"Storytime: Japanese and English" at Carnegie Library in East Liberty, October 20.

The next installment of the monthly program "Storytime: Japanese and English" will take place on October 20 at the Carnegie Library in East Liberty.

Celebrate our city's diverse culture as we explore new words through songs, action rhymes and stories in both English and Japanese. For children ages 2-5 and their parents or caregivers.

It runs from 11:00 to 11:30 am. The library is located at 130 S. Whitfield St. (map).

Kiku-no-hana (chrysanthemum) display at Phipps Conservatory Fall Flower Show, from October 17.

Phipps Conservatory will highlight the chrysanthemum and its significance in Japanese culture during this year's Fall Flower Show from October 17 through November 8.

[T]his year’s Fall Flower Show brings a new perspective to the season's famed chrysanthemums through the lens of Japanese horticulture. Join us for a spirited introduction to Kiku-no-hana, or Kiku, the Japanese name for chrysanthemum, as we showcase the unique ways the blooms are traditionally grown in Japan and their importance in Japanese culture.

The wonder begins in the Palm Court, which represents China, the chrysanthemum’s country of origin, with vibrant plants in shades of red and orange, massive origami cranes, metal ornate lanterns and flickering candles. The Serpentine Room winds through a gradation of white, yellow, golden yellow, orange and deep red mums, while the Sunken Garden overflows with cascade towers of chrysanthemums and undulating waves of wagasas, or Japanese umbrellas. More beauty awaits in the Victoria Room, where the Japanese royal crest floats in the tranquil pond, and the East Room, where orange and coral blooms surround an ornate bridge and lanterns.

Phipps is located on the west edge of Oakland in Schenley Park (map), is open from 9:30 am to 5:00 pm six days a week, and from 9:30 am to 10:00 pm on Fridays.

Jung-ho Kang on the cover of Korea's first The Red Bulletin.

via TVDaily.

The Red Bulletin, a "global men's active lifestyle magazine" started in 2009, launched in South Korea this month, and features Pittsburgh Pirates infielder Jung-ho Kang on its first cover. The cover story and interview is here, in Korean.

Chinese movie Goodbye Mr. Loser (夏洛特烦恼) at AMC Loews Waterfront, from October 16.

The 2015 Chinese comedy Goodbye Mr. Loser (夏洛特烦恼) will play at AMC Loews Waterfront from October 16. A summary, from the distributor:

Comedians Shen Teng and Mai Li star in this film adaptation of the very popular Mainland theater play following the story of a middle-aged loser who finds himself magically transported back to his high school years, enabling him to fix all his life’s mistakes.

The movie was released on September 30 in China. Tickets and showtimes are available at the AMC Loews Waterfront website. It will be the third straight week that new Chinese movies have had a timely release in Pittsburgh; Saving Mr. Wu (解救吾先生) and Lost in Hong Kong (港囧) opened on October 2, with the latter playing into next week. The theater is located at 300 West Waterfront Dr. in the Waterfront shopping complex in Homestead (map), across the Monongahela River from Greenfield, Squirrel Hill, and the rest of Pittsburgh.

2014 Zhang Yimou film Coming Home (归来) at Regent Square Theater from October 16.

The 2014 Chinese film Coming Home (归来), directed by Zhang Yimou and starring Gong Li, will play at the Regent Square Theater from October 16. A New York Times review from September 8 summarizes a bit:

“Coming Home,” only [Zhang and Li's] second collaboration in the past 20 years, reunites them in an intimate, politically resonant story set in the final years and the immediate aftermath of the Cultural Revolution. Ms. Gong plays Feng Wanyu, a teacher in a provincial city whose husband, Lu Yanshi (Chen Daoming), a professor, has been sent to a labor camp in a purge of “rightists.” Feng Wanyu lives with their teenage daughter, Dan Dan (Zhang Huiwen), a dancer who dreams of playing the lead in the ballet “The Red Detachment of Women.” Her father’s pariah status threatens her ambition, and she is eager to denounce him when local officials demand it.

Early in the film, Lu Yanshi has escaped and made his way home in a doomed and desperate effort to see his family again. He receives a mixed welcome. Feng Wanyu is both terrified and eager to be with him, while Dan Dan, who barely remembers her father, is worried about the disruptive effect his presence will have on her life. Her selfishness and shortsightedness, and her inability to sympathize with her parents or put aside her own needs are all perfectly normal. She’s an adolescent, after all. But in a time of political extremity, ordinary feelings and actions can have terrible consequences. Innocent people do not only suffer under a ruthless system; they become agents of its cruelty.

Zhang and Li partnered on several of the most acclaimed Chinese movies of the 1990s, including Ju Dou (菊豆), Raise the Red Lantern (大红灯笼高高挂), The Story of Qiu Ju (秋菊打官司), and To Live (活著).

