Lineup for 2nd annual Pittsburgh Japanese Film Festival at Row House Cinema announced.

Yesterday the Row House Cinema announced the lineup for the 2nd annual Pittsburgh Japanese Film Festival, which will run from April 7 through 13. Seven movies comprise the 2017 iteration, and, as the Facebook event page describes it, the "key themes this year include felines, friendship, and the samurai code for 2017": 1977's House (ハウス), 1962's Harakiri (切腹), 1993's Sailor Moon R: The Movie (劇場版 美少女戦士セーラームーンＲ) , 2014's Samurai Cat (猫侍), 2002's short film Ghiblies Episode 2 (ギブリーズ episode2), and 2013's Why Don't You Play in Hell? (地獄でなぜ悪い). Special events include Pittsburgh Taiko on April 10, a tea ceremony on April 12, and the remastered 1995 Ghost in the Shell (攻殻機動隊) as the closing film.

Tickets will go on sale March 15 at 5:30 pm, though a schedule is available online. The single-screen theater is located at 4115 Butler Street in Lawrenceville (map).

2013 French-Chinese movie The Nightingale (夜莺) at Northland Public Library, May 10.

The Northland Public Library recently announced the May installment in its monthly Foreign / Indie Film Series, the 2013 French-Chinese movie The Nightingale (夜莺). The library summarizes:

Ren Xing is a spoiled ten year old who has everything. Her parents are never together at any one time due to business. However both will be away for an extended time and must find a babysitter for Ren Xing. As a last resort, Ren’s mother asks her husband’s father for help. Her husband hasn’t spoken to his father in many years due to an incident in his childhood. The grandfather is not up to date with the world, and doesn’t want to, so the two do not understand one another. However, the grandfather has to visit the grave of his late wife before his beloved nightingale dies, as the nightingale is eighteen years old . The nightingale is the last remnant of the time he spent with his wife. His wife had never heard the nightingale sing. To get to her grave site is a long trek. Will the two bond while on the trek? The movie is beautifully shot in the idyllic Chinese countryside.

The movie runs from 1:30 to 3:30 pm on May 10 and is free and open to the public. The library is located at 300 Cumberland Rd. in the North Hills (map).

Daoism, Confucianism and Buddhism talk at Carnegie Library West End branch, March 11.

The second talk in a three-part series on Comparative Religions of East Asia at the Carnegie Library West End will be held on March 11 on the topic of "Daoism, Confucianism and Buddhism":

The second lecture in our three part comparative religion series, hosted by Steve Joseph, will examine the themes, similarities and differences between Daoism, Confucianism and Buddhism. Each religion (or philosophy, if you prefer) exerted great influence over social, political and religious thought and practice throughout China, Korea and Japan. Learn about their origins, basic tenants and points of emphasis.

The event rusn from 1:00 to 2:00 pm and are free and open to the public. The West End branch is located at 47 Wabash Street (map).

6th Annual Tomodachi Festival: A Celebration of Japanese Culture, April 1 in Oakland.

The Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh's Main Branch in Oakland will host the 6th annual Tomodachi Festival on Saturday, April 1.

Tomodachi is a Japanese word meaning “friends”. Help us celebrate the spirit of friendship through activities, art and food that showcase Japan, its people and rich history.

Activities include:

• Kamishibai storytelling, singing and dancing
• Origami Art
• Kimono try-ons
• Japanese inspired refreshments

The event runs from 2:00 to 5:00 pm in the Children's section of the library, and is free and open to the public. The library is located at 4400 Forbes Ave. in Oakland (map) and is accessible by buses 28X, 54, 61C, 61D, 67, 69, 71A, 71B, 71C, 71D, and 93.

7th annual Matsuri at CMU, April 11.

The Japanese Student Association at Carnegie Mellon University will present its 7th annual Matsuri on Tuesday, April 11. The spring matsuri (meaning festival in Japanese) benefits Minato Middle School in Ishinomaki city, which was destroyed by the March 11, 2011 tsunami. More information, from the festival's official site:

Originally a sacred ceremony of the Shinto belief, now a night full of street food, arcade games, and joyful performances, Matsuris are of great importance to the Japanese people, its culture and its traditions.

We wanted to share a snippet of this eventful festival here in Pittsburgh, right on the CMU campus. Come by to try a taste of Japanese street food, play some traditional Japanese games, and enjoy a range of performances from Japanese Taiko Drumming to Pop + Rock Fusions of Contemporary Japanese Music.

