Seventh 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.

El Futuro Perfecto, 2016 film about young Chinese immigrant to Argentina, in Pittsburgh April 9 and 10.

The 2016 film El Futuro Perfecto will play in Pittsburgh on April 9 and 10, as part of the Carnegie Mellon University International Film Festival and at Carlow University, respectively. The film festival's website describes:

El Futuro Perfecto tells the story of a young Chinese woman named Xiaobin who emigrates to Argentina. Sharing her sense of displacement, we follow Xiaobin as she attends Spanish classes, works her day job at a butcher shop, and struggles to pass through the language barrier in a new culture. A subtle love story permeates the surface of this quiet drama as Xiaobin’s journey of self-identification leads her to a crossroads where she must find the courage to determine her own future, rather than the future her family intends for her.

The April 9 screening at CMU is the festival's closing film and features a Q&A session with director Nele Wohlatz. It starts at 4:00 pm in the Jared L. Cohon University Center McConomy Auditorium (map). Tickets for the April 9 show are available online; tickets for April 10 are not yet available.

Yu-Gi-Oh!: The Dark Side Of Dimensions (遊☆戯☆王 THE DARK SIDE OF DIMENSIONS) in Pittsburgh, April 14.

The Hollywood Theater in Dormont will show the 2016 movie Yu-Gi-Oh!: The Dark Side Of Dimensions (遊☆戯☆王 THE DARK SIDE OF DIMENSIONS) on April 14 at 4:00 pm. The movie opened at select Pittsburgh theaters in January.

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.

Second annual Pittsburgh Japanese Film Festival at Row House Cinema, April 7 - 13.

The second annual Pittsburgh Japanese Film Festival will run at the Row House Cinema in Lawrenceville 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 and showtime information is available is available online. The single-screen theater is located at 4115 Butler Street in Lawrenceville (map).

Nicky's Thai Kitchen North Hills location to open in mid-April.

The Nicky's Thai Kitchen coming to Mt. Nebo Road in the North Hills is planning on a mid-April opening. I photographed early signage back in January; earlier anticipated openings in February and March were delayed. The new restaurant will open at 1026 Mt. Nebo Rd. (map) in what was Recipes Remembered and, most recently, a Chinese restaurant.

Rashomon (羅生門) at Tull Family Theater, April 18.

The 1950 Akira Kurosawa film Rashomon (羅生門) will play at the Tull Family Theater in Sewickley on April 18 as part of it's Classic Tuesdays series. A synopsis of the film, from a 2002 Roger Ebert review:

The film opens in torrential rain, and five shots move from long shot to closeup to reveal two men sitting in the shelter of Kyoto's Rashomon Gate. The rain will be a useful device, unmistakably setting apart the present from the past. The two men are a priest and a woodcutter, and when a commoner runs in out of the rain and engages them in conversation, he learns that a samurai has been murdered and his wife raped and a local bandit is suspected. In the course of telling the commoner what they know, the woodcutter and the priest will introduce flashbacks in which the bandit, the wife and the woodcutter say what they saw, or think they saw--and then a medium turns up to channel the ghost of the dead samurai. Although the stories are in radical disagreement, it is unlike any of the original participants are lying for their own advantage, since each claims to be the murderer.

The movie starts at 7:00 pm and tickets are available online. he Tull Family Theater is located at 418 Walnut St. in Sewickley (map), about 15 miles northwest of Pittsburgh.

Caissa Touristic to start charter flights from Pittsburgh to China starting in June, first steps toward non-stop service.

Caissa Touristic will start offering charter flights from Pittsburgh International Airport to China starting in June, according to a press release and the local papers. Pittsburgh will be the first city in North America serviced by Caissa Touristic. From the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:

The flights are a product of an agreement with the airport authority, which operates Pittsburgh International; the VisitPittsburgh tourism group; and Idea Foundry, a Pittsburgh-based nonprofit that works with Chinese families and students to encourage educational ties and investment.

In addition to bringing tourists from China, Caissa will sell tickets in the Pittsburgh region for travelers interested in flying to the country on the return trip.

“This is huge step forward for the future, particularly for nonstop air service to China. The charter-to-scheduled service model has been successfully adopted in other parts of the world,” said Christina Cassotis, airport authority CEO. “We are the first U.S. market to tap into China’s fast-growing tourism market with this type of business model, and it shows Pittsburgh to be an industry leader.”

Ambassador Gheewhan Kim and "Challenges in the Korean Peninsula: Nuclear, Trade and Economics", April 7 at Pitt.

The University of Pittsburgh's Asian Studies Center will host Consul General of the Republic of Korea in New York Gheewhan Kim and his talk "Challenges in the Korean Peninsula: Nuclear, Trade and Economics" on April 7.

The Korean Peninsula currently faces many challenges. The biggest challenge is North Korea's continued development of nuclear and missile programs--ever-increasing threat not only to South Korea and its neighbors, but also the United States. In response, the United States and Korea agreed to deploy a missile defense system in South Korea. Opposing this alliance decision, China is taking a series of retaliatory measures against South Korea in trade, cultural exchanges, tourism, etc.

The sudden US withdrawal from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and growing nationalist sentiment has been increasing economic uncertainties in the Asia-Pacific region. This year marks the fifth anniversary of the Korea-US Free Trade Agreement. What is a fair assessment of this agreement in terms of our common goals of economic growth and job creation?

The talk begins at 12:00 pm in the English Room (room number 144) on the first floor of the Cathedral of Learning (map). It is free and open to the public.

Inspired by Gamelan: Music by Indonesian and Western Composers, April 8 at Pitt.

The University of Pittsburgh's Department of Music will present "Inspired by Gamelan: Music by Indonesian and Western Composers" at the Frick Fine Arts Auditorium on April 8.

Pitt’s University Gamelan will present “Inspired by Gamelan: Music by Indonesian and Western Composers” on April 8th at Frick Fine Arts Auditorium. Gamelan comprises mainly percussion instruments including tuned gongs, metal-keyed instruments, and drums (as well as bamboo flute and voice). This instrumentation has a unique capacity to saturate the air with resonances that reach from rumbling lows to shimmering highs. The concert will feature student performers and two artists-in-residence: Endang Sukandar and Endang Rukandi.

General admission tickets are $8.50 in advance or $12 at the door; Pitt students are free and non-Pitt students and senior citizens pay $5 in advance or $8 at the door. The Frick Fine Arts building is located in Oakland (map), across from Schenley Plaza and the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh.

Signage up for new Asian hair salon in Squirrel Hill.

Signage recently went up for InStyle Hair Salon, an Asian hair salon coming to 5815 Murray Ave. in Squirrel Hill. It was most recently a Kidz & Company children's clothing store.