Documentary Lessons in Dissent (未夠秤) and discussion with director at Pitt, February 11.

The Asian Studies Center newsletter tells us the 2014 documentary Lessons in Dissent (未夠秤) will be shown at the University of Pittsburgh on February 11, and will feature a discussion with director Matthew Torne.

A synopsis, from the film's official website:
Filmed over 18 months, Lessons in Dissent is a kaleidoscopic, visceral portrait of a new generation of Hong Kong democracy activists.

School boy JOSHUA WONG dedicates himself to stopping the introduction of National Education. His campaign begins to snowball when an interview goes viral on YouTube, with the new school year fast approaching, a showdown with the government seems inevitable. Microphone in hand, and still in his school uniform, he leads 120,000 protesters into battle.

Meanwhile, former classmate Ma Jai fights against political oppression on the streets and in the courts. Having dropped out of school and dedicated himself to the social movement, he endures the persecution suffered by those not lucky enough to be protected by the media’s glare.

Lessons in Dissent catapults the viewer on to the streets of Hong Kong and into the heart of the action: confronting the viewer with Hong Kong’s oppressive heat, stifling humidity and air thick with dissent.

The event runs from 6:00 to 9:00 pm in the Frick Fine Arts Auditorium (campus map).

"Modern Times in North Korea: Scenes from the Founding Years" at Pitt, February 13.

The University of Pittsburgh's Asian Studies Center will host Dr. Suzy Kim of Rutgers University and her talk "Modern Times in North Korea: Scenes from the Founding Years" at the University of Pittsburgh on February 13, the first in the center's Worlding Korea series. The synopsis:

North Korea is often portrayed in mainstream media as a backward place, a Stalinist relic without a history worth knowing. But during its founding years (1945-1950), North Korea experienced a radical social revolution when everyday life became the primary site of political struggle, including quite deliberately a feminist agenda. With historical comparisons to revolutions in the early 20th century, Suzy Kim introduces her book through rarely seen archival photos, situating the North Korean revolution within the broader history of modernity.

It will be held in 4130 Posvar Hall (campus map) from 3:00, and is free and open to the public.

Setsubun event at Teppanyaki Kyoto, February 3.

Highland Park's Teppanyaki Kyoto restaurant is holding a setsubun event on Tuesday, February 3. Guests can receive a free ehomaki roll on a first-come-first-served basis; the restaurant explains its significance:

One February 3rd, people in Japan celebrate Setsubun, the coming of spring. One of Setsubun dinner is Special Sushi Roll, Ehomaki (Thick uncut sushi roll). The proper way to eat this dinner is to face the auspicious direction for that year, this year it was west-south-west, and eat the entire sushi roll without stopping. Don't speak, just make your wish! This takes longer than you might think, so you have time to wish for a lot!

The restaurant is located at 5808 Bryant St. (map).

In the Mood for Love (花樣年華) at Carnegie Library Oakland, February 1.

The iconic Hong Kong film In the Mood for Love (花樣年華) will be shown for free at the Carnegie Library Oakland branch on February 1. The 2000 movie is February's installment of International Cinema Sunday. From a 2001 Roger Ebert review:

They are in the mood for love, but not in the time and place for it. They look at each other with big damp eyes of yearning and sweetness, and go home to sleep by themselves. Adultery has sullied their lives: his wife and her husband are having an affair. "For us to do the same thing," they agree, "would mean we are no better than they are." The key word there is "agree." The fact is, they do not agree. It is simply that neither one has the courage to disagree, and time is passing. He wants to sleep with her and she wants to sleep with him, but they are both bound by the moral stand that each believes the other has taken.

. . .

His name is Mr. Chow (Tony Leung Chiu-wai). Hers is Su Li-zhen (Maggie Cheung Man-yuk). In the crowded Hong Kong of 1962, they have rented rooms in apartments next to each other. They are not poor; he's a newspaper reporter, she's an executive assistant, but there is no space in the crowded city and little room for secrets.

The movie runs from 2:00 to 4:00 in Classroom A. The library is located at 4400 Forbes Ave. in Oakland (map).

Colloquium "Visual Orthographic Variation and Learning to Read across Writing System" at Pitt, January 30.

Via the Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures.

Li-Yun Chang, a graduate student in the Learning Research and Development Center, will give a talk on "Visual Orthographic Variation and Learning to Read across Writing System" on Friday, January 30, at Pitt. The abstract:

Different writing systems are used across the world – their visual forms vary greatly. How can we classify this visual variation? Across the range of writing systems, how does variability in the visual characteristics of graphemes, the smallest linguistically significant writing units, in different orthographies (e.g., English: letters; Chinese: characters) affect learning to read? Specifically, do individuals with differing writing system backgrounds perceive graphemes differently? This talk focuses on research testing the hypothesis that more complex orthographies impose greater perceptual demands on learners, encouraging development of stronger visual perceptual skills through learning to read. Findings suggest that visual orthographic variation, encompassing both grapheme complexity and size of grapheme inventory, affects learning to read due to resulting differences in visual perceptual processing. Implications of this orthographic variation on Chinese as a foreign language (CFL) pedagogy are discussed. Light refreshments will be served.

