Japanese Survivors Forum at Allderdice High School, November 8.

A reminder that the Japanese Survivors Forum---a visit by students from a tsunami-affected region of Japan to Pittsburgh's Allderdice High School---will be held Thursday evening in Squirrel Hill. Here's an excerpt from the Japanese American Society of Pennsylvania's release in September:

Twenty four Japanese students from Hitachi Dai Ni High School in Japan will be visiting Pittsburgh’s Allderdice High school from Nov 7- 10 as part of the high school students volunteers exchange program called the Kizuna project. Hitachi city suffered from the Great East Japan earthquake and tsunami.
Allderdice students visited Hitachi Dai Ni School for two weeks, helped the city as volunteers and learned about the earthquake affected area and their people this summer. In exchange Japanese students will visit Allderdice to share the real stories of their lives with at a presentation about their experiences and recovery efforts in the area. The presentation is open to the public and begins at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday, November 8, 2012. Pittsburgh Taiko will be participating in the presentation.

More about the Kizuna Project via its webpage.

Karaoke Night with Korean Language Study Group in Pittsburgh, November 10.

The Korean Language Study Group in Pittsburgh will meet for karaoke at Korea Garden on November 10. If you are interested in attending, you will need to RSVP via the group's Meetup.com page.

We are going to Korea garden and they have about 20,000 Korean songs.
And they have more than 2,000 English songs.
Also they have Chinese songs, Japanese songs and other songs.

Please be free to sing any songs in any language if you like.
If the number of RSVP is less than 6 until 11/3, I'll cancel this event.

And the cost for the Karaoke is $35 per hour per room.
So, we will divide this cost by a number of people who are attending.

Before starting Karaoke night, we'll have some Korean food for our dinner there.

Korea Garden, on Semple Street in Oakland, has a couple of rooms above its restaurant for karaoke, or noraebang in Korean. They look more like conference rooms, and the second floor could use a contractor or three, but the place gets decent reviews because it has a respectable selection of Korean, Japanese, and English songs.

Conference room Singing room in Korea Garden.

Vietnamese bistro Tan Lac Vien opening in Squirrel Hill.

Squirrel Hill will get a Vietnamese restaurant shortly when Tan Lac Vien opens on 2114 Murray Ave. (map).



On Thursday I talked with the realtor, who told me the owners also operate a Vietnamese place on Semple Street in Oakland---which would make Azn Bistro the most likely candidate---that the food is really good, and that they're fixing up the interior of what was most recently an Italian restaurant.

Update 11/11/12: Awning up yesterday, and hours posted on the door. looks to be opening soon.

Japanese film The Makioka Sisters in Pittsburgh, November 4.

A reminder that the 1983 Japanese film The Makioka Sisters (細雪, Sasame Yuki) will run on Sunday, November 4 as part of the Three Rivers Film Festival. The festival site's says:

Presented in a new, restored 35mm print, this rich, lyrical film centers on the lives of four sisters who have taken on their family’s kimono manufacturing business. Shot in rich, vivid colors, and set in the years leading up to the Pacific War, it's a graceful study of a family at a turning point in history – a poignant evocation of changing times and fading customs. The two oldest sisters are married and according to tradition, the rebellious youngest sister cannot wed until the third, who's terribly shy, finds a husband. Don't miss this gorgeous film on the big screen.

There is only one showing, at the Regent Square Theater (map), at 7:30 pm with tickets available both online and at the door. Here's an English-subtitled trailer:

Artist Masayo Kajimura at Pitt, November 5, 6.

From the "Mono no aware" trailer.

A screening and discussion with German-born artist Masayo Kajimura will take place at the University of Pittsburgh on Monday, November 5. The University Center for International Studies says:

A screening of works and a conversation with Masayo Kajimura, a Berlin-based video and installation artist. In her work Masayo creates a rich multi-layered flow of images that draw on settings and motifs from various global locations and cultural settings. Sharp insights and provocations underlie these evocative, lyrical, and associative projects.

It will run from 1:00 to 3:00 in room 602 of the Cathedral of Learning. The next day she will screen and discuss her short film "Mono no Aware":

Masayo Kajimura, a German-born artist of Japanese descent, will give a talk on her recent film "Mono no Aware." In this presentation, to be held in G 28, Benedum Hall at 1:00 p.m. on Tuesday, November 6, she will screen a short work "Momo no Aware" and speak on her relationship on Japan and Japanese culture in the context of Asian diaspora. All are welcome to attend.

