Pace yourself with "Modern Japan", "Introduction to Asian Studies" online.

A few days ago the Japan American Society of Greater Philadelphia posted that a free online course "Intro to Japanese Culture" through the Massechusetts Institute of Technology [MIT] was now available. Navigating the MIT website you'll see a syllabus, a list of readings, and downloadable materials that direct back to the website. I noted on their Facebook page that this particular site was a useful guide but that it lacked any lectures or uploaded materials, so it wasn't exactly a "course" but rather a checklist. This and the numerous other Asia-related courses available from MIT---including Japanese Literature and Cinema, Smashing the Iron Rice Bowl, and Race and Gender in Asian America---are useful for enthusiastic learners wanting to pace themselves with previously-offered university courses, but are incomplete in that readings, lectures, assignments, and films are, because of logistical and copyright concerns, unavailable. It wasn't my goal to bicker with somebody behind an excellent resource for Japanophiles in Philadelphia, just to look more closely at what's actually available.

However, some university professors put their course sylabii and more online, allowing people to follow along at home. Dr. Alan Baumler at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, for an example in western Pennsylvania, teaches "Modern Japan" and has posted not only a syllabus but also the articles his students can choose to read. As he explains on this Frog in the Well blog post last month, students choose among several optional readings in order to customize the course a bit to their own interests.

I could give them a whole graduate seminar of readings, but that would not work, in part because undergraduates mostly need the ‘lecture’ part of lecture-discussion: someone leading them through the major themes of the period rather than assuming they already know them.

The way I have been approaching this is giving them a set of “optional” readings. Each week they need to do whatever common readings we have, and also at least one of the optional readings, usually an article or a book chapter. The idea here is that they can tailor the class to fit their own interests. More interested in economics, or women? Then pick the optional readings that fit your interests.

Dr. Baumler also teaches "Introduction to Asian Studies", for which there is also a syllabus and selected readings online.

Eunsuh Choi exhibition "Consciousness" at Pittsburgh Glass Center in Garfield, Feb 1 - Jun 16.

Eunsuh Choi's exhibition "Consciousness" opens at Garfield's Pittsburgh Glass Center (map) tomorrow and runs through June 16. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette wrote a lengthy preview on the 30th.

Her work is about aspiration and the symbolism that permeates her sculptures attests to that. Trees, for example, reach upward, as do ladders. Trees also symbolize human beings. The reaching limbs, as graceful as a ballerina's arms, end in small rounded buds at the ready to blossom into fulfillment. "Humans also kind of have seasons," Ms. Choi noted, cycling the relationship back. And, unlike ladders, she writes in an artist statement, "this is an object that lives and breathes, has the capability of growing and is equally capable of dying."

The confining spaces of the boxes reflect "how I feel about living in a foreign country," Ms. Choi said.

More about her is on her official website,

I’m interested in portraying the human aspiration in life with organic forms from the new perspective I had about myself within a foreign country. Originally from Korea, I relocated to the United States and my Korean heritage tends to make me ask about myself in terms of my direction as an artist and an individual especially after I came to the USA. What are my ambitions, how can I achieve these, and what is the personal significance?

and the Pittsburgh Glass Center Facebook page has a lot of neat photos of, among other things, the pre-exhibition exhibition.

Pittsburgh Quarterly on Teppanyaki Kyoto.

By Laura Petrilla for Pittsburgh Quarterly.

Highland Park's Teppanyaki Kyoto has been open for a year, and has been reviewed a few times by the local papers (1, 2, 3). This month it's Pittsburgh Quarterly's turn, and this time they took some good photos. And like the other reviewers, this one understands there is more to Japanese food than sushi and a hibachi:

Very few people view Japanese food as comfort food — but in the dead of winter, Teppanyaki Kyoto is a great spot to eat a warm meal in a peaceful setting. It joined the expanding Bryant Street restaurant district in Highland Park last January and serves authentic Japanese food grilled (yaki) on an iron griddle (teppan).

Here, sushi isn’t on the menu; instead, there are meats, seafood and noodles.

They also talked with the restaurant's owner, who moved here from Taiwan and is married to a Japanese woman:

Why did you choose to set up on Bryant Street?
It’s quiet — the right atmosphere for a Japanese restaurant. I feel like Shadyside and downtown are too busy, whereas Bryant Street has just the right number of restaurants. We live close by and my family likes the neighborhood. In addition, my restaurant is popular with younger people, and it’s easy for them to get here by bus or car.

Akira at Pittsburgh Anime Film Series, February 5.

The first selection in this February's Pittsburgh Anime Film Series will be Akira (アキラ), February 5th at Toonseum downtown in the Cultural District (map). Wikipedia tells us about the film:

The film depicts a dystopian version of the city of Tokyo in the year 2019, with cyberpunk tones. The plot focuses on teenage biker Tetsuo Shima (Nozomu Sasaki) and his psychic powers, and the leader of his biker gang, Shotaro Kaneda (Mitsuo Iwata). Kaneda tries to prevent Tetsuo from releasing the imprisoned psychic Akira. While most of the character designs and settings were adapted from the original 2182-page manga epic, the restructured plot of the movie differs considerably from the print version, pruning much of the last half of the manga. The film became a hugely popular cult film and is widely considered to be a landmark in Japanese animation.

