"What Abenomics Means for the United States" lecture, March 27.

Seats are still available for a free lecture on March 27 downtown, "What Abenomics Means for the United States".

After a generation of stagnation, the Nikkei has rebounded, the yen has plummeted, and Japan's pernicious deflation seems to be ending. Is Asia's second largest economy finally addressing long-ignored problems? Or is this just competitive devaluation by a different name? Bill Adams gives his assessment of Japan's latest reform plans and their implications for American businesses and investors.

The lecture is by Bill Adams of The PNC Financial Services Group, and is part of the ongoing MEPPI Japan Lecture Series, presented by Mitsubishi Electric Power Products Inc. and the Japan-America Society of Pennsylvania. It's from 5:30 to 7:00 pm at the Allegheny HYP Club (map), and includes light refreshments. Registration is required and can be completed on the JASP website.

Night Market at CMU, March 29.

Keelung Night Market, Taiwan by Shenghun Lin (Creative Commons).

Two Carnegie Mellon University student organizations, Awareness of Roots in Chinese Culture (ARCC) and Taiwanese Students Association (TSA), will present their annual Night Market on March 29. Says the event's Facebook page:

It will be a night full of awesome food and games (including karaoke!). Every year many of CMU's multicultural organizations come together in this celebration of food, snacks, and games from all over the world. The event is an homage to street "night markets" that are popular in Asia.

It starts at 10:00 pm and is held in Kirr Commons in the University Student Center (number 30 on the campus map).

At the Japanese Garden in Shadyside.

A few photos in the Japanese Healing Garden at Shadyside Hospital earlier this month. Reads a plaque at the entrance:

This garden is a gift from Dr. Kazuo Kodera in honor of nurses. It is a place for health care providers to think about our friends around the world and to reflect on the meaning of our work, which i to care for one another. It is a place to find new friendships, to find new hope, and to find peace.

We hope you enjoy your time here.

September 2005

Pittsburgh Taiko Spring Concert, March 23.

Pittsburgh Taiko will hold its Spring Concert on March 23 at 2:00 pm at the University of Pittsburgh's Bellefield Hall (map).

Pittsburgh Taiko performs wadaiko, a form of Japanese group drumming. We use Japanese drums and play regional arrangements from both Japan and the US, as well as original compositions!

Admission is once again free for university (Pitt, CMU, etc.) students! Bring all your friends! Invite all your friends! Tell everyone you know! Tell strangers!

For non-students there is a recommended donation of $5. This money goes to support us for future concerts, as well as for lectures and workshops to teach people about wadaiko.

"The Myth of Homogeneity: Immigration and Ethnicity in Twentieth-Century Japan" lecture, March 18.

The second installment of the "Japan in the Broader Context of Asia" lecture series is "The Myth of Homogeneity: Immigration and Ethnicity in Twentieth-Century Japan”, by David Kenley of Elizabethtown College. The presentation begins at 6:00 pm in room 4217 Posvar Hall (map), and is followed by light refreshments and a networking reception.

Masquerade (광해: 왕이 된 남자), Miracle in Cell No. 7 (7번방의 선물) at Pitt's 2014 Korean Film Festival, starting March 19.

The historical drama Masquerade (광해: 왕이 된 남자) and the comedic drama Miracle in Cell No. 7 (7번방의 선물) comprise this year's Korean Film Festival held at the University of Pittsburgh, now in its 11th year. Masquerade will play on March 19, and Miracle in Cell No. 7 on March 26.

Matsuri at Carnegie Mellon University, March 28.

Matsuri, the annual spring festival hosted by Carnegie Mellon University's Japanese Student Association and Japan@CMU Alliance, will be held this year on Friday, March 28. An overview from the event's Facebook page:

Japanese Student Association is proud to announce its biggest event of the year: Matsuri. Join us in celebrating aspects of Japanese food, culture and society. We will be hosting the event at Merson Courtyard outside of the University Center on Friday March 28th, from 4:30 to 8:30 PM. While you enjoy these acts, traditional Japanese decorations and festival games, feel free to eat a variety of foods from our Food Booths such as Yakisoba, Okonomiyaki, Karaage and a variety of other Japanese foods! Small carnival games will be available, and J@CMU's origami and cooking groups will also be in attendance to further promote Japanese culture at CMU.

All profits go to recovery efforts for the Minato Middle School in Japan which is still suffering from the earthquake and tsunami two years ago. You contribution is valuable and we hope to send a sizable amount of supplies this year, as we did last year. For more information regarding donations please go to this site: http://matsuri.cmu-jsa.com/cause.html

Thank you for your time and we hope to see you there!

Last year the event raised $3,027 for the school completely destroyed in 2011.

As the logo above shows, it runs from 4:30 pm to 8:30 pm and is held at the CMU University Center and Merson Courtyard (campus map). Food and games require tickets, which can be purchased in advance online or in Merson Courtyard. Additional information is available on the festival's website.

Akira Kurosawa film Ran (乱) at Maridon Museum, March 20.

The Maridon Museum will show the 1985 Akira Kurosawa film Ran (乱) on March 20 as part of its 2014 Spring Film Series.

"Bilingual Education in Indonesia's International Schools" lecture at Pitt, March 20.

The Asian Studies Center at the University of Pittsburgh will host Anis Sundusiyah of the School of Education and her lecture "Bilingual Education in Indonesia's International Schools" on March 20 as part of the Asia Over Lunch lecture series. It takes place at 12:00 pm in room 4130 Posvar Hall (campus map) and is free. Information about past and upcoming lectures in the series this term are printed on the flyer above.

Vietnamese film The Scent of Green Papaya at Pitt, March 18.

The University of Pittsburgh's Global Ties will show the 1993 Vietnamese-language movie The Scent of Green Papaya (Mùi đu đủ xanh) on March 18 as part of its "Global Spotlight: Vietnam" series of activities in March. From a 1994 Roger Ebert review:

Here is a film so placid and filled with sweetness that watching it is like listening to soothing music. "The Scent of Green Papaya" takes place in Vietnam between the late 1940s and early 1960s, and is seen through the eyes of a poor young woman who is taken as a servant into the household of a merchant family. She observes everything around her in minute detail, and gradually, as she flowers into a beautiful woman, her simple goodness impresses her more hurried and cynical employers. The woman, named Mui, is an orphan - a child, when she first comes to work for the family. She learns her tasks quickly and well, and performs them so unobtrusively that sometimes she seems almost like a spirit. But she is a very real person, uncomplaining, all-seeing, and the film watches her world through her eyes. For her, there is beauty in the smallest details: A drop of water trembling on a leaf, a line of busy ants, a self-important frog in a puddle left by the rain, the sunlight through the green leaves outside the window, the scent of green papaya.

The film will be shown on the 6th floor of the William Pitt Union from 7 to 9 pm, and is free for those with a valid Pitt student ID card.