Studio Ghibli Fest 2025 lineup announced, bringing eight films to Pittsburgh from May.

The lineup for Studio Ghibli Fest 2025 was announced today, bringing eight animated Japanese films to Pittsburgh from May through November.

• Kiki's Delivery Service (魔女の宅急便) - May 17 - 21
• The Secret World of Arrietty (借りぐらしのアリエッティ) - June 22 - 24
• My Neighbor Totoro (となりのトトロ) - July 19 - 23
• Grave of the Fireflies (火垂るの墓) - August 10 - 12
• Ponyo (崖の上のポニョ) - August 23 - 27
• Howl's Moving Castle (ハウルの動く城) - September 20 - 24
• Spirited Away (千と千尋の神隠し) - October 18 - 22
• The Boy and the Heron (君たちはどう生きるか) - November 15 - 19

Tickets and showtime information is now available online, though more theaters are likely to be announced later.

2009 Japanese animated movie Summer Wars (サマーウォーズ) coming to Pittsburgh in 4K, July 27 - 29.

The 2009 Japanese animated movie Summer Wars (サマーウォーズ) will play in Pittsburgh-area theaters in 4K from July 27 through 29.

Kenji is a shy, part-time moderator for OZ, the virtual reality world that powers everyday life, until pretty and popular Natsuki recruits him to be her fake boyfriend. While posing as an affluent suitor to Natsuki’s family, Kenji finds that a rogue A.I. program has stolen his online identity, and Kenji is accused of hacking OZ and causing real-world catastrophes. As the destruction in OZ throws Natsuki’s family into disarray, Kenji must unite his newfound connections to overcome an impending cyber apocalypse. Against a backdrop of stunning countryside vistas and virtual spaces bursting with color, Summer Wars is a timeless epic that explores life in the digital age from Academy Award®-nominated director Mamoru Hosoda (BELLE).

It is scheduled to play locally (so far) at the Cinemark in McCandless, though other theaters are likely to be announced later. Tickets for the July 27 and 29 shows in Japanese with English subtitles and the July 28 show dubbed in English are available online.

2025 Japan Lecture Series with The Japan-America Society of Pennsylvania, Then and Now: Japanese Performing Arts, April 17.

The Japan-America Society of Pennsylvania will present "Then and Now: Japanese Performing Arts" on April 17, part of its 2025 Japan Lecture Series.

As Artistic Director, Yoko Shioya has carried out the Japan Society’s Performing Arts Program mission of presenting works inspired by the arts and culture of Japan in New York City and beyond. Her award-winning curation of about 200 programs of Japanese theater, dance, and music spans the very traditional to the most cutting edge. In this year of special programming celebrating her accomplishments over the past twenty years, Yoko will join us in Pittsburgh to share an update on her perspective of the evolutions in the field to ways in which artists are innovating and keeping traditions alive.

Join the JASP on April 17, 2025 for a lecture about the performing arts landscape inside and outside of Japan. Light hors d’oeuvres and beverages will be provided.

Yoko Shioya became head of Japan Society’s Performing Arts program in 2004 and Artistic Director in 2006. Her many contributions including increasing commissions for new non-Japanese works about Japanese culture, expanded North American tours, readings for contemporary plays in English, and the JAPAN CUTS film festival. Shioya received BAs in musicology and dance history from Tokyo University of the Arts. In Japan, she is known as a writer and researcher on the arts, presenting at various symposia, TV programs, cultural institutions, and as a writer for the Asahi Newspaper.

The event runs from 6:00 to 8:00 pm in the JVH Auditorium in Thayer Hall at Point Park University downtown (map). The event is free, but registration is required.

2012 Japanese animated movie Wolf Children (おおかみこどもの雨と雪) in Pittsburgh-area theaters in 4K, May 11 - 13.

The 2012 Japanese animated movie Wolf Children (おおかみこどもの雨と雪) in Pittsburgh-area theaters in 4K May 11, 12, and 13.

