of a young girl trying to find a place in the world.

The movie will play at Cinemark theaters in McCandless, Monaca, Monroeville, and Pittsburgh Mills. Tickets for the English-dubbed show on the 24th and the English-subtitled show on the 26th are available online.

Pittsburgh AAPI Town Hall, "United Asian Voices for Regional Economic Empowerment," March 4 in Squirrel Hill.

Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf's Advisory Commission on Asian Pacific American Affairs will hold its next Pittsburgh AAPI Town Hall on March 4 on the theme of "United Asian Voices for Regional Economic Empowerment."

"The Dynamics of a Duo: Perceptions and Reflections of Gender, Nationality, and Identity in Yamamura Misa," February 23 at Pitt.

The University of Pittsburgh's Department of East Asian Languages & Literatures will host M.A. candidate Ali Richardson and her talk "The Dynamics of a Duo: Perceptions and Reflections of Gender, Nationality, and Identity in Yamamura Misa" on February 23.

Green Pepper to add Korean fried chicken to menu.

Green Pepper, a Korean restaurant in Squirrel Hill, recently started advertising Korean fried chicken (양념치킨) in its window. Korean fried chicken is a stateside trend that hasn't spread widely in Pittsburgh; Chick'n Bubbly opened in Oakland in 2014, and Ki Pollo in Lawrenceville last year, but that's been about it. The poster is taken from 2014 advertisement for 처갓집, a Korean chain that also boasts a 허니올리고당 flavor; the top selling point the chain uses is the health benefits as compared with other fried chicken varieties.

Green Pepper is located at 2020 Murray Ave (map).

"Rebellious Youth and the Global 1960s: Politics, Punk Rock, and Propaganda in Cold War Japan" at Pitt, February 22.

Student protest at Tokyo University, 1968 (via The Asia Pacific Journal: Japan Focus).

The University of Pittsburgh's Asian Studies Center will host Christopher Gerteis and his talk "Rebellious Youth and the Global 1960s: Politics, Punk Rock, and Propaganda in Cold War Japan" on February 22.

The event runs from 4:00 to 5:30 pm in 4130 Posvar Hall (map) and is free and open to the public.

ORIENTED, featuring ceramic artists who identify with both Western and Eastern cultures, in Pittsburgh from March 13 to 17.

From "Clean and Bleed" by Jennifer Ling Datchuk."

The 2018 National Council On Education For The Ceramic Arts will bring hundreds of national and international artists to venues across Pittsburgh in March. One exhibition of particular relevance here is ORIENTED, on display from March 13 to 17, which

explores the concept of ceramists who identify with both Western and Eastern cultures; their stories are unique and give a taste of what goes on in contemporary America.

Featured are Adam Chau, Ayumi Horie, Steven Lee, Jennifer Ling Datchuk, and Beth Lo.

Screening of Tsunami Punx: The Tōhoku Live House Movement and Q&A with event promoter Matthew Ketchum, February 23 at Pitt.

On February 23, the University of Pittsburgh's Asian Studies Center will hold a screening of Tsunami Punx: The Tōhoku Live House Movement, presented by Pittsburgh native and 2011 Tohoku earthquake survivor Matthew Ketchum on the tsunami and Japan's underground punk rock scene.

Matt Ketchum left his hometown of Pittsburgh and arrived on the shores of Japan in the fall of 2009. He was living in Miyako, Iwate, enjoying the Slow Life and playing Fast Metal, but then the Tohoku earthquake changed his life forever. After assisting in frontline relief efforts he was transferred to Tokyo where he became involved in various projects concerned with Tohoku and the arts.

​He formed Kaala after years of experience performing in bands, booking and promoting tours, and seeing all of the good that underground extreme music can provide its members. The system that dictates cultural movements in music is far from perfect, and he aims to better it through applied data science, thoughtful content production, and boots-on-the-ground community engagement and participation.

He's currently in Seattle getting international music tourism pipelines established, so if you're at a show in the area shout his name and he'll probably appear. It's happened before.

The screening will be accompanied by a Q&A with promoter and community organizer Matthew Ketchum. The event starts at 5:00 pm in room 548 of the William Pitt Union (map) and is free and open to the public.

Chengdu Gourmet's Wei Zhu semifinalist for 2018 James Beard Award in Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic category.

