2016 Japanese animated movie A Silent Voice (聲の形) returns to Pittsburgh with English dub, February 24.

The 2016 anime film A Silent Voice (聲の形), which opened in the US in October, will return to the Hollywood Theater in Dormont on February 24. A synopsis of the film from the distributor:

The story begins with a deaf elementary school girl named Shoko Nishimiya, who transfers to a new school and meets a boy named Shoya Ishida. Shoya, who is not deaf, leads the school in bullying Shoko over her disability. The bullying escalates, and so Shoko transfers to another school. Immediately, the class and even Shoya's closest friends, bully him for having bullied Shoko. Shoya loses contact with Shoko, and for years he suffers the consequences of his guilt. Upon entering high school, Shoya finally decides he must find Shoko, determined to make amends for what he did in elementary school and to become Shoko's friend. Along the way, he meets new and old faces, and struggles with many complicated relationships and feelings.

A 2:00 pm show will be dubbed in English, while the 4:30 pm show will have English subtitles; tickets for the latter are currently 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.

2017 Taiwanese dark comedy The Great Buddha+ (大佛普拉斯) in Pittsburgh, March 2 through 8.

The 2017 Taiwanese film The Great Buddha+ (大佛普拉斯) will play at the Regent Square Theater from March 2 through 8, Pittsburgh Filmmakers announced today. A November South China Morning Post review has a summary:

The debut feature from Taiwanese documentarian Huang Hsin-yao is an acerbic satire of small-town corruption that has earned awards attention, including 10 nominations (one for best picture) at this month’s Golden Horse Awards. The Great Buddha+ follows a pair of frustrated labourers who find themselves surrounded by businessmen and local officials throwing around more money than they could accumulate in a lifetime.

Pickle (Cres Chuang I-tseng) is a middle-aged security guard at a factory that makes bronze Buddha statues. Living with his ailing mother, his only pleasure comes from best friend Belly Button (Bamboo Chen Chu-sheng), a recycler who brings him leftover food each night and, if he’s lucky, an old porno magazine to help wile away the small hours.

One night, they decide to watch footage from the dash-cam in the Mercedes of Pickle’s wealthy boss, Kevin (Leon Dai Li-ren). In among numerous steamy encounters and grovelling phone calls, they uncover a dark secret that could change all of their lives.

Showtimes are available online, though tickets are only available for purchase at the door. The Regent Square Theater is located at 1035 S. Braddock Ave. (map) in the neighborhood of the same name.

Poster presentation with visiting Chinese scholars at the Institute for International Studies in Education, February 1 at Pitt.

The University of Pittsburgh's Institute for International Studies in Education will host a poster presentation featuring two visiting scholars from China on February 1. The event runs from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm in 4119 Posvar Hall (map) and is free and open to the public.

Japanese-language yoga sessions in Bethel Park in February.

Yoga Innovations in Bethel Park will present Power Yoga in Japanese sessions on Thursdays in February. The sessions run from 11:00 am to 12:00 pm, and the studio is located at 102 Broughton Rd. (map).

2001's Cowboy Bebop: The Movie (カウボーイビバップ 天国の扉) at AMC Loews Waterfront, February 4.

The 2001 film Cowboy Bebop: The Movie (カウボーイビバップ 天国の扉) will play at the AMC Loews Waterfront theater on February 4, part of the Classic Movie Nights series. The series organizer writes:

Widely considered to be one of, if not, the best anime ever made, the masterpiece that was the Cowboy Bebop anime series was originally intended to be a single movie but, when they got the go ahead for a series instead, they made it with the idea that each individual episode was it's own mini-movie.

With the success of the show, they finally got the go-ahead to make a full-length feature and the results are magnificent in both presentation, quality, and artistic merit.

I've been trying to start showing anime here for over SIX months and have constantly run in to roadblock after roadblock...so this is an extra-special event and I am incredibly excited to put this show on...

The show starts at 2:30 pm on the 4th, and tickets are available online 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.

WholeRen Education (美国厚仁教育集团) hiring Chinese-speaking Electrical Engineering academic tutor.

Pittsburgh-based Chinese education consulting and placement firm WholeRen Education (美国厚仁教育集团) announced an opening for a Chinese-speaking Electrical Engineer Academic Tutor.

Upcoming film Operation Red Sea (红海行动), sequel to 2016's Operation Mekong, in Pittsburgh in February.

The upcoming Chinese-Hong Kong film Operation Red Sea (红海行动) will play in Pittsburgh from February 23. The production company provides a synopsis:

The Chinese Navy’s Jiaolong (“Sea Dragon”) Assault Team is famed for its skill in getting the job done. After its success in rescuing a cargo ship hijacked by pirates off the Somalia coast, the team is assigned an even more perilous mission. A coup in a North African republic has left local Chinese residents in danger, circumstances further complicated by a terrorist plot to obtain nuclear materials. The situation could prove fatal to the hostages and disastrous to the entire region, and presents Jiaolong with a challenge that threatens the very existence of the team and its members.

Tickets and showtime information is not yet available. Operation Red Sea will play at AMC Loews Waterfront in West Homestead (map), which will also play upcoming Chinese films The Monkey King 3 (西遊記女兒國) and Monster Hunt 2 (捉妖記2) next month.

国際機関就職ガイダンス2018, January 29 at Chatham University.

Chatham University will host Keisuke Fukuda (First Secretary, Permanent Mission of Japan to the United Nations) on January 29 for a Japanese-language career seminar on working for international organizations.

Pitt magazine profiles ten influential Korean alumni.

The Winter 