College student Hana falls in love with a “wolf man” and together they have two half-human, half-wolf children, Ame and Yuki. The young family’s happy but humble life comes to an abrupt end when the father is tragically killed during a hunt. After struggling to raise her children in the busy city, Hana boldly decides to move to a dilapidated house in the countryside, in hopes that her children may one day decide their own path to happiness – whether “human” or “wolf.” This heart-wrenching modern fairy tale is a staggering work of beauty and emotion from Academy Award®-nominated director Mamoru Hosoda. Rich with gorgeous animation and set to a poignant musical score, Wolf Children is a sweeping tale about self-discovery and the bonds of family.

It is scheduled to play locally (so far) at the Cinemark in McCandless, though other theaters are likely to be announced later. Tickets for the May 11 and May 13 shows in Japanese with English subtitles and the May 12 show dubbed in English are available online.

Hong Kong Dim Sum in Oakland eyes April 15 soft opening.

Hong Kong Dim Sum management confirms it is working on some finishing touches and aiming for an April 15 soft opening. It will be located at 4520 Centre Ave. in North Oakland's One on Centre complex (map). The space features a large dining room plus three private rooms for events. Announced back in September 2023, Hong Kong Dim Sum was to help fill in one of the remaining gaps in Pittsburgh's Asian food scene, though dim sum offerings have expanded around town since then.

The management team shared a few additional photos of dishes and sauces its working on.

Rangos Giant Cinema at Carnegie Science Center adds three more Japanese animated films in May.

The Rangos Giant Cinema at Carnegie Science Center, which had previously announced a May 9 screening of Howl's Moving Castle (ハウルの動く城), has added three more Japanese animated movies to May: 

• The End of Evangelion (新世紀エヴァンゲリオン劇場版 Air/まごころを、君に) - May 16
• A Silent Voice (聲の形) - May 23
• Spirited Away (千と千尋の神隠し) - May 30

Tickets and showtimes are available online. The movies start at 7:00 and tickets are available online: $10 for members and $12 for non-members. The Carnegie Science Center is located at 1 Allegheny Ave. on the North Shore (map).

1993 film The Joy Luck Club in Pittsburgh, from May 9.

The 1993 film The Joy Luck Club will play at the Row House Cinema in Lawrenceville from May 9 through 15, part of its "Thanks, MOM" film series around Mother's Day.

Adapted from Amy Tan’s best selling novel, Wayne Wang’s film artfully illustrates generational divides and universal truths through the stories of four Chinese women born in America and their respective mothers born in feudal China.

Tickets and showtimes are available online. The single-screen theater is located at 4115 Butler St. (map).

Andrew Ahn's The Wedding Banquet, starring Bowen Yang and Youn Yuh-jung, among others, in Pittsburgh-area theaters, from April 18.

Andrew Ahn's The Wedding Banquet, a remake of the 1993 film, will play in Pittsburgh from April 18.

From Director Andrew Ahn comes a joyful comedy of errors about a chosen family navigating cultural identity, queerness, and family expectations. Frustrated with his commitment-phobic boyfriend Chris and running out of time, Min makes a proposal: a green-card marriage with their friend Angela in exchange for her partner Lee's expensive IVF. Elopement plans are upended, however, when Min's grandmother surprises them with an extravagant Korean wedding banquet. Starring Bowen Yang, Lily Gladstone, Kelly Marie Tran, Han Gi-chan, Joan Chen, and Youn Yuh-jung, The Wedding Banquet is a poignant and heartfelt reminder that being part of a family means learning to both accept and forgive.

It is scheduled to play locally, so far, at the Cinemark theater in Robinson, and tickets are available online.

2025 Japanese animated movie Colorful Stage! The Movie: A Miku Who Can't Sing (劇場版プロジェクトセカイ 壊れたセカイと歌えないミク) in Pittsburgh, from April 17.

The 2025 Japanese animated movie Colorful Stage! The Movie: A Miku Who Can't Sing (劇場版プロジェクトセカイ 壊れたセカイと歌えないミク) will play in Pittsburgh from April 17.

