Squirrel Hill's first Asian bakery, Bubble π Baking Arts, closes.

Squirrel Hill's first Asian bakery, Bubble π [Pi] Baking Arts, has closed and is moving from its home at 2218 Murray Ave. It opened in 2007 and was joined by two other Asian bakeries, Sumi's Cakery in 2011 and Pink Box in 2014, on the same street. The Pittsburgh City-Paper profiled Bubble Pi in 2009:

"I'm sort of combining Eastern and Western styles of baking," [Ivy Lin] says. Many of the recipes and ideas she picked up while traveling extensively. When you ask how long she's been baking this wide selection, she laughs: "All my life!"

Bubble π has been on Murray Avenue for two years now; before that, Lin operated Asia Tea House, in Schenley Plaza. "I was selling my bubble tea. That was my specialty at the time," she says. Though the tea sold briskly in the warm months, "when it cooled down, nobody bought it. Now I'm more focused on my pastries and designed cakes."

Open seven days a week, Bubble π also offers its namesake beverage -- the fruit- or tea-based drink with tapioca pearls -- as well as coffees, shaved ice and a few simple lunch items.

2012 Korean movie Masquerade (광해: 왕이 된 남자) at Maridon Museum, May 11.

The 2012 Korean historical drama Masquerade (광해: 왕이 된 남자) will play at the Maridon Museum on May 11, the next installment in this spring's Korean Film Series. The Korean Film Database summarizes 2012's Masquerade:

During the confusing and conspiratorial Joseon Dynasty, King Gwang-hae orders his councilor, HEO Kyun, to find him a double in order to avoid the constant threat of assassination. HEO Kyun finds Ha-sun, a jester who looks remarkably like the king, and just as feared, Gwang-hae is poisoned. HEO Kyun proposes that Ha-sun fill the role as the king until Gwang-hae recovers fully and grooms Ha-sun to look and act every bit like him. While assuming the role of the king at his first official appearance, Ha-sun begins to ponder the intricacies of the problems debated in his court. Being fundamentally more humanitarian than Gwang-hae, Ha-sun’s affection and appreciation of even the most minor servants slowly changes morale in the castle for the better. Over time he finds his voice and takes control of governing the country with real insight and fair judgments. Even HEO Kyun is moved by Ha-sun’s genuine concern for the people, and realizes he is an better ruler than Gwang-hae. However, his chief opposition, PARK, notices the sudden shift in the king’s behavior and starts to ask questions.

The Maridon Museum is an Asian art museum at 322 N. McKean St. in downtown Butler (map) that runs film series periodically throughout the year, in addition to art classes, book club meetings, and its regular exhibits.

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

The 2013 French-Chinese movie The Nightingale (夜莺) will play at the Northland Public Library on the 10th as the May installment in its monthly Foreign / Indie Film Series. 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).

CCAC hiring adjunct instructor for Chinese classes.

The Community College of Allegheny County is hiring adjunct instructors for Chinese classes, among other langauges.

Japanese rock band VAMPS in Pittsburgh, May 12.

The Japanese heavy metal band VAMPS will play in Pittsburgh on May 12. An excerpt of their self-introduction:

VAMPS, the visually arresting rock band featuring HYDE (L’Arc-en-Ciel) and K.A.Z (Oblivion Dust), are one of the most popular bands in Japanese music.

Since forming in 2008, they have released three studio albums and four live DVDs, all of them showcasing the band’s signature approach to their craft: grand-scale theatrics and drama married to expert playing and song-writing – a potent combination that has led to them playing hundreds of shows at in their home country, taking over Japanese arenas for multiple nights in a row, a series of annual Vamps-curated festivals (including their legendary Halloween event and late summer Beast Party) and growing a global fan-base dedicated to both the band’s music and message.

“I want our audiences to feel the wild and immoral side of rock culture. And, as we are vampires, our show will obviously be different from that of any other rock band!!” laughs HYDE.

The show is at Diesel Club Lounge at 1601 E. Carson St. in the Southside (map). Doors open at 6:00 pm and tickets start at $20.

2008 Japanese movie Still Walking (歩いても 歩いても) at Carnegie Library in Oakland, May 7.

The Carnegie Library's main branch will show the 2008 Japanese movie Still Walking (歩いても 歩いても) as May's installment of International Cinema Sunday. A 2009 Roger Ebert review summarizes:

A dozen years ago, the prized possession of this family was Junpei, the eldest son, doted on by his parents and admired by his younger brother and sister. But Junpei drowned while saving a life, and every year the family gathers, as many Japanese families do, to visit his grave and memory.