Pirates Asian-free again after releasing Takahashi.

On Wednesday the Pittsburgh Pirates released pitcher Hisanori Takahashi, claimed off waivers from the Los Angeles Angels in August. He pitched in 9 games with Pittsburgh from August 25 and started well, with six outs in his first 19 pitches, but imploded in his third and fifth appearances.

Takahashi was the third Japanese player in Pirates history: the first was a Masumi Kuwata, a former starting pitcher in Japan well-past his prime when he arrived here; the second was Aki Iwamura, an infielder who in local popular imagination somehow managed to be considered the worst player in one of the worst Pirates seasons.

The North Hills Art Center (map) is having a Chrysanthemum festival on November 3, with a tea ceremony and calligraphy workshop. Registration is required, and it costs $30 to attend both.

Traditional Chinese dance, martial arts at "Wellness Roadshow", November 4th.

The University of Pittsburgh Confucius Institute will host a "Wellness Roadshow" on Sunday, November 4th, at Bellefield Hall (map) from 7:00 pm to 8:00 pm. From the Asian Studies Center, once again:

The performance includes Chinese Lion Dance, Chinese Folk Dance, Chinese Martial Arts and various Chinese traditional instruments. It will be a great interactive opportunity to experience Chinese dance and kungfu as well as a wonderful cultural immersion experience!

Remember, too, on November 11th the Golden Dragon Acrobats will be performing at that same Bellefield Hall.

Korean Hines Ward biopic in the news, again.

Some Korean outlets reported on the 11th, and again this week, that the Korean movie on Hines Ward's life is a go. Osen wrote on October 25th that a movie about Korean-American "football star" Hines Ward's life story is being developed, and that Won Media and Ward have finalized contract and copyright details:

한국계 풋볼스타 하인스 워드의 일대기를 다룬 영화가 제작된다.

원 미디어 측은 25일 "하인스 워드와 판권 계약을 마쳤다"라고 전했다.

This movie will, the next paragraph says, cover his life from his earliest days through the start of his NFL career. It's set for a 2014 release date, and is operating with a 250 billion won (US$2.29 million) budget. Ward is half Korean, a point widely known in South Korea where he was heralded a national hero after Super Bowl 40, and was raised in the United States by his single, Korean mother.

Colloquium "Bottomhood is Powerful: Asian American Sexual Positionings", November 1st at University of Pittsburgh.

The Humanities Center at the University of Pittsburgh will present a colloquium by Bryn Mawr College's Nguyen Tan Hoang titled "Bottomhood is Powerful: Asian American Sexual Positionings" on November 1st, 12:30 to 2:00 pm in room 602 of the Cathedral of Learning. A short description accompanied the announcement by the University of Southern California two weeks ago:

Advancing the concept of “gay Asian bottomhood,” the talk examines the ways that anal erotics and bottom positioning refract the meanings of race, gender, sexuality, and nationality in American culture. I suggest that bottomhood simultaneously enables and constrains Asian American men in moving-image media. Gay male video pornography and sex
cruising websites constitute case studies. The talk will be supplemented by a short video screening.

Pittsburgh's version will feature responses by two faculty members as well as two short videos. Students, faculty, and staff in Humanities can access readings made available for the colloquium by visiting my.pitt.edu, clicking "My Resources," and choosing "Humanities Center". A brief excerpt from his manuscript abstract:

“A View from the Bottom: Asian American Masculinity and Sexual Representation” offers a new framework for oppositional politics through a reassessment of male effeminacy. Challenging the strategy of remasculinization employed by Asian American and gay male critics as a defense against feminization, the manuscript rewrites male effeminacy as socially and sexually enabling, thus refuting its characterization as a racially- and sexually-inflected injury.

Late notice, but the Women's Studies Center will present a screening of Hoang's short films on October 30th from 6:30 to 8:00 pm in G-24 of the Cathedral of Learning

as part of the Kelly Strayhorn Theater's My People queer of color film series. Stay after the video for a video Q&A with the video artist Nguyen Tan Hoang.