COLORFUL STAGE! The Movie: A Miku Who Can’t Sing is an animation film by studio P.A.WORKS featuring an all-new Hatsune Miku and the first film with the iconic Virtual Singer. Based on HATSUNE MIKU: COLORFUL STAGE!, a game about high school students finding their true feelings through music in an alternate world called “SEKAI" with the help of Hatsune Miku. Ichika is a high school musician who can enter a mysterious place called “SEKAI,” where she and her friends express their innermost emotions through music alongside Hatsune Miku. One day after giving a live performance, Ichika meets a new Miku that she has never seen before. No matter how hard this new Miku tries to sing, she struggles connecting with the hearts of her listeners. Miku must rely on the help of others to find a way to sing again.

It is scheduled to play locally, so far, at the AMC Loews Waterfront, the AMC Westmoreland in Greensburg, and the Cinemark in Robinson, and tickets are available online.

Tsung-Che Cheng (鄭宗哲) makes Major League debut, becoming third Taiwanese player in Pittsburgh Pirates history.

Shortstop Tsung-Che Cheng (鄭宗哲) became the third Taiwanese player in Pittsburgh Pirates history when he made his Major League debut this afternoon against the Cardinals. The Pirates called him up on Monday after infielder Jared Triolo went on the injured list. They signed him as a 17-year-old prospect in 2019, and he's the third Taiwanese player to make the regular season roster, after Wei-chung Wang in 2019 and Yu Chang in 2022. Chang is the longest-tenured Taiwanese player in Pittsburgh Pirates history, logging 18 games played and 42 at-bats. The Pirates have had numerous other Taiwanese players in the system, dating back to at least 2009 with Sheng-qin Hong, Pin-Hong Ji, and Ji-wei Xu.

The Pirates have had a number of other Asian-born players in their system, including: Chan-ho Park, Jung-ho Kang, Hoy Park, Ji-hwan Bae, and Ji-man Choi from Korea; and Masumi Kuwata, Akinori Iwamoto, Hisanori Takahashi, and Yoshitomo Tsutsugo from Japan.

Cheng is currently wearing #71 for the Pirates.

American premiere of Miss Julie, adapted by Amy Ng, in Pittsburgh April 18 through May 4.

The Pittsburgh International Classic Theatre will present a production of Miss Julie, adapted by Amy Ng, from April 18 through May 4.

Following on the heels of the hit productions in London and Hong Kong, PICT is thrilled to stage the AMERICAN PREMIERE of this brilliant adaptation of August Strindberg’s classic play by acclaimed playwright Amy Ng.

It’s Chinese New Year in post-World War II Hong Kong. Julie is the daughter of the island’s former British governor newly released from the Japanese internment camp. When her father is away for the holiday weekend, Miss Julie, who was raised in British colonial Hong Kong, comes downstairs to join the servants as they party initiating a sexually charged power game with her father’s Chinese chauffeur who is engaged to the kitchen servant Christine. What starts as a lark descends into a fight for survival as sex, power, money and race collide on a hot night in the Pearl River Delta.

There are three additional events surrounding the production:

• Asian Cultural Celebration - April 23
• Pre-theatre dinner with Amy Ng - April 26
• Film Screening and Adaptations Discussion - April 30

Tickets for the show and the events are available online. The performances are held at the Carnegie Stage at 25 West Main Street in Carngie (map).

1997 animated film Princess Mononoke (もののけ姫) continues in Pittsburgh through April 16 with 4K IMAX screenings.

The 1997 animated film Princess Mononoke (もののけ姫), which opened in Pittsburgh on March 26, will continue here through (at least) April 16 in a series of 4K IMAX screenings.

While defending his village from a demonic boar-god, young warrior Ashitaka becomes afflicted with a deadly curse that grants him super-human power in battle but eventually will take his life. Traveling west to find a cure and meet his destiny, he journeys deep into sacred depths of the Great Forest where he meets San (aka Princess Mononoke), a girl raised by wolf-gods. Mononoke is a force of nature, riding bareback on a great white wolf and terrorizing the human outpost of Iron Town on the edge of the forest.

It will play locally at the AMC Loews Waterfront and tickets are available online.

Kaiser Kuo lectures at Carnegie Mellon and Pitt rescheduled for April 17 and 18.

