Pittsburgh Japanese School looks to relocate after Shady Side Academy building sold to Aviary.

Ceremony for the first day of school in April. 

The Pittsburgh Japanese School in Fox Chapel is scouting new locations as work nears completion on the new Middle School campus and after news of the current grounds' impending sale. In February it was reported the National Aviary had purchased the campus; Shady Side Academy and PJS students will discontinue use of the building in December.

The Pittsburgh Japanese School was established in 1977 and offers education in the Japanese curriculum for Japanese and Japanese-American children from pre-kindergarten through high school.

Located on the beautiful campus of Shady Side Academy, PJS is one of the three supplementary Japanese schools in Pennsylvania. We offer Japanese instruction for grades Pre-K - 12th in accordance with the guidelines and curriculum set by Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology of Japan.

The primary purpose of PJS is to provide a Japanese curriculum for children of Japanese families who have relocated to the Pittsburgh area so that their children may make a smooth transition back to the rigorous Japanese educational system upon their eventual return. The secondary purpose of PJS is to provide children who are fluent or proficient in Japanese with the opportunity to receive instruction in Japanese and to participate in the cultural traditions of Japan while residing in the Pittsburgh area on a long term basis.

The Pittsburgh Japanese School is grateful to the Japanese government and the Office of the Consulate General of Japan in New York for providing us with funding, invaluable advice, textbooks, and other educational materials which allow us to deliver quality education to our students. We are equally grateful for the continued support of our warm community, our dedicated teachers and staff, and our friends and families who all generously donate their time and energy into making our school a truly unique “home away from home”.

As detailed on its website, the Pittsburgh Japanese School has moved to increasingly large spaces after its formation, including Fox Chapel Area High School in 1994, before finally moving to Shady Side Academy in 2006. The present location offers classroom space for each grade level, a cafeteria, a Japanese-language library, a gymnasium, and outdoor spaces for classes and an annual sports day (運動会).

Those with potential leads on viable school campuses may contact the PJS office at office [at] pittsburghjapaneseschool.org.

Japanese ambassador and consul general Shinichi Nishimiya visits a pre-kindergarten class in August 2009, ahead of the G-20 summit. (Photo via August 31, 2009 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.)

Concert film ZEROBASEONE The First Tour: Timeless World in Pittsburgh, from March 28.

The concert film ZEROBASEONE The First Tour: Timeless World will play in Pittsburgh March 28, 29, and 30.

ZEROBASEONE's first world tour concert movie is coming to cinemas worldwide! Achieving significant milestones in their first year of debut and captivating 140,000 fans across 8 cities on their first world tour, ZEROBASEONE’s journey with ZEROSE takes center stage on the big screen. From iconic songs such as "In Bloom", "Feel the POP", and "GOOD SO BAD" to “Say My Name” and “Here I Am” from the show Boys Planet, behind-the-scenes footage that can only be found in the movie, to intimate interviews brimming with heartfelt feelings for ZEROSE. ZEROBASEONE’s groundbreaking performance is coming to the big screen. The time ZEROBASEONE spent with ZEROSE that will forever be remembered as the best day ZEROBASEONE THE FIRST TOUR [TIMELESS WORLD] IN CINEMAS.

It it scheduled to play locally at the AMC Loews Waterfront and 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 and the AMC Westmoreland in Greensburg, and tickets are available online.

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.

Dang Poke & Boba Tea opening in Cranberry in April.

via its Facebook page

Dang Poke & Boba Tea will be opening soon in Cranberry. "Proudly family owned and operated since 2025," Dang Poke & Boba Tea will have eight varieties of poke bowls, a build-your-own-bowl menu, a selection of Asian appetizers---spring rolls, tempura, edamame, among others---and an assortment of drinks and bubble teas. It is located at 20018 US-19 Suite 500, in the Oak Tree Plaza next to Jimmy John's (map).

"Visiting Artist Lecture Series: Joan Kee," April 15 at CMU School of Art.

The Carnegie Mellon University School of Art will host Joan Kee on April 15, parts of its Visiting Artist Lecture Series.