By Laura Petrilla for Pittsburgh Magazine

Chengdu Gourmet's Wei Zhu has been named a semifinalist for a 2018 James Beard Award in the category of Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic. Zhu, who opened Chengdu Gourmet in Squirrel Hill in 2014, was a semi-finalist last year and is among 20 others in the category this year. His restaurant was named one of Pittsburgh Magazine's Best Restaurants in 2016 and 2017, and Zhu was one of six local chefs recognized by the magazine for his contributions to the local culinary scene:

“The food here is my style, Wei Zhu’s style,” says Zhu, 49, a native of the city of Chengdu in China’s Sichuan province.

A recently added beef soup dish combines traditional Sichuan elements such as garlic, ginger, pea shoots and Sichuan peppercorns, but it also is served with Japanese ramen noodles and dressed with fresh and pickled jalapeño peppers. Or there’s Zhu’s addictive Chinese winter sausage, an item on the menu for only a few months of the year. The rich, fatty links are enhanced with organ meat and ferment into funky, delicious bites as they age.

“At other Chinese restaurants, they just make the same dishes. I am always trying to keep updated on what chefs are doing in China,” he says.

“Fences, Maps, and Darkness: Visualizing Okinawa” at Chatham University, February 19.

From Gama series, via artist's official site.

Via the Japan America Society of Pennsylvania newsletter comes notice that Chatham University will host Japanese photographer Osamu James Nagakawa and his lecture “Fences, Maps, and Darkness: Visualizing Okinawa” on February 19.

Osamu James Nakagawa is Ruth N. Halls Distinguished Professor of Photography at Indiana University, where he directs the Center for Integrative Photographic Studies. Nakagawa is best known for his Okinawa trilogy, a series of works that address the atrocities of WWII in Japan. His illustrated lecture Fences, Maps, and Darkness: Visualizing Okinawa explores Okinawa's diverse ecosystems, primeval forests, and its history as a prime crossroads of war and colonial expansion for centuries. Nakagawa's photographs of Okinawa bridge the inherently different interpretations of this history through a cross-cultural lens.

The lecture starts at 6:00 pm in the Beckwith Lecture Hall in the Buhl Hall of Science and Science Laboratory Building (map), and is free and open to the public.

Korean rappers San E and Mad Clown in Pittsburgh, April 10.

Two Korean rappers, San E and Mad Clown, will hit Pittsburgh on April 10 as part of an extensive North American tour this year:

Mad Clown and San E are two of the biggest stars in Korean pop music. With numerous hits songs in Korea, these rappers are joining forces to tour every corner of America and Canada. For both MCs, this tour is a homecoming, as Mad Clown is originally from the Chicago area, and San E grew up in Atlanta. Mad Clown and San E's "We Want You 2018 Tour" will hit North America in April 2018, with Korean American singer Sobae opening.

The concert will be at the August Wilson Center in the Cultural District. Tickets will go on sale February 19 at 9:00 am.

Asian-American rapper+actor Awkwafina at Pitt, February 24.

The University of Pittsburgh's Chinese American Student Association and Korean Student Association are bringing rapper and actor Awkwafina to Pitt on February 24.

Come out to hear her speak, Q&A, and a meet and greet!

Nora Lum, better known as Awkwafina is a Chinese-Korean American rapper, comedian, television personality, television host and actress. She works to break down barriers in both rap and Hollywood scenes. Awkwafina touches on many important issues surrounding mental health, cultural identity, feminism, and Asians in media. Her most upcoming appearances will be in Crazy Rich Asians (2018) and Ocean's 8 (2018).

To RSVP fill out this google form! SEATS ARE LIMITED AND FIRST COME FIRST SERVE!

The event is free for Pitt students and $5 for everyone else, though registration is required. The event is at Bellefield Auditorium (map) and the doors open at 6:40 pm.

Ambassador Reiichiro Takahashi and his talk "US-Japan Collaboration," February 22 in Pittsburgh.

The Japan-America Society of Pennsylvania will host Ambassador Reiichiro Takahashi, Consul General of the Japanese Consulate in New York, on February 22 for his talk on "US-Japan Collaboration." The ambassador

will share his insights in this talk about collaboration between Japan and the United States.

Chinese movies in Pittsburgh for Lunar New Year: Monster Hunt 2 (捉妖記2) from February 15, The Monkey King 3 (西遊記女兒國) and Detective Chinatown 2 (唐人街·探案2) from February 16.

Three new sequels to popular Chinese movies will play in Pittsburgh this Lunar New Year Weekend: The Monkey King 3 (西遊記女兒國), Monster Hunt 2 (捉妖記2), and Detective Chinatown 2 (唐人街·探案2).

