CMU's Matsuri raises $3027 for middle school damaged by 3/11 tsunami.

The Japanese Student Association at Carnegie Mellon University raised $3027.19 in its March 29, 2013 Matsuri for Ishinomaki city's Mintao Junior High School (石巻市立湊中学校), and last month some of its members met with the principal to deliver the check. All of the profits from the 2013 festival went to the school. Their website on the festival's fundraising, updated last year on its aims and 2012's contributions, reads in part:

Minato Middle school used to be located on the coast, one of the most vulnerable places for Earthquakes. It is currently using make-shift shelters on the playground of a near by elementary school. While a lot of recovery has already been in place and the school receives aid from the government, it is no where near the state where it was before the earthquake.

Last year we were able to help students get equipment for sports and also support their music classes through the profits made at Matsuri.

City of Asylum's Exiled Voices of China and Tibet, June 8.

City of Asylum/Pittsburgh, which "provide[s] sanctuary to endangered literary writers", is hosting the day-long "Exiled Voices of China and Tibet" on June 8. The website says it's a

series of free talks, readings and performances featuring Independent Chinese PEN Center President and Sampsonia Way columnist Tienchi Martin Liao, poet and musician Liao Yiwu and human rights activist and lawyer Chen Guangcheng. Hosts and moderators include New York Times Beijing correspondent Andrew Jacobs, Pittsburgh World Affairs Council President and CEO Steven E. Sokol, and WESA’s Paul Guggenheimer. At 8 PM, enjoy Rock & Rap for Freedom, a concert featuring JasiriX and Tibetan exiled rockers Melong Band, with a special appearance by City of Asylum poet Huang Xiang.

It runs from 1 pm to 10 pm at the Tent on Monterey Street on the North Side (map). It's free, but reservations are necessary. The event's webpage has a schedule and more information.

TED Talk: "How Rock Music Shaped the New Mongolia".

Today Lauren Knapp uploaded her 16-minute talk at Greater Johnstown High School titled "Live from UB: How Rock Music Shaped the New Mongolia". Knapp has been in the local news the past year for her documentary Live from UB, and wrote at length in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette in September on the country and its rock scene.

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette writes about Victoria Lee, a Korean-American student who was named "an outstanding Asian-American student by the Asian-American Heritage Committee of the Pittsburgh Federal Executive Board". The article also mentions her parents, whom you might know as the owners of a large sports clothing store in the Strip District.

Pittsburgh is swell, but an "expat hotspot"?

The CNNMoney headline "Pittsburgh becomes expat hot spot" jumped out at readers on May 30, leading us to wonder why author opted for the present tense over something more representative of a developing situation. Those who choose to read the entire report---all seven paragraphs of it---might not get too worked up. Pittsburgh is a fine mid-sized city with rotten public transportation but is very insecure and boasts of any ranking or mention in the mainstream media, regardless of how vapid the source or cursory the glance.

Northwest Chinese Pop-up Restaurant, June 1 in East Liberty.

A reader passes along news of a Northwest Chinese Pop-up Restaurant event at AVA Lounge Saturday night, June 1, from 7:00 to 10:00 pm at AVA Lounge. To plagiarize the Eventbrite posting:

Come out Saturday for a sampling of authentic Northwestern Chinese food with dishes from the cuisines of the Chinese Muslims and throughout Central Asia. We'll also have beer and be playing various ethnic music from Northwestern China!

Tickets are, as the site says, $6 online through Eventbrite, or $10 at the door. Formerly known as Shadow Lounge, AVA Lounge is located at 5972 Baum Blvd in East Liberty (map).

Oakland's Kbox adds 8,000 Korean songs.

One of the biggest complaints of Oakland's Kbox, Pittsburgh's first and only Asian-style singing room, has been the lack of much other than Chinese-language songs. Kbox announced today that they've added 8,000 K-pop songs to go with the 13,000 English-language and 70,000 Chinese-language songs available. They've recently made their songlists available online, so you can browse the newly-added Korean songs on their website.

Any reader 노래방 favorites? A friend learned Kim Do-hyun's "사랑했나봐", and the relatively slow speed mades it memorizable for non-native speakers. However, it's not among the 8,000 listed:

Pittsburgh Magazine readers vote on best restaurants.

The June 2013 issue of Pittsburgh Magazine has the results of its readers' poll on best restaurants in Pittsburgh. For the Japanese / Sushi category, Nakama Japanese Steakhouse came in first, with Umi and Little Tokyo Bistro second and third. Sushi Kim was voted the Best Korean restaurant, with Golden Pig and Dasonii Korean Bistro rounding out the top three.

These results are similar to the City Paper's last fall, and 2013's haven't changed much from 2012's, with Umi replacing Ichiban Hibachi in the Japanese category and Dasonii bumping Green Pepper out of the Korean. The 2009 reader's poll also put Nakama and Sushi Kim in first place. A poll with more Japanese and Korean voters, though, would probably put Chaya Japanese Cuisine and Kyoto Teppanyaki on the list, and vote Golden Pig first place.

In other categories of note, Sesame Inn was voted Best Chinese and Nicky’s Thai Kitchen Best Thai.

Beautiful Birds, Entertainers, Samurai exhibits at Butler's Maridon Museum.

The Maridon Museum has three special exhibits of dolls, figurines, and sculptures on display now through the end of August: "Beautiful Birds", "Entertainers", and "Samurai". The museum is located at 322 North McKean St in downtown Butler (map), and is open Wednesday through Saturday from 11:00 am to 4:00 pm.

Free Japanese classes at East Liberty Carnegie Library, June 6 - August 29.

The East Liberty branch of the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh will hold free Japanese classes each Thursday evening from June 6 through August 29 (excepting July 4). From the library website:

Learn conversational Japanese in a casual setting. Classes are free, and all ages and backgrounds are welcome!

The classes are 6:00 - 7:30 pm in Meeting Room 2, and the library is located on 130 S. Whitfield Street (map). A reminder that the Oakland branch holds Japanese for Beginners, Japanese II, and a Japanese Conversation Club on biweekly schedules each month. Each class is suited for a different level, so check the course descriptions for more information.