The movie will be in Mandarin with English subtitles. Showtimes and ticket information are now available at the Pittsburgh Filmmakers website, with the first showing scheduled for Friday at 8 pm. The theater is located at 1035 S. Braddock Ave. (map) in the Regent Square neighborhood, east of Squirrel Hill and Oakland.

Attack on Titan: End of the World (進撃の巨人 エンド オブ ザ ワールド) at Hollywood Theater from October 20.

The second of two recently-released Attack on Titan live action films, Attack on Titan: End of the World (進撃の巨人 エンド オブ ザ ワールド) and will play at the Hollywood Theater on October 20, 22, and 27. A brief summary of the two movies, from Tech Times:

The movies are based on a popular manga and anime series of the same name, where humanity lives behind massive walls to protect themselves against the threat of massive man-eating giants known as Titans. The story revolves around a young group of men and women who enlist in their city's armed forces to drive back the Titans after a never before seen "Colossal Titan" breaches the walls.

Attack on Titan: End of the World was released in the US on September 19. Showtimes and tickets are available on the theater's website. The theater is located at 1449 Potomac Ave. in Dormont (map), and is accessible by Pittsburgh's subway/LRT at a block south of Potomac Station.

"Musical Fusions: Chinese, Japanese, and American Intersections" concerts and symposia at Pitt, October 16 - 18.

The University of Pittsburgh's Department of Music will host two "Musical Fusions: Chinese, Japanese, and American Intersections" concerts and two symposia from October 16 through 18 as part of this year's "Music on the Edge" series.

The first concert, on October 16 at 8:00 pm in the Bellefield Hall auditorium (map),

features Ensemble N_JP performing works by Amy Williams and Toshi Hosokawa, traditional pieces for sho and koto, and the premiere of Systole, a music and video collaboration by Gene Coleman and Adam Vidiksis.

Composer Gene Coleman formed Ensemble N_JP in 2001 as a vehicle for his ongoing work with musicians from Japan. Through concert programs, multimedia works and educational projects, the group explores connections between contemporary and traditional forms of art.

The second concert, on October 17 at 8:00 pm in the Bellefield Hall auditorium,

features Music from China performing recently commissioned works by Chen Yi, Eric Moe, Huang Ruo and Wang Guowei. The program features new music for Chinese instruments alone—erhu, pipa, zheng, dizi—or together with cello and percussion.

Well-versed in the classical and folk repertoire, the Music from China ensemble is equally accomplished at interpreting the music of today using traditional instruments. Throughout its history MFC has featured both ancient and contemporary music in its concert seasons.

There are two symposia as well in 132 Music Building (map). The first, on the 17th from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm,

will include Naomi Sato (sho) and Naoko Kikuchi (koto) demonstrating their instruments’ uses in traditional and contemporary music, and composer Gene Coleman and video artist Adam Vidiksis discussing the Systole project.

And the second, on the 18th at the same time and place,

includes presentations by Music from China, and Huang Ruo and Eric Moe discussing their compositions.

Advance tickets for the concerts are available online and are $15 each for general admission and $10 for students. At the door, general admission tickets are $20. Pitt students with valid University of Pittsburgh student ID cards are free.

Tibetan Chant Ceremony October 13, talk "Death and Dying: The Tibetan Tradition" October 15, at Heinz Chapel.

The University of Pittsburgh's Heinz Chapel will host a Tibetan Chant Ceremony on October 13 with the monks of Drepung Loseling Monastery, and a talk on "Death and Dying: The Tibetan Tradition" with His Eminence Gyalrong Khentrul Rinpoche on October 15. A synopsis of the latter:

Join us for a public talk by his Eminence Gyalrong Khentrul Rinpoche. The subject of death and dying is often thought of in the West as something negative and morbid. In Buddhism it is important life knowledge, enhancing and enriching our lives and bringing about a dramatic inner transformation as the mind moves into a deeper state of subtlety, clarity and fearlessness.

Both talks are open to the public, though a $10 donation is suggested for the chant ceremony.

Pittsburgh should get a lantern festival.

via 경상일보

The 2015 Jinju Namgang Lantern Festival (진주남강유등축제) finishes its 11-day run on October 11. The annual festival in Jinju, South Gyeongsang province, South Korea, draws over a million visitors each year to the Nam River with scores of colorful lanterns, food tents, and fireworks.


via 경상일보

Asia on Screen: Kyoko Omori, October 15 at Pitt.

The University of Pittsburgh Asian Studies Center will host Kyoko Omori of Hamilton College for the next installment of the Asia on Screen Series. The title is "The Voice of Silent Film: Benshi Performance in Context and in the Classroom". Benshi refers to live narrators of silent films.

The event begins at 3:00 pm at 4130 Posvar Hall (map) and is free and open to the public.