We have put in a lot of effort into authenticity; we purchase things online and ship them from Japan. We hand craft our booths to make it look like what you see on the streets in Japan. Enjoy the event to its fullest by paying attention to the small details!

We are also proud to annouce that 100% of the profits we make at this event will be donated to Minato Middle school in Ishinomaki, Japan. This school lost their whole campus due to the East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami of March 11, 2011. Please read more about our cause here.

Admission is free and the event is open to the public at the rear of the Cohon University Center (map). Additional information is available at the Japanese Student Association's website.

Downtown's Yuzu Kitchen, Lawrenceville's Ki Ramen among NextPittsburgh's seven new restaurants to try this spring.

Yuzu Kitchen, coming soon to 409 Wood St. (via @yuzukitchenpgh).

NextPittsburgh's list of seven new restaurants to try this spring includes Yuzu Kitchen and Ki Ramen, coming soon to downtown and Lawrencville, respectively.

Located in the heart of the business district on Wood St., Yuzu Kitchen will feature ramen dishes, tapas-style appetizers and robata grill items. Robata (short for “robatayaki”) in Japanese cuisine is similar to food barbecued on skewers. The menu will feature food with influences from Japanese, Chinese and Korean cuisines.

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A restaurant and bar with traditional ramen as its main focus, Ki Ramen will serve different broths with the unique twist of homemade noodles instead of what most ramen places use.

Chinese-Canadian movie Old Stone (老石), documentary The Eagle Huntress part of CMU International Film Festival in March and April.

The Carnegie Mellon International Film Festival recently announced its films for the 2017 "Faces of Identity" iteration, with the 2016 Chinese-Canadian film Old Stone (老石) and the documentary The Eagle Huntress as part of the line-up. Old Stone will play on March 30 and will feature a panel discussion, and The Eagle Huntress will play on April 6. The schedule is available online, though tickets for these two movies are not yet for sale.

Japanese for English speakers coming to Duolingo in May.

Buried at the bottom of a Tribune-Review article yesterday about the launch of a Swahili language course by the Pittsburgh-based Duolingo is an update on the status of Japanese lessons for English speakers:

[Director of business development at Duolingo Rogelio] Alvarez said East Asian languages have been the most challenging. Some, such as Mandarin Chinese, don't have an alphabet but use tones, which is challenging to teach. Demand for those languages, however, has pushed the company. Alvarez told the Trib that Duolingo expects to launch a Japanese course for English speakers in May in response to high demand.

Thai N' Noodle Outlet coming soon to Squirrel Hill.

Coming Soon signage recently went up for Thai N' Noodle Outlet at 5813 Forbes Ave. in Squirrel Hill (map), in what was most recently Sukhothai Bistro. That replaced Cool Ice Taipei, a Taiwanese food place, back in June 2014.

Sword Art Online The Movie: Ordinal Scale (劇場版 ソードアート・オンライン -オーディナル・スケール) in Pittsburgh, March 9.

The upcoming Japanese animated movie Sword Art Online The Movie: Ordinal Scale (劇場版 ソードアート・オンライン -オーディナル・スケール) will play at several Cinemark theaters throughout Pittsburgh and at the Hollywood Theater in Dormont on March 9, the date of its US premiere. The official site provides a plot summary of the movie, which opened in Japan in February:

In 2022, the world of virtual reality was upended by the arrival of a new invention from a genius programmer, Akihiko Kayaba, called NerveGear. It was the first full-dive system, and with it, came endless possibilities to VRMMORPGs.

In 2026, a new machine called the Augma is developed to compete against the NerveGear and its successor, the Amusphere. A next-gen wearable device, the Augma doesn't have a full-dive function like its predecessors. Instead, it uses Augmented Reality (AR) to get players into the game. It is safe, user-friendly and lets users play while they are conscious, making it an instant hit on the market. The most popular game on the system is "Ordinal Scale" (aka: OS), an ARMMORPG developed exclusively for the Augma.

Asuna and the gang have already been playing OS for a while, by the time Kirito decides to join them. They're about to find out that Ordinal Scale isn't all fun and games…

Tickets for the 8:15 pm show at the Hollywood Theater are available online. 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.

The movie will have 8:00 pm screenings at five local Cinemark theaters: Pittsburgh Mills, North Hills, Robinson, Monroeville, and Monaca. Tickets for those are available online as well.