Two lectures by Kaiser Kuo at Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Pittsburgh that were cancelled in March have been rescheduled for April 17 and 18, respectively. "The 'DeepSeek Moment:' China and the Crisis of American Confidence" will take place on April 17 from 5:30 to 7:00 pm at Baker Hall A53, Steinberg Auditorium (map).

China's recent achievements in artificial intelligence, exemplified by DeepSeek's breakthrough LLM, represent more than just technological advancement - they signal a fundamental shift in global innovation dynamics. While Chinese companies have demonstrated remarkable capabilities in areas from EVs to social media to AI, U.S. responses continue to follow a predictable pattern: disbelief, anger, accusations of theft, and blame. This recurring cycle reveals both China's evolved capacity for coordinated technological development and deep-seated American anxieties about what this means for U.S. technological primacy. Drawing on his extensive experience analyzing both societies, Sinica Podcast host Kaiser Kuo explores how China's innovation ecosystem has matured, why its successes continue to surprise Western observers, and what this tells us about the structural, cultural, and epistemic barriers to understanding China's technological transformation. The talk examines how China's rise has challenged core assumptions about the relationship between political systems and innovation, market economies and state guidance, and ultimately, about American exceptionalism itself — and whether it can accommodate China's own brand of exceptionalism.

"China’s 'Second Generation Ethnic Policies' in Historical and Comparative Contexts, LIVE Podcast Recording" will run from 12:00 to 2:00 pm at the University of Pittsburgh, 252 Cathedral of Learning.

A weekly podcast about current affairs in China, hosted by Kaiser Kuo and featuring in-depth conversations about books, ideas, new research, intellectual currents, and cultural trends that can help us better understand what’s happening in China. A conversation between Sinica Podcast host and co-founder Kaiser Kuo and Professor Benno Weiner.

Kaiser Kuo is the host and co-founder of the Sinica Podcast, a weekly discussion of current affairs in China that has run since April 2010 — for its first six years from Beijing, and since 2016 from the U.S. as part of SupChina. The show features in-depth conversations with scholars, journalists, diplomats, analysts, and others who work to better understand China in all its complexity.

Pirates call up Tsung-Che Cheng (鄭宗哲), who will be the third Taiwanese player in Pirates history when he takes the field.

Before the game on Monday evening the Pittsburgh Pirates called up shortstop Tsung-Che Cheng (鄭宗哲) to their roster. Cheng is the Pirates #17 ranked prospect, and was added when infielder Jared Triolo was placed on the 10-day injured list. Cheng was signed as a 17-year-old in 2019, and he is among over a dozen Taiwanese players and prospects who have been in the Pirates organziation. When he gets into a regular season game he will be the third Taiwanese player to make the big league roster, after Wei-chung Wang in 2019 and Yu Chang in 2022.

Pittsburgh Sakura Project Hanami, cherry blossom viewing festival, rescheduled for April 12.

The Pittsburgh Sakura Project has rescheduled its annual Hanami for April 12 at North Park, after its April 5 event was rained out. 

Location: North Park, Harmony Shelter (near the Boathouse)

Participation fee: Free

Activities: Do as you like, enjoy the cherry blossoms in bloom. We will provide a cherry blossom site tour, a tree care demonstration, drinks and snacks (while available).

Any updated information will also be provided through the Pittsburgh Sakura Project Google Group, so if you are interested, we recommend that you subscribe.

The event will run from 2:00 to 4:00 pm, weather permitting. 

via the Project's 2020 gallery

Gold Ladle in Greenfield temporarily closed due to fire.

A printed sign recently went up at Gold Ladle (金汤勺·蜀道香) in Greenfield to announce its temporary closure.

To our valued customers:

We regret to inform you that Gold Ladle will be temporarily closed for renovations due to a recent fire incident at our location. Thankfully, no one was hurt, but the damage requires immediate attention to ensure the safety and comfort of our staff and guests.

Our team is already hard at work to restore and improve the space, and we plan to reopen as soon as we can.

We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and deeply appreciate your patience, support, and understanding during this time. We can't wait to welcome you back with a refreshed space and the same delicious food you love.

Stay tuned for updates and thank you for being part of the Gold Ladle family.

