Korea Economic Institute's "The Future of Korea" in Pittsburgh, January 17.

The Korea Economic Institute of America [KEIA] and World Affairs Council of Pittsburgh will present "The Future of Korea" on January 17. A profile of this outreach program, from the KEIA:

KEI's Future of Korea is an outreach program that strengthens interest in U.S.-Korea relations with community members, scholars, and students outside of the DC metropolitan area. KEI hosts a series of six to ten programs annually with leading local World Affairs Councils throughout the United States.

The Future of Korea program features panel presentations by a team of up to three people, usually one member of KEI, a representative from the U.S. State Department Korea Desk, and a diplomat from the Embassy of the Republic of Korea. The panel addresses all aspects of U.S.-Korea relations and the situation on the Korean peninsula, including political, economic, and security issues, followed by a question and answer session. In addition to the core event, the program often includes a similar panel discussion at a local university or high school and various media events. Other events are added depending on the wishes of the local host organization. These successful and popular programs have attracted as many as 2,000 participants in some cities.

The panel presentation will run from 11:30 to 1:00 pm, but a location has not been announced yet.

Third annual Pittsburgh Japanese Film Festival, April 2018.

Lawrenceville's Row House Cinema announced yesterday the first details of the third annual Pittsburgh Japanese Film Festival, coming in April 2018. It will run from April 6 through 19, will feature Neko Atsume House (ねこあつめの家) as the opening film, and will screen Your Name (君の名は), Sion Sono's Antiporno (アンチポルノ), and two Kurosawa films. Additional information will follow in the coming months.

Pitt still hiring Assistant Instructor of Korean Language.

The University of Pittsburgh's Department of East Asian Languages & Literatures has reposted for a third time its advertisement for the Assistant Instructor of Korean Language position:

Assistant Instructor (Position available at University of Pittsburgh, Dept. of East Asian Languages & Literatures in Pittsburgh, PA): The individual will be responsible for the following duties: Teach Korean language to graduate and undergraduate students; Work closely with the language coordinator to contribute to the overall effectiveness of the Korean language program; and Perform other academic duties as required.

Requirements: Must have Master’s degree in Korean Language, Linguistics or related field. Must possess one (1) year of experience teaching Korean at the University level. Must possess native or near-native proficiency in both Korean and English.

The University of Pittsburgh is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer and values equality of opportunity, human dignity and diversity. EEO/AA/M/F/Vets/Disabled

Those interested should submit resumes to Monika Losagio at losagio [at] pitt.edu.

Korean is the fastest-growing language at the university level, according to the Modern Language Association, and enrollment in first-year Korean courses at Pitt has increased nearly three-fold in the last decade.

CCAC recruiting Chinese teachers for Community Education Courses.

The Community College of Allegheny County is recruiting Chinese (and other language) instructors for its Community Education Courses. The school is offering a Chinese 1 course in the spring term at its Allegheny Campus on the North Side. An excerpt from the job posting:

1. The primary responsibilities of faculty are to teach and to develop the curriculum. Prepare and provide students with course outlines that support learning objectives set forth in the course syllabus. Assess student performance and maintain grade records.
2. Create an effective learning environment through the use of a variety of instructional methods.
3. Collaborate in the development and continued assessment of learning outcomes for use in program reviews and curriculum revision.
4. Participate in appropriate professional development activities to assure currency in both discipline, knowledge and instructional methods.
5. Collaborate in the development of program and/or discipline promotional materials.
6. Support the college's goals.
7. Perform other related duties as required or assigned.

2017 Chinese movie Youth (芳华) opens in Pittsburgh (for real this time), December 15.

The 2017 Chinese coming-of-age drama Youth (芳华), released in Mainland China on October 1, will play in Pittsburgh from December 15. It was originally set to open on September 29. A September 9 Variety review introduces the film:

The narrator Suizi (Zhong Chuxi), a stand-in for screenwriter Yan Geling (“The Flowers of War” and “Coming Home”), whose semi-biographical novel was the film’s literary source, belongs to a military dance troupe stationed in the Great Southwest. However, the central figure is actually Xiaoping (Miao Miao), whose father has been branded a Rightist and thrown in a re-education camp. She is recruited from Beijing by the good-looking and kind-hearted lead dancer Liu Feng (Huang Xuan).

The pristine surroundings of their training center and dreamy soft focus that accompanies the young dancers whenever they rehearse revolutionary ballets exude a rarefied atmosphere that reinforces how privileged the troupe is, shielded from hunger, violence and back-breaking labor at the height of the Cultural Revolution. And yet, a hierarchy based on political pedigree is firmly in place in the so-called classless society. Shuwen (Li Xiaofeng) the daughter of a general and hospital supervisor, is the queen bee. Dingding (Yang Caiyu) scores with her looks, while Mongolian Drolma (Sui Yuan) plays her ethnic minority card.

