2016 movie Kizumonogatari Part 1: Tekketsu (傷物語Ⅰ 鉄血篇) at Hollywood Theater, from February 27.

The Hollywood Theater in Dormont recently announced that it will show the 2016 Japanese animated movie Kizumonogatari Part 1: Tekketsu (傷物語Ⅰ 鉄血篇) from February 27.

"The Vanished Capital and the Vanished Poet: Landscape and Poetry in the Noh Tadanori" at Pitt, January 20.

The University of Pittsburgh's Asian Studies Center will host Dr. Elizabeth Oyler of the University of Illinois-Urbana at Champaign and her talk "The Vanished Capital and the Vanished Poet: Landscape and Poetry in the Noh Tadanori" on January 20. A synopsis, from the Asian Studies Center homepage:

Taira Tadanori is among the most famous heroes from the Genpei War (1180-1185), the divisive civil conflict that brought Japan’s first warrior government to power. Renowned both as a poet and a man of arms, Tadanori is commemorated in the epic war tale recounting the conflict, The Tale of the Heike (Heike monogatari), as well as several noh plays, including the eponymous Tadanori. This presentation addresses the way that play meditates Tadanori’s dual identity as a warrior-poet and explores the poetic and battlefield landscapes that define him, demonstrating how language and place reveal hidden, traumatic absences.

The talk begins at 2:00 pm in 4130 Posvar Hall (map), and is free and open to the public.

"Informal Education and Cultural Transmission through Uyghur Language Websites" at Pitt, January 20.

The University of Pittsburgh's Institute for International Studies in Education in the School of Education will host Dr. Rebecca Clothey of Drexel University and her lecture "Informal Education and Cultural Transmission through Uyghur Language Websites" on Wednesday, January 20.

Pan Izakaya to open this spring.

The new Shadyside izakaya we wrote about on Sunday will be called Pan Izakaya, according to today's Post-Gazette profile.

The 50-seat restaurant will be the latest venture from Mike Chen, longtime Pittsburgh restaurateur behind the innovative Everyday Noodles in Squirrel Hill, China Palace in Wexford and Monroeville as well as Sushi Too in Shadyside.

“Pittsburgh is ready for this,” he said. With more Pittsburghers destination-dining around the U.S. and the world, they’re bringing home expectations for the kinds of restaurants they’re looking for in their own community.

. . .

Construction on the space will start within the next few weeks. Decor will be “very Japanese,” which will include wood accents and will highlight the bar — which makes sense, considering an izakaya is an after-work drinking place, he said. And the drinks he’ll highlight include many variations of sake.

Stocking a sake bar is a challenging task in terms of navigating the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board (PLCB). Since sake is not a popular beverage in Pittsburgh at the moment, he’s having to source from suppliers in Philadelphia and through special orders. Pan will also include amenities like sake storage.

1937 Chinese movie Street Angel (马路天使) at leaf & plate, January 15.

The Shadyside tea house and restaurant leaf & plate will show the 1937 Chinese movie Street Angel (马路天使) on Friday, January 15.

"Mandarin Chinese Speed Language Partnering" at Pitt, January 22.

The University of Pittsburgh's Asian Studies Center is hosting "Mandarin Chinese Speed Language Partnering" on Friday, January 22.

Want to improve your Mandarin Chinese or help new language learners? Join us at our inaugural speed networking event where native and mandarin speakers of all levels will converse in a series of brief exchanges. Meet, socialize, and hopefully find a great language partner! Light refreshments will be served.

The event starts at 12:00 pm in 4130 Posvar Hall (map).

Pitt's new wushu club.

Today's Pitt News profiles Gina Bao,a first-year student at the University of Pittsburgh who started a wushu club there in December.

Before she had ever attended class, had midnight fries at market or swiped her panther card, Gina Bao had already written the constitution for her wushu club at Pitt.

Bao, a first-year student studying neuroscience, started the club in December 2015 to teach students about wushu, a modern version of kung fu that involves combat martial arts moves with jumps and aerials. The club held its second practice Jan. 9, when eight members from all experience levels showed up to learn wushu techniques in the William Pitt Union Dance Studio. Beginning with simple lessons in bowing and stretching and progressing to complex combinations of running and kicking, Bao hopes to train the members to compete in a national collegiate wushu tournament in just four months.

Tanpopo Ramen, izakaya coming to Shadyside.

Tanpopo Ramen is coming to 815 S. Aiken Ave. (map), the former location of the S. Aiken Bar and Grille. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette alluded to it in a December 24 piece looking back at 2015 and looking ahead to the new year:

What’s coming for 2016? I predict more out-of-town restaurateurs discovering Pittsburgh; more fast-casual restaurants; a couple of chef-driven Japanese places, from an izakaya to a ramen shop to a yakitori place; and more food trucks with the city’s end-of-year rule changes that will make things easier for mobile food.

Interesting to note that Tanpopo Ramen, LLC is registered to Mike Chen, the owner of Everyday Noodles and several other restaurants in the area. Records also show that a Tan Izakaya has had the 815 S. Aiken as its principal address since October, and is a registered as a Pennsylvania Fictitious Name under the purview of Tanpopo Ramen, LLC, with the address on file that of Everyday Noodles in Squirrel Hill.

2015 Chinese movie Mr. Six (老炮儿) in Pittsburgh through January 14 (at least).

The 2015 Chinese movie Mr. Six (老炮儿), which opened in China and Pittsburgh on Christmas Eve, will continue to play at AMC Loews Waterfront through at least January 14.

申通快递 coming to Pittsburgh?

That sign is in the window of 2023 Murray Ave. (map) in Squirrel Hill, in what was most recently a dentist's office. STO Express (申通快) is a Shanghai-based shipping and logistics company that has been expanding globally in the last few years, and in 2015 it opened stateside locations in: New York City; Brooklyn, NY; two locations in Flushing, NY; Edison, NJ; and Las Vegas, NV.

Nothing about a possible Pittsburgh expansion is online yet, though Squirrel Hill would make sense if the opening, in fact, happens. It is a neighborhood with a significant international population and one that borders on two universities with growing Chinese student bodies. A 2014 Brookings Institute report notes that the top origin for Pittsburgh's international students is China, with Beijing and Shanghai being the #1 and #4 cities, respectively. According to a piece in The Pitt News last fall on the growing Chinese student bodies at two universities a few miles from Squirrel Hill:

The 2,404 Chinese international students at [the University of Pittsburgh] account for more than 50 percent of the University’s total international students. In the summer and fall of 2015 alone, Carnegie Mellon University admitted 1,101 students from China.

For what it's worth, that feature---as well as an article linked yesterday and two pieces by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's food critic Melissa McCart, "America's Next Great Chinatown Takes Root in Pittsburgh" and "The Asian influence"---cites that population growth as the impetus being more authentic, and more-authentic, Chinese restaurants in the area.



Update (9:00 pm): Yes, that's a STO Express. These photos were taken later in the day.