The talk begins at 12:00 pm in 4130 Posvar Hall (campus map) and is free and open to the public.

Tibetan-French short film "Butter Lamp" at Regent Square Theater, from January 30.

The Tibetan-French short film "Butter Lamp" will play at the Regent Square Theater from January 30 through February 12 as part of the Oscar Nominated Shorts: Live Action series. A synopsis, from the theater's site:

A young itinerant photographer and his assistant offer to photograph some Tibetan nomads in front of various backgrounds.

Host families needed for visiting Japanese college students.

GlobalPittsburgh, by way of the Japan-America Society of Pennsylvania, tells us of a need for host families for a group of Japanese students visiting Duquesne University in March:

GlobalPittsburgh is arranging homestays for a total of 18 pharmacy students from Kobe Gakuin University while they attend programming at Duquesne University. The students are between the ages of 18 and 23. At present, We still have 10 women in the group who need to be placed with host families. We will need hosts whose homes are accessible to public transportation as the students will be using bus passes to go to and from their classes and activities. We are asking that hosts provide private bedrooms for the students or provide one room with separate beds for the students. The students will be practicing their English while they are in the city. There will be some compensation for the host families for this program. Our colleagues in Japan are eager to learn the names of hosts so that the students may begin corresponding with their homestay hosts in advance of their arrival in March. If you are interested in this project, please contact Gail Shrott, Director, International Leaders Program, GlobalPittsburgh [. . .] GlobalPittsburgh will ask all potential hosts for this program to fill out a host family application (link to the application is: http://www.globalpittsburgh.org/node/1099).

The Tale of The Princess Kaguya (かぐや姫の物語) at Regent Square Theater, tomorrow through January 29.

The Regent Square Theater will present The Tale of The Princess Kaguya (かぐや姫の物語) from January 24 through 29. The highly-acclaimed 2013 Studio Ghibli film made its Pittsburgh debut at the Row House Cinema in December, and was announced as an Oscar nominee last week for Best Animated Feature. An A.V. Club review provides a summary:

A humble bamboo cutter named Okina (translation: “old man”) happens upon a glowing stalk in the grove near his house. When he investigates, the shimmering tree blossoms reveal a baby nested inside. Believing this discovery to be a gift from the heavens, Okina brings her home to his wife Ouna (“old woman”), with whom he begins to raise the child as their own. Dubbing her “Princess” Kaguya, Ouna and Okina marvel at how rapidly the girl begins to grow, racing from infancy to pre-adolescence in a matter of days.

While Kaguya busies herself with a normal childhood, making friends with the local kids and bonding with an older boy named Sutemaru, her adopted father becomes distracted by Kaguya’s value to him—the bamboo shoot from which she was born begins producing gold. As Kaguya transforms into a teenager, Okina relocates their family to the capital city, where the girl receives lessons on how to be a proper woman, and is celebrated as a rare beauty. When five aggressive suitors come calling—followed by the emperor himself—Kaguya begins to feel trapped, things falling apart as she imagines a different life for herself.

It goes on to say the film has "some of the most beautifully expressive animation that Ghibli (or anyone else) has ever produced".
Showtimes are available at the Pittsburgh Filmmakers website. The website says tomorrow's and Sunday's screenings will be dubbed in English, while the other shows will be in Japanese with English subtitles.

The Regent Square Theater is located at 1035 S. Braddock Ave. (map).

Pitt News previews "Top Shabu Shabu".

First look at Top Shabu Shabu signage in October; new interior sign installed in January.

Today's Pitt News--the student newspaper of the University of Pittsburgh--has a profile of Top Shabu Shabu, the hot pot restaurant moving into the former Pizza Sola location on Atwood Street.

Andrew Khoo, the restaurant’s manager, said although they named the new restaurant after Shabu-shabu, a Japanese style of dining, yet Top Shabu’s hot pot style is traditionally more Chinese.
Customers will order a “hot pot” and whatever meats and vegetables they would like to eat, which servers will bring to the table. Customers will then cook the food using the hot pot, a metal container filled with broth and heated by an electric coil, and eat their food at their table. In hot pots, the food is cooked while the pot simmers. Thinly sliced beef is the traditional choice, Khoo said, but Top Shabu will offer a variety of meat and vegetable options.

“All food is cooked at the table,” Khoo said.

According to Khoo, Top Shabu’s bar will offer Asian-inspired drinks.

“We have a 10 tap system from the previous owner,” Khoo said. “We’ll also have a variety of wine and a large variety of liquor for unique mixed drinks. The mixed drinks will have an Asian influence. For example, melon liqueur is used a lot in China.”

Japanese language exchange at Kenmawr Apartments, January 29.

The Japan-America Society of Pennsylvania shares news of a Japanese language exchange scheduled for Shadyside's Kenmawr Apartments (map) on January 29. The apartment complex is home to a lot of Japanese families recently arrived in Pittsburgh.