The movie starts at 7:00 pm and is free with Toonseum admission ($5 for adults). About the screening:

The film is being screened in conjunction with a special exhibition of original production art from the film, running throughout February at the ToonSeum. The screening will be followed by a lecture on Akira by film writer Joe Peacock, owner of a number of the pieces on display in the exhibition.

The other movies in the series are: 5 Centimeters Per Second (Byōsoku Go Senchimētoru, 秒速5センチメートル) on February 11, Memories on February 18, and Summer Wars (Samā Wōzu, サマーウォーズ) on February 25. They're free, and they're held on the campuses of Pitt and Carnegie Mellon University. More details available at the series' official website.

As an aside: New Orientalism.

One of the hallmarks of American media coverage of East Asia over the past decade has been a new sort of Orientalism, a patronizing look at its development that preserves audiences' sense of superiority by marveling at its rapid progress, questioning implicitly how those people could do it, and comforting readers that "we" are still ahead. It's hard to watch anything about Asia on the Discovery Channel, National Geographic, or even Animal Planet without repeatedly hearing how "exotic" the cultures are, while the contrast is deliberately underscored through a shamisen, erhu, or other traditional stringed-instrument in the background. It's also apparently an unwritten rule to frequently return to that theme of contrast throughout the article or video report: old versus new, tradition versus Western influence, and the stories of those left behind in the countries whose economic developments have been unparalleled this century.

Japanese film After Life (ワンダフルライフ) at Pitt, January 31.

The University of Pittsburgh's undergraduate Linguistics club Yinzling will show the Japanese movie After Life (Wonderful Life, ワンダフルライフ, in Japan[ese]) on January 31. Wikipedia says:

The movie is set in a building resembling a decrepit travel lodge or social services institution. Every Monday, a new group of recently deceased people check in, and the "social workers" in the lodge explain to each guest their situation. The newly-dead have until Wednesday to identify the single happiest memory. For the rest of the week, the workers at the institution work to design and replicate each person's chosen memory, thereby replicating the single happiest moment of that person's life, and it is filmed.

At the end of the week, the recently deceased watch the films of their recreated happiest memories in a screening room. As soon as each person sees his or her own memory, he or she vanishes to whatever unknown state of existence lies beyond and takes only that single memory with them, to live and relive for eternity.

It starts at 8:30 pm in room 324 of the Cathedral of Learning. Those interested should RSVP on the event's Facebook page.

Philadelphia cherry blossom festival postcard.

The Subaru Cherry Blossom Festival of Greater Philadelphia recently released a couple of postcards to promote its 2013 event, held from April 1 through 26 this year. Here's the best of the bunch:



And since we're looking at that side of the state, here are a few pictures of a frozen Shofuso Japanese House and Garden.

When Kimchi Bus came to Pittsburgh (and took a nice picture).

Back when it was nice out, the Kimchi Bus visited Pittsburgh.

The Kimchi Bus is, um, a bus that was on a mission to introduce Korean kimchi by touring around the world. It found Pittsburgh back in September. Unfortunately, it didn't tell anyone, so just a few people happened across it by accident. It did give us this nice picture, though, which should hold us over until the weather gets better and until we have interesting things to write about later.

Local student earns gold medal at World Traditional Wushu Championships.

Last week the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review---and Examiner.com the month before---wrote about Gina Bao, a North Allegheny Intermediate High School student who earned a gold medal in her age group for taijijian at the World Traditional Wushu Championships in Huangshan City, China back in November.

Bao, 15, traveled with the U.S. Traditional Wushu Team to participate in the Fifth World Traditional Wushu Championships from Nov. 5 to 11, when she competed with and defeated contestants from several other countries to win the gold medal in her age group, 14 to 18.

. . .

She also won the bronze medal for females in her age group for taijiquan, or tai chi hand form, in the competition.

Both articles have decent write-ups of her training and upbringing in kung fu and other activities.

Originally a ballet dancer, Bao gave up that activity when her family recognized her talent in martial arts.

“That was really hard for me because I didn‘t like martial arts, but we (she and her father) both knew I was better,” Bao said. “I liked dance a lot more, but I was better at martial arts. In the end I chose martial arts. I love tai chi because it‘s like dance. I like to compete, and I like to win because I like to make my parents proud.”

She has won 25 domestic and international medals, according to the Tribune-Review, and will perform at the OCA Pittsburgh Lunar New Year Banquet on February 23.

Pittsburgh Taiko beginner lesson, January 19.

Pittsburgh Taiko, a local Japanese drumming group, will offer a free "crash course" for beginners tomorrow, January 19, from 2 to 5 pm at Shadyside's Winchester Thurston School (map).

During this session, you’ll be learning basic warm-ups and exercises, the proper form and technique, and then diving into your first two kumidaiko songs!

You can see and hear Pittsburgh Taiko on YouTube.