Warm regards,
The Gold Ladle Team

Gold Ladle is located at 4219 Murray Ave. in Greenfield (map), across from the Giant Eagle. It opened in October after a few months of Wai Wai, which took over that spot after China Star was shut down in February 2024 due to repeated health violations.

The Pittsburgh apartment in Korea.

When I started laying the foundation for this site around 2009 I was living and writing in South Korea, and taking note of the growing intersections of Pittsburgh and Korea: Hines Ward, Hwang Woo-suk, a Pittsburgher-owned bar in Incheon, and the Seoul church built to resemble PPG place, among other things. There were also a handful of random "Pittsburgh"s there, too: a bar called Pittsburgh in Siheung, a pizza place called Pittsburgh in Ansan, a Cafeteria Pittsburgh in Seoul, a hamburger placed called 피츠버거 (which is how Pittsburger [sic] would be hangeulized), and a Pittsburgh Hall at a university.

While following up on some of these this week I came across the latest Koreayinzer artifact: a Pittsburgh house in Gyeongsangbuk-do. The apartment in Chilgok-gun is a four-story, 15-unit apartment building ; three floors of five units each sit atop a ground floor parking garage. The exterior has black and yellow trim, with "Pittsburgh" in along the side, and a Pittsburgh Pirates P marks.

The photos in this post were taken from Kakao Map's Road View around the apartment's address, 경북 칠곡군 석적읍 남중리2길 17.


The black and yellow theme was applied sometime after the next-to-last Road View look in August 2020:

Japanese animated movie Kaiju no 8: Mission Recon, largely a compilation film of season one, in Pittsburgh, April 13, 14, and 16.

The Japanese animated movie Kaiju no 8: Mission Recon, a recap of the anime's season one combined with a new episode, will play in Pittsburgh on April 13, 14, and 16.

In a Kaiju-filled Japan, Kafka Hibino works in monster disposal. After reuniting with his childhood friend Mina Ashiro, a rising star in the anti-Kaiju Defense Force, he decides to pursue his abandoned dream of joining the Force, when he suddenly transforms into the powerful "Kaiju No. 8."

It plays locally, so far, at the AMC Loews Waterfront and tickets are available online.

Story Saturday: Sashiko’s Stiches, April 12 at Carnegie Museum of Art.

The Carnegie Museum of Art will feature a reading of Sachiko's Stitches for the April 12 installment of its Story Saturday series.

Join us in the Ailsa Mellon Bruce Decorative Arts and Design galleries for an in-person morning story time with Alyssa Velazquez as she reads Sashiko’s Stitches by Sanae Ishida. Following the reading stick around for a making activity for children 12 and under.

This reading is made possible by Worthy Kids.

About the Book

Sashiko is girl with very big feelings. Sometimes the feelings weigh her down, or make her feel all tangled up inside. But when she learns about sashiko, the traditional Japanese practice that inspired her name, she finds hope and comfort in creative expression.

The storytime runs from 11:00 am to 12:00 pm and is free with museum admission, but registration is required. The Carneige Museum of Art is located at 4400 Forbes Ave. in Oakland (map), accessible by numerous city buses.

1985 Japanese animated movie Vampire Hunter D (吸血鬼ハンターD) in Pittsburgh for 40th anniversary, April 9, 10, and 13.

The 1985 Japanese animated movie Vampire Hunter D (吸血鬼ハンターD) will play in Pittsburgh on April 9, 10, and 13 to mark its 40th anniversary. A synopsis from the distributor:

Anime Expo Cinema Nights Presents special 40th anniversary screenings of the cult classic Vampire Hunter D. In the year 12,090 AD, technology and the supernatural have overtaken the world, leaving the land desolate and despotic. The remnants of humanity are scattered into small communities and live in fear of vampires who compose the ruling Nobility. When Count Magnus Lee tastes the blood of Doris Lang, she is forcibly chosen to be his next wife. In an effort to escape her ill-gotten fate, she hires a mysterious vampire hunter known only as D, who comes from a peculiar lineage.

It is scheduled to play locally at the AMC Loews Waterfront, andtickets are available online.