Joan Kee is Judy and Michael Steinhardt Director of the Institute of Fine Arts at New York University. A specialist in modern and contemporary art, her books include Contemporary Korean Art: Tansaekhwa and the Urgency of Method (2013), Models of Integrity: Art and Law in Post-Sixties America (2019), and The Geometries of Afro Asia: Art beyond Solidarity (2023) which was awarded the 2024 Robert Motherwell Book Award for a publication in the history and criticism of modernism in the arts. A contributing editor to Artforum and an editor-at-large for the Brooklyn Rail, Kee’s work has appeared in numerous venues including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, MoMA, LACMA, and the Guggenheim Museum.

The talk runs from 5:30 to 7:00 pm in Kresge Theatre (map).

2025 Philippine movie My Love Will Make You Disappear in Pittsburgh, from March 27.

The 2025 Philippine movie My Love Will Make You Disappear will play in Pittsburgh from March 27.

A woman who believes she's cursed meets a troubled landlord while fighting community displacement. As they grow closer, her fear that all her lovers disappear threatens their connection.

It is scheduled to play locally at the AMC Loews Waterfront and the Cinemark theater in Robinson through April 3, and tickets are available online.

2016 Korean film The Handmaiden (아가씨) in Pittsburgh, from April 11.

The 2016 Korean film The Handmaiden (아가씨) will play at the Row House Cinema in Lawrenceville from April 11 through April 17, part of its Erotic Thrillers series.

Park Chan-wook’s visually stunning and suspenseful South Korean psychological thriller that weaves a tale of deception, betrayal, and forbidden love. In 1930s Korea, a swindler and a young woman pose as a Japanese count and a handmaiden to seduce a Japanese heiress and steal her fortune.

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

Jordan Wong Artist Talk and PRACTICE +/- Exhibit Walk Through, free, March 28 in Bakery Square.

The Portal Art Gallery in Bakery Square will host an Artist Talk and Exhibit Walk Through with Jordan Wong on March 28. The gallery provides an overview of the exhibit:

PRACTICE +/- shares the contemplations and visual dynamism of artist Jordan Wong (WONGFACE). Building on his recent exhibition, Play is Infinite, at the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh (on view in 2025), this body of work furthers Wong’s imaginative exploration of the Ultimate Self, the endless possibilities of leveling up in life, and the transformative power of play.

The artwork is inspired by the question, 'What am I practicing?' It stems from the artist's ongoing examination of his own thoughts, feelings, and emotions that are repeated both consciously and—most importantly—subconsciously. The work also celebrates the philosophy that play inspires practice and, in turn, fosters greater play, emphasizing the power that comes from complete freedom to explore, experiment, and express.

Spanning a range of media, the exhibition blends traditional techniques like screen printing and aquatint etching with contemporary industrial processes such as digital UV printing and laser engraving. These dynamic methods reflect Wong’s layered approach, echoing his personal journey of identity as an artist and belonging as a second-generation Chinese American.

The event begins at 6:00 pm and is free and open to the public. The Portal Art Gallery is "located in the thoroughfare through Bakery Office One from Bakery Square Boulevard to East Liberty Boulevard" (map).

Pittsburgh Opera presents Madama Butterfly, featuring an entirely Japanese and Japanese-American creative team, from March 22.

Pittsburgh Opera will present Madama Butterfly from March 22 through March 30 with an entirely Japanese and Japanese-American creative team. PennsylvAsia readers can save 20% on tickets through an exclusive promo code.

MADAMA BUTTERFLY

Music by Giacomo Puccini
Libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa • MARCH 22, 25, 28, 30, 2025

His escape is her cage.

In this groundbreaking new production created by an all-Japanese and Japanese American creative team, Madama Butterfly’s story is transported to a fantastical realm where reality and dreams intersect.

Pinkerton puts on a VR headset and transports us into a vibrant virtual reality playground where he has ultimate control. As his avatar, a U.S. Navy Lieutenant, he can seduce and marry his fantasy girl and abandon her just as easily. But to Cio-Cio San, this is no game and the love and betrayal she feels is all too real.

Enveloped in Puccini’s stunning music, this visually beautiful production is the perfect match. Pittsburgh Opera is proud to partner with Cincinnati Opera, Detroit Opera, and Utah Opera to co-produce this reinvention of Puccini’s classic, uncovering new and resonant meaning for all audiences to enjoy.

 

Pennsylvasia readers can save 20% with the promo code POASIA!

Tickets are now available online. The performances are held at the Benedum Center in downtown's Cultural District (map).

Archives & Special Collections Gallery Talk- Guardians of Nature: Animals in Chinese Culture and Conservation!, March 26 at Pitt.