These occasions are hated by Ryota (Hiroshi Abe), the second son. His father (Yoshio Harada) almost blames him for not being the one who died. On the drive to his home town at the seaside, Ryota tells his new wife Yukari (Yui Natsukawa) they must not even stay the night. This will be her first meeting with the parents; she is a widow with a young son.

The father is a retired physician, slowed with age, still marching joylessly on his daily walk. He stays mostly closed off in his office and greets his son brusquely. The mother has her doubts about this marriage; it is better to marry a divorced woman than a widow, because at least the divorce chose to leave her husband.

Also together for this day are Ryota's older sister and her husband. It is only slowly that we pick up the suppressed currents of feeling in the family; on the surface, the mother stays cheerful, although the old doctor's bitterness is obvious: The wrong son drowned.

The movie plays from 2:00 to 4:30 pm on May 7 in Classroom A, and is free and open to the public. The library is located at 4400 Forbes Ave. in Oakland (map).

New Hong Kong movie Shockwave (拆彈專家) in Pittsburgh, from May 5.

The 2017 Hong Kong movie Shockwave (拆彈專家) will play at the AMC Loews Waterfront from May 5. The South China Morning Post summarizes Shockwave

which sees another of Hong Kong’s busiest locales – the Cross-Harbour Tunnel – under threat.

[Andy] Lau plays our fearless hero JS, the number-one bomb-disposal expert in the police’s Explosive Ordnance Disposal Bureau. In a prologue that could only be considered lazy plotting, JS is also shown to be previously a trusted long-term mole in a gang of bank robbers headed by Peng Hong (Jiang Wu) – that is, until JS managed to put several of them, though regrettably not including Peng, in prison.

The new Hong Kong movie Love Off The Cuff (春嬌救志明) will also continue to play at the theater. Showtime and ticket information available from Fandango.

"Ukiyo-e and the Windy City: Clarence Buckingham's Prints at the Art Institute of Chicago", May 11 at Carnegie Museum of Art.

The Japan-America Society of Pennsylvania will present "Ukiyo-e and the Windy City: Clarence Buckingham's Prints at the Art Institute of Chicago" at the Carnegie Museum of Art Theater on May 11.

Please join us for a special presentation of Japanese art as part of the Richard J. Wood Art Curators Series. The series brings attention to major collections of Japanese art in the U.S. and their role in the U.S.-Japan grassroots relationship.

The early and intense commitment of Chicagoan Clarence Buckingham (1854–1913) to the Art Institute formed the museum’s well known Japanese print collection. From the 1890s, Buckingham, assisted by advisors such as curator Frederick W. Gookin and architect Frank Lloyd Wright, assembled a collection of Japanese woodblock prints of exceptional quality and range. Highlights of the collection include rare early ukiyo-e images, an unparalleled group of works by Sharaku, and superb examples of Hokusai's designs.

The event is free and open to the public. Registration is required and can be done online. The museum is located at 4400 Forbes Ave. in Oakland (map).

Japanese animated film Your Name (君の名は) staying in Pittsburgh through (at least) May 11.

The record-setting Japanese movie Your Name (君の名は), which opened in Pittsburgh and throughout the US on April 7, will stay in the city through at least May 11 at the Southside Works Cinema. The distributor provides a summary:

From director Makoto Shinkai, the innovative mind behind Voices of a Distant Star and 5 Centimeters Per Second, comes a beautiful masterpiece about time, the thread of fate, and the hearts of two young souls.

The day the stars fell, two lives changed forever. High schoolers Mitsuha and Taki are complete strangers living separate lives. But one night, they suddenly switch places. Mitsuha wakes up in Taki’s body, and he in hers. This bizarre occurrence continues to happen randomly, and the two must adjust their lives around each other. Yet, somehow, it works. They build a connection and communicate by leaving notes, messages, and more importantly, an imprint.

When a dazzling comet lights up the night’s sky, it dawns on them. They want something more from this connection—a chance to meet, an opportunity to truly know each other. Tugging at the string of fate, they try to find a way to each other. But distance isn’t the only thing keeping them apart. Is their bond strong enough to face the cruel irony of time? Or is their meeting nothing more than a wish upon the stars?