The distributor provides a summary of the The Monkey King 3:

The third installment of the blockbuster fantasy series sees the return of the Monkey King (Aaron Kwok) in his most action-packed adventure yet! While continuing their epic journey to the West, the Monkey King and his companions are taken captive by the Queen of an all-female land, who believes them to be part of an ancient prophecy heralding the fall of her kingdom. With a lot of sorcery and a little bit of charm, the travelers devise a plan to escape. But when their trickery angers the mighty River God, they realize they might just bring about the foretold destruction - unless they can find a way to quell her wrath.

The Monkey King 2 played in Pittsburgh in 2016, and was the second-highest-grossing domestic film in China that year.

Monster Hunt played in Pittsburgh in 2015, and was the highest-grossing Chinese film of all time until being overtaken by several 2016 releases. The production company summarizes:

This sequel to the mega blockbuster follows monster king Wuba as he faces another threat from the dark lord who plots to overthrow the empire.

Detective Chinatown was released in 2015 and was the ninth-highest grossing domestic film in Mainland China that year. The theater provides a synopsis:

A follow up to the Chinese hit “Detective Chinatown,” the new film reunites writer/director Chen Sicheng and stars Wang Baoqiang and Liu Haoran, who reprise their roles as detectives Tang Ren and Qin Feng, respectively. When the case of New York Chinatown godfather Uncle Qi’s missing son turns into a murder investigation, the detective duo Tang and Qin team up again to hunt down the killer—this time with some help from the International Detective Alliance.

Monster Hunt 2 opens on the 15th, while The Monkey King 3 and Detective Chinatown 2 open on the 16th at the AMC Loews Waterfront theater. Ticket and showtime information for all three movies are available online via Fandango. 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.

"A New Korean War?" at Church of the Redeemer in Squirrel Hill, February 18.

The Church of the Redeemer in Squirrel Hill will host a Korea Panel on the topic of "A New Korean War?" on Sunday, February 18. From the University of Pittsburgh's University Center for International Studies:

Tensions are heating up over North Korea's nuclear program, intensified by an exchange of insults between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. Will the conflict between the two countries result in war? Why does North Korea want nuclear weapons? For aggression? Or for self-defense? Do South Koreans regard a nuclearized North as an existential threat or as something they can live with? How would a new Korean War end?

The event runs from 2:00 to 4:00 pm and is free and open to the public. The Church of the Redeemer is located at 5700 Forbes Ave. (map).

Reading with Korean-American author Min Jin Lee, February 20 at City of Asylum.

via minjinlee.com

City of Asylum @ Alphabet City will host bestselling author Min Jin Lee on February 20 for a reading of her 2017 book Pachinko. Her website provides a summary of the book:

PACHINKO follows one Korean family through the generations, beginning in early 1900s Korea with Sunja, the prized daughter of a poor yet proud family, whose unplanned pregnancy threatens to shame them all. Deserted by her lover, Sunja is saved when a young tubercular minister offers to marry and bring her to Japan.

So begins a sweeping saga of an exceptional family in exile from its homeland and caught in the indifferent arc of history. Through desperate struggles and hard-won triumphs, its members are bound together by deep roots as they face enduring questions of faith, family, and identity.

The reading runs from 8:00 to 9:30 pm at Alphabet City on the North Side, and is free and open to the public, though RSVP is required.

Nanoha (魔法少女リリカルなのは Reflection), A Silent Voice (聲の形) screenings cancelled as Hollywood Theater in Dormont closes.

Trigun: Badlands Rumble (トライガン バッドランズ ランブル) in 2011; Magical Girl Lyrical NANOHA Reflection (魔法少女リリカルなのは Reflection) was scheduled to play tonight and Wednesday.

The Friends of the Hollywood Theater, which had been operating in the the Hollywood Theater in Dormont, announced this evening that it has ceased programming and closed its doors as of Sunday, February 11.

It is with heavy hearts that we are announcing that Sunday, February 11th was our last day of programming, and after settling our obligations with the previous building owners, we will be fully vacated from the premises by Wednesday, February 14th.

The full statement on the theater's website indicates it may reopen in a different capacity in the future.

The Hollywood Theater was one of the few venues that played both new and classic Asian movies, and was long the only place around that would screen new anime releases.

Spring Festival Celebration at Pitt, February 16.

The University of Pittsburgh's Chinese Program will present a Spring Festival Celebration on Friday, February 16 in 4130 Posvar Hall (map).

Free! Take Your Marks (特別版 Free!-Take Your Marks-」) in Pittsburgh, March 14.