Tickets and showtime information is available via Fandango. 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.

MEPPI Japan Lecture Series - Tokyo, One of the Safest Cities in the World, January 18.

"Tokyo" by kalcul (Creative Commons).

Advance notice for the first MEPPI Japan Lecture Series of 2018, "Tokyo, One of the Safest Cities in the World" on January 18. The lecture series is presented by the Japan-America Society of Pennsylvania and sponsored by Mitsubishi Electric Power Products, Inc.

Why is Tokyo so safe? After devoting 15 years to the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department, Police Inspector Naruomi Ebitani now works at Carnegie Mellon University researching information security. From his experience in both countries and his police officer’s perspective, he will address the differences between policing and crime in Japan and the United States.

The lecture runs from 6:00 to 8:00 pm in Margaret Morrison Carnegie Hall and is free and open to the public. Registration is required and can be completed online.

Japanese Coming-of-Age Ceremony (成人の日) at Pitt for students turning 20, January 10.

Kasai does 成人の日 in 2010.

A large cohort of students from Yasuda Women's University is studying at Pitt's English Language Institute this fall and will miss the traditional Coming-of-Age Ceremony (成人の日) in Hiroshima next month, so the Asian Studies Center will hold its own ceremony on January 10. The Asian Studies Center introduces Pitt's ceremony:

A local government official will preside over the ceremony here in Pittsburgh and a Yasuda University student will give the student address. The ceremony is open not only to the ELI students, but also Pitt students, especially those studying Japanese, who are turning 20 (between April 2, 2017 and April 1, 2018).

And Japan Visitor introduces the day and its traditions:

Seijin Shiki or 成人式 could be translated as 'Coming of Age Day Ceremony' in English. Seijin-no-hi (Coming of Age Day) is a Japanese public holiday that occurs on every second Monday of January.

Coming of Age Day or Adult's Day honors every person that has turned 20 years old over the past year. When young people reach twenty they officially become adults in Japanese society and they now have responsibilities as well as newfound liberties: such as being able to drink, smoke, go to hostess bars, gamble and to drive legally. The voting age was lowered from 20 to 18 in 2015.

The girls always wear gorgeous and very expensive kimono, although most admit to having rentals as the outfit is worth up to 1,000,000 yen. The boys usually wear a regular suit and tie but a few will wear traditional Japanese dress.

It runs from 7:00 to 8:30 pm in Ballroom B of the University Club (map), and those interested should email asia [at] pitt.edu.

Studio Ghibli Film Series continues at Row House Cinema for another week.

The Row House Cinema's Studio Ghibli Film Series, which opened on December 1, will run for another week through 14 and highlight the acclaimed Japanese animation studio. The six films comprising the series are: 1991's Only Yesterday (おもひでぽろぽろ), 1992's Porco Rosso (紅の豚), 1997's Princess Mononoke (もののけ姫), 2001's Spirited Away (千と千尋の神隠し), and 2013's The Tale Of The Princess Kaguya (かぐや姫の物語) and The Wind Rises (風立ちぬ).

Ticket and showtime information is available online. The single-screen theater is located at 4115 Butler Street in Lawrenceville (map).

This year's trend replaces 2015's at Ross Park Mall.

Icy Roll 2.0 just before it opened last month.

Icy Roll 2.0 recently opened in Ross Park Mall, replacing a bubble tea place next to the Sears on the second floor. Thai-styled rolled ice cream places have opened everywhere in Pittsburgh over the past year, from the suburbs to the inside of a hot-pot place to a gas station in Bloomfield. Squirrel Hill is getting its first sometime next year when the newest 15 Fahrenheit location opens. This is in contrast to 2014 and 2015, when an Asian eatery couldn't operate in the city without sticking bubble tea somewhere on the menu.

HCL Technologies hiring Bilingual Japanese Query Understanding Analyst for position onsite at Google.

HCL Technologies is hiring a Bilingual Japanese Query Understanding Analyst for a position working onsite at Google in Larimer. The posting, via Monster.com:

Bilingual Japanese Query Understanding Analyst is a full-time job through HCL America, Inc. onsite at Google Pittsburgh. You will work to enhance users’ online shopping experience by performing in-depth product research, analyzing the user query stream, and improving query classifier performance using highly technical internal tools and processes. It is part of a fast-paced environment, partnering closely with operations and engineering teams. Native or near-native Japanese reading/writing fluency is preferred and spending significant time living/working in the Japanese culture is a plus.