The University of Pittsburgh's University Library System will host "Archives & Special Collections Gallery Talk- Guardians of Nature: Animals in Chinese Culture and Conservation" on March 26.

Join us to learn more about the new exhibit Guardians of Nature: Animals in Chinese Culture and Conservation!

Guardians of Nature explores the rich symbolism of animals in Chinese culture, from ancient representations to contemporary reflections on endangered species. In this exhibit, you’ll encounter prints, stamps, and various objects that illustrate how animals have been revered, symbolized, and protected in Chinese history. You'll also see how these creatures are central to cultural beliefs, from the mythical creatures of ancient times to today’s conservation efforts. Alongside curator Shuyang Shi, PhD Student in History at the University of Pittsburgh, you'll explore the significance of these animals and gain insight into how China’s relationship with wildlife has evolved over the centuries.

The talk runs from 12:00 to 12:30 pm at the Hillman Library's 3rd Floor Exhibit Cases (map). 

 

2025 Chinese animated film Ne Zha 2 (哪吒之魔童闹海), now the top-grossing animated film of all time, remains in Pittsburgh through (at least) March 26.

The 2025 Chinese animated film Ne Zha 2 (哪吒之魔童闹海), which opened in Pittsburgh on February 13, will remain here through at least March 26.

After the catastrophe, although the souls of Nezha and Aobing were saved, their bodies would soon be shattered. Taiyi Zhenren planned to use the seven-colored lotus to rebuild their bodies.

Ne Zha 2 recently became the highest-grossing animated film of all time. It plays locally at the AMC Loews Waterfront, and tickets are available online.

Pittsburgh Sakura Project Hanami, cherry blossom viewing festival, April 5.

via the Project's 2020 gallery

The Pittsburgh Sakura Project will host its annual Hanami on April 5 at North Park. 

2025 Hanami (Cherry Blossom Viewing) Event  in North Park

Date and time: Saturday, April 5, 2025, 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm

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.

"Cooking With Kimchi Demonstration and Tasting," April 30 at East End Food Co-op.

The East End Food Co-op will host Jeonghee Choi and "Cooking With Kimchi Demonstration and Tasting" on April 30.

Join Jeonghee Choi from YeGa Kimchi for an evening with Korea's most popular fermented side dish! At this event, Jeonghee will demonstrate how to utilize kimchi in various ways, including pancakes and tacos.

Each participant will receive an 8 oz. container of napa cabbage kimchi, and a mini book of tips & recipes put together by Jeonghee. Guests will be able to sample different dishes and ask questions about preparing and using kimchi.

A limited number of tickets are availabvle online, from $35. The East End Food Co-op is located at 7516 Meade St. in Point Breeze (map).

Kpop Club Night ft DJ CHEN, March 20 at Enclave.

Southside night club Enclave will host a Kpop Club Night with DJ Chen on March 20.

Don’t miss the best dance party on the planet when @kpopclubnight finally touches down in Pittsburgh with mixmaster @djchenofficial serving up the best in Korean music for the dance-floor on Thursday March 20th. Tickets on sale now, get yours now before they sell out!

Tickets are available online. Enclave is located at 1602 E. Carson St. (map).

Concert film ZEROBASEONE The First Tour: Timeless World in Pittsburgh, from March 28.

The concert film ZEROBASEONE The First Tour: Timeless World will play in Pittsburgh March 28, 29, and 30.

ZEROBASEONE's first world tour concert movie is coming to cinemas worldwide! Achieving significant milestones in their first year of debut and captivating 140,000 fans across 8 cities on their first world tour, ZEROBASEONE’s journey with ZEROSE takes center stage on the big screen. From iconic songs such as "In Bloom", "Feel the POP", and "GOOD SO BAD" to “Say My Name” and “Here I Am” from the show Boys Planet, behind-the-scenes footage that can only be found in the movie, to intimate interviews brimming with heartfelt feelings for ZEROSE. ZEROBASEONE’s groundbreaking performance is coming to the big screen. The time ZEROBASEONE spent with ZEROSE that will forever be remembered as the best day ZEROBASEONE THE FIRST TOUR [TIMELESS WORLD] IN CINEMAS.

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

Elizabeth Rodwell and "The Machine Without the Ghost: Early interactive television in Japan," March 19 at Pitt.

