AppalAsia at Three Rivers Arts Fest, June 6.

AppalAsia, a Pittsburgh group that "combines the influences of Appalachian and Asian music traditions with original composition and inspired improvisation to create their unique musical voice", will perform at the Three Rivers Arts Fest on Friday, June 6, at 7:00 pm. (The festival website says 5:00, but the band says 7:00). The performance will take place at the Second Stage at Gateway Center and, like all others at the festival, will be free. The festival runs from the 6th through the 15th at several downtown locations.


A performance of "Wild Horse" in 2012, uploaded by erhu player Mimi Jong.

"The Asians Among Us".

The local papers have been running articles on immigrants recently, from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's "Pittsburgh's economy has gained from high-skilled immigrants" on May 18 to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review's "New Pittsburgh initiative attempts to bring more immigrants to city" on the 28th. Both articles feature Asian immigrants prominently, and both comment sections are ugly and xenophobic.

Historically, the local papers have, on occasion, taken interest in local Asian immigrants and communities; one such article, a four-pager called "The Asians Among Us", ran in the Pittsburgh Press on April 26, 1981. It profiles some of the earliest local community leaders from Korea, China, and Japan, though some of the stereotypes--"who said Asians are inscrutable?" and the overtly othering headline--are uncomfortable a couple generations later.

Local bonsai cultivator profiled in Post-Gazette ahead of annual show.

Ahead of the Bonsai Show next weekend, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette last week profiled a local bonsai cultivator, Daniel Yobp of Plum. An excerpt:

Having a Japanese roommate gave him the opportunity to visit Japan, which only fueled the flame. After graduation, he returned to Japan to live. He taught English and art while trying to learn everything he could about bonsai.

“I loved it. I started going to bonsai nurseries,” he says. “I quit my job and worked at Yoshoen bonsai nursery in Osaka. I got better and better.”

Eventually, he became skilled enough to teach bonsai classes there. Now back in the States with his Japanese wife, Mari, he’s an active member of the Pittsburgh Bonsai Society, and also one of the younger members at age 32.

At 11 a.m. June 7, Mr. Yobp will be offering a tree styling demonstration at the Bonsai Society’s annual show at the Phipps Garden Center in Shadyside.

Sukhothai Bistro opens in Squirrel Hill.

Sukhothai Bistro opened in Squirrel Hill on the 24th, in the spot formerly occupied by Cool Ice Taipei. It becomes the fifth Thai place in the neighborhood, joining Bangkok Balcony, Silk Elephant, Sun Penang, and Curry on Murray.

Cutie and the Boxer at Harris Theater, June 6, 9, and 12.

The 2013 documentary Cutie and the Boxer will play at the Harris Theater on June 6, 9, and 12 as part of the Three Rivers Arts Festival's "Art on Film 2014" series. A synopsis of the Oscar-nominated film, from the distributor's website:

A reflection on love, sacrifice, and the creative spirit, this candid New York documentary explores the chaotic 40-year marriage of renowned “boxing” painter Ushio Shinohara and his artist wife Noriko. As a rowdy, confrontational young artist in Tokyo, Ushio seemed destined for fame, but he is met with little commercial success after he moves to New York City in 1969, seeking international recognition. When 19-year-old Noriko moved to New York to study art, she fell in love with Ushio—abandoning her education to become the unruly artist’s wife and assistant. Over the course of their marriage, their roles shifted. Now 80, Ushio still struggles to establish his artistic legacy, while Noriko is at last being recognized for her own art—a series of drawings entitled “Cutie,” depicting her challenging past with Ushio. Spanning four decades, the film is a moving portrait of a couple wrestling with the eternal themes of sacrifice, disappointment and aging, against a background of lives dedicated to art.

Cutie and the Boxer, as well as the other films in the series, is free and open to the public. The Harris Theater is located downtown at 809 Liberty Ave. in the Cultural District (map).

"It's cleaner than San Francisco." When Park Chung-hee got the key to the city.

Visiting J&L Steel; photo by 이현표 but found via this article.

In May 1965, South Korean president Park Chung-hee (father of current South Korean president Park Geun-hye) visited Pittsburgh as part of a tour of the US that included stops in Washington D.C., New York, West Point, Los Angeles, and Cape Kennedy. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette wrote, on May 22, 1965, two articles on the occasion: one, a summary of the visit and the pleasantries exchanged between Park and Pittsburghers; another, a profile on the Korean First Lady. From the former:

The president of South Korea, Gen. Chung Hee Park, got the official view of Pittsburgh yesterday---a few minutes at the Mt. Washington overlook, and a half-hour motorcade through Oakland.

"I didn't expect to see so much green," he told Mayor Joseph M. Barr during the ride, "it's cleaner than San Francisco."

And from the latter:

On the approach to the Golden Triangle, Korea's First Lady went into a happy peal of laughter, letting out a quick spate of Korean. (She's so pleased with herself that she could talk so much about the rivers and the bridges in English, her secretary-interpreter Mrs. Margaret Cho explained.

For her arrival in Pittsburgh, Madame Park wore an entrancing lavendor silk Chogory Chima, with panels from teh shoulders, floating in the wind as she walked . . . showing the white silk lining. (The chogory stands for "short jacket," the chima for "down to the floor.").

She was greeted in her native language by a bevy of beautiful young Korean women and some Korean men.

Sarku Japan, katakana, South Hills Village.

Nakama voted best Japanese restaurant again by Pittsburgh Magazine readers.

Pittsburgh Magazine announced the winners of Best Restaurants 2014 readers' poll today, and Nakama was voted the best in the Japanese / Sushi category. The Southside's Little Tokyo Bistro and Shadyside's Umi finished second and third, respectively. Umi was also included on the list of best restaurants, as decided by the magazine's editors. Nakama was also voted the best Japanese restaurant by readers of the Pittsburgh City-Paper in 2013 (and in 2008, 2009, and 2011).

These three are in highly visible locations, and Nakama routinely places first in these sorts of polls (most recently in 2012 and 2013). Restaurants most liked by local Japanese and by fans of authentic Japanese cuisine---restaurants like Chaya, Kiku, and Kyoto Teppanyaki---rarely earn spots on readers' "best of" polls.

Sesame Inn was voted first in the Best Chinese category and Everyday Noodles, which opened in February 2013 in Squirrel Hill, was also named to the magazine's Best Restaurants 2014 list. Nicky's Thai Kitchen was voted Best Thai place, and made the editors' list as well.

University of Pittsburgh alumnus named director of Korea Astronomy & Space Science Institute.

Inwoo Han (한인우) was named director of the Korea Astronomy & Space Science Institute on Thursday, May 22. Han, a graduate of Seoul National University, earned his Ph.D. in Physics from Pitt in 1989, and titled his dissertation "The Study of the Multichannel Astrometric Photometer". He will assume the position from the 24th and hold it for three years, writes Asia Gyeongje.

More sweets at Sumi's.

Recent sign outside Sumi's Cakery, a Korean bakery in Squirrel Hill (map), advertising two new ice cream flavors. Stay tuned for patbingsu, too. Sumi's Cakery was recently named the Best Bakery by Carnegie Mellon University's C-Book, and it announced last week that it will soon offer Bubble Tea.