The 2017 anime film Free! Take Your Marks (特別版 Free!-Take Your Marks-」) will play at Southside Works Cinema on March 14, part of a one-day screening in the US.

Anne Allison and "Matter of Death" at Pitt, February 16.

The University of Pittsburgh's Asian Studies Center will host Anne Allison of Duke University and her talk "Matter of Death" on February 16.

At a moment when marriage and childbirth are on the decline, employment is increasingly short-term and precarious, and more and more people are living longer and all alone, sociality is changing in Japan. Away from the workplace or the family, ever more attention is placed on a free-floating, mobile but responsible self. Consistent with this streamlining of the social is a new trend in “simple living” spurred by de-clutter guru, Marie Kondo. Encouraged to detach from all but the most essential, most joyful of personal possessions, the stress is on matter that materializes life in a very particular way. But in this presentist, self-oriented lifestyle, what happens at the time of death? To those possessions the deceased has left behind, and to bodies of the dead, in cases when there is no social other to attend to these persons and things? Asking what the matter of death is in an age of decluttered belonging(s), I examine new businesses emerging in Japan (ihin seiri gaisha) that help clients sort through the possessions left behind, or that they may leave behind themselves, at the moment of death. Special clean-up of the "lonely dead" is one of their services—sanitizing the landscape of the waste left behind by a wounded sociality.

The event runs from 3:00 to 4:30 in 3306 Posvar Hall (map) and is free and open to the public.

"Journey to Japan," February 18 at Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh in Oakland.

The Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh's Main branch in Oakland will host "Journey to Japan" on Sunday, February 18.

2018 Year of the Earth Dog Lunar New Year Celebration, February 17 in Squirrel Hill.

Pittsburgh will begin this year's Lunar New Year festivities with the 2018 Lunar New Year Kick-Off on February 17 at the Jewish Community Center in Squirrel Hill.

For the third year in a row, Squirrel Hill is celebrating the 2-week Lunar New Year Festival. Beginning with a kick-off celebration on Saturday, February 17th at the Jewish Community Center and culminating with the Year of the Earth Dog Parade on March 4th on Murray Avenue, be awed by dragons and dancers, taiko drummers and martial artists, and eat in some of the best Asian restaurants in the city!

Throughout the building, attendees can enjoy free arts and crafts for the kids including calligraphy, origami, making hand-drums (for the parade of course!), Chinese paper cutting, and more. There will be door prizes and free give-aways throughout the afternoon, be sure to submit your name! There will also be delicious, authentic Asian foods and drinks, savory and sweet for sale.

In addition to the activities inside the JCC, two teams of lion dancers will be visiting and blessing our merchants on Forbes and Murray from 10am to 3pm.

On stage in Levinson Hall, we have planned over 21 live performances.

The event runs from 1:00 to 5:00 pm in the JCC (map) and is free and open to the public. The annual Lunar New Year Parade will be held in Squirrel Hill on March 4.

Ghibli Fest 2018 brings nine films to Pittsburgh area, including two rarely seen in theaters, from March through November.

Nine Studio Ghibli films will play at Pittsburgh-area Cinemark theaters in 2018 as part of this year's GKIDS Ghibli Fest. The lineup, which includes two films that rarely play in Pittsburgh:

Ponyo (崖の上のポニョ)
English dubbed: March 25 and 28
English subtitled: March 26

The Cat returns (猫の恩返し) - First time in Pittsburgh since 2009
English dubbed: April 22 and 25
English subtitled: April 23

Porco Rosso (紅の豚)
English dubbed: May 20 and 23
English subtitled: May 21

Pom Poko (平成狸合戦ぽんぽこ) - First time in Pittsburgh since 2010
English dubbed: June 17 and 20
English subtitled: June 18

Princess Mononoke (もののけ姫)
English dubbed: July 22 and 25
English subtitled: July 23

Grave of the Fireflies (火垂るの墓)
English dubbed: August 12 and 15
English subtitled: August 13

My Neighbor Totoro (となりのトトロ)
English dubbed: September 30 and October 3
English subtitled: October 1

Spirited Away (千と千尋の神隠し)
English dubbed: October 28 and 30
English subtitled: October 29

Castle in the Sky (天空の城ラピュタ)
English dubbed: November 18 and 20
English subtitled: November 19

Area Cinemark theaters currently scheduled to show these films are in Monaca, Monroeville, Pittsburgh Mills, and Robinson. Tickets and showtime information are available online.