The University of Pittsburgh's Asian Studies Center will host Dr. Elizabeth Rodwell and her talk "The Machine Without the Ghost: Early interactive television in Japan" on March 19, part of this year's ASIA POP lecture series.

This article is part of an ongoing ethnography of the Japanese television industry focusing on its attempts to experiment with live, interactive content that was manipulable via smart devices, laptops, and remote controls. Based on 18 months of fieldwork in the Japanese television industry in four major TV network offices and two production companies, it also incorporates interviews with more than 30 broadcast company employees. Using two case studies of early interactive television programming to discuss the strategies producers have used to create community and promote identification among audiences of these shows: ‘Arashi Feat. You’ was a live music event that courted a large audience through the involvement of a massively popular boy band and promoted the idea of ‘turning viewers into users’ by allowing them to play musical instruments along with the band. ‘The Last Award’ allowed participants to submit and evaluate each other’s videos live through a dedicated user interface. Through these examples, Rodwell argues that participation alters the nature of television spectacle and results in changes to the way producers address and inscribe audiences as cocreators of content. The rhetoric used by interactive television accordingly defaults to ‘we’ and ‘us’ and features accessible and relatable celebrities as surrogates for the audience.

Elizabeth Rodwell is a media anthropologist who is interested in interactivity, television, emergent technology (in general), and artificial intelligence (specifically). She is also a usability researcher (UX). My first book Push the Button: Interactive Television and Collaborative Journalism in Japan (forthcoming) examines the post-Fukushima tensions in the Japanese journalism and television industries, and seeks to account for the ways that media professionals are responding to increasingly skeptical and distracted audiences. She tracks the global debut of interactive television in Japan– a cutting-edge fusion of mediums that represented the most dramatic departure from existing television technology in several decades.

The talk runs from 6:00 to 7:15 pm in 149 Cathedral of Learning (map).

"Movies & Motors" with Row House Cinema's Japanese Film Festival and Pittsburgh Kyūsha, March 22.

Row House Cinema in Lawrenceville and Pittsburgh Kyūsha will collaborate on "Movies & Motors" on March 22.

Join @pittsburgh_kyusha on March 22nd at @rowhouse_lawrenceville for a special feature taking place during the Pittsburgh Japanese Film Festival ( @jffpgh )

Come get up close and personal with iconic right-hand-drive (RHD) cars imported from Japan. Also, experience Japanese cultural demonstrations from our friends at @japanamericasocietypa and see some of @milliestinyvan tiny JDM fleet vehicles!

For anyone wishing to participate in the show with their RHD vehicle please RSVP no later than March 15th to ensure we have a spot for you.

For more info about the films being shown and to buy tickets to all screenings, you can visit the Japanese Film Fest website at:

https://jffpgh.org/

"Movies & Motors" festivities start at 2:30 pm.  Several movies are scheduled to run that day: The Hidden Fortress (隠し砦の三悪人) at 12:00 pm, The Colors Within (きみの色)  at 2:50 pm, Ice Cream Fever (アイスクリームフィーバー) at 5:00 pm, Cha Cha (チャチャ) at 7:15 pm, and Onibaba (鬼婆) at 9:30 pm. The Pittsburgh Japanese Film Festival opens on March 14 and runs through March 27 at the Row House Cinema in Lawrenceville. The single-screen theater is located at 4115 Butler St. (map).

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.

Free screening of 1927 Chinese silent film The Cave of the Silken Web (盤絲洞) at Pitt for SCREENSHOT: Silent Asia 2025, April 7.

The University of Pittsburgh's SCREENSHOT: Asia and the Department of Music will present a free screening of 1927 Chinese silent film The Cave of the Silken Web (盤絲洞) for SCREENSHOT: Silent Asia 2025 on April 7. From the Asian Studies Center newsletter:

The film, which was thought lost until a partial copy was rediscovered in Norway, has been translated into English by UBC professor Christopher Rea. The silent film adapts an episode from the Ming dynasty tale The Journey to the West, in which the monk Tripitaka is held prisoner in a cave by magical spider-women, before being rescued by the Monkey King and his companions.

The version of the surviving print  is a restored digital copy that the National Library of Norway shared with the UBC Chinese Film Classics Project, the world’s largest free online collection of early Chinese films with English subtitles.

It will run from 7:00 to 9:00 pm in 125 Frick Fine Arts (map).