Tickets and showtimes are available from the Southside Works Cinema website. The shows will be in Japanese with English subtitles except the first screening of the day, which will be dubbed in English. The theater is located at 425 Cinema Drive in the SouthSide Works shopping center (map).

Pittsburgh to honor its Asian-American heritage with May 2nd City Council Proclamation, May 6 "Day of Inclusion".

In the biggest start to Asian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month Pittsburgh has ever seen, the City Council of Pittsburgh will welcome members of the Asian-American community and its friends to the City-County building on May 2 for a proclamation recognizing the impact of the local Asian-American communities throughout the city's history. City Council will proclaim May 6 the "Day of Inclusion" in the City of Pittsburgh, a day that marks the 135th anniversary of the Chinese Exclusion Act that halted legal Chinese immigration to the US for seven decades. This information comes from the Organization of Chinese Americans newsletter:

To kick off nationally recognized Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage month in May, OCA-Pittsburgh has been working with Councilman Gilman's office to issue a proclamation recognizing the 135th anniversary of the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, and to highlight the positive contributions of all immigrants and refugees in the region.

We Chinese Americans came to Pittsburgh as early as 140 years ago. 135 years ago, the US government discriminately decided to exclude any more entry of Chinese. Today, it is our responsibility as Chinese American Pittsburghers to remind this city and the nation "never again".

OCA is proud to take on the leadership role in having the great city of Pittsburgh recognize this "Day of Inclusion," and spotlight that all immigrants and refugees are welcome here. We would like to invite everyone to join us on Tuesday, May 2, 2017 at 10:00 a.m. at the City Council building to show how much the Chinese and Asian American community matter to this region. Below is the text of the proclamation to be presented at that City Council Meeting. Please email us at info@ocapghpa.org to let us know you can attend. We look forward to seeing you there!

The newsletter also shares the text of the forthcoming proclamation:

WHEREAS, on May 6, 1882, President Chester Arthur signed the Chinese Exclusion Act, which was the nation's first law to prohibit immigration solely on the basis of ethnicity;

WHEREAS, the Chinese Exclusion Act was based on racial hostility against Chinese, who were characterized as "unassimilable, vile heathens" and were blamed for lowering wages, taking away jobs, and endangering the American way of life, and was renewed in 1892, 1902 and 1904 denying Chinese a pathway to citizenship for more than 60 years;

WHEREAS, subsequent legislation such as the 1892 Geary Act, which required all Chinese to register for and carry on their persons Certificates of Residence or risk imprisonment and deportation set a precedent for future discriminatory registries of immigrants and descendants of immigrants;

WHEREAS, OCA-Advocates of Asian and Pacific Americans -- Pittsburgh Chapter has worked for the last 43 years dedicated to advancing the social, political, and economic well-being of Asian Pacific Americans (APAs) in our region, recognizing the origins of the Chinese community in Pittsburgh date back all the way to the 1870's and have evolved into a strong, productive community who have contributed to all sectors in Pittsburgh -- including government, business, arts and sciences, medicine, law enforcement, and the military and whose abilities and contributions strengthen our economy, enrich our diverse culture, and invigorate our city's neighborhoods; and,

WHEREAS, the City of Pittsburgh recognizes the 135th anniversary of the Chinese Exclusion Act as a day to condemn hatred and prejudice, promote diversity and inclusivity, and reaffirm our values as a welcoming city that values the importance of immigrants and refugees.

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Council of the City of Pittsburgh does hereby recognize the 135th anniversary of the Chinese Exclusion Act as an opportunity to restate that Pittsburgh is as a city for all and celebrate the important contributions of Pittsburgh's Chinese community; and,

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Council of the City of Pittsburgh does hereby declare May 6th, 2017 to be the Pittsburgh "Day of Inclusion," and proclaim and celebrate the month of May as Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage month in our region.

SPONSORED BY: COUNCILMAN DAN GILMAN

Co-Sponsored By Council Members:
Ricky V. Burgess, Deborah L. Gross, Darlene M. Harris, Theresa Kail-Smith, Bruce A. Kraus, R. Daniel Lavelle, Corey O'Connor, and Natalia Rudiak

Attest: Bruce Kraus, President of Council

Attest: Mary Beth Doheny, City Clerk

The City-County Building is located at 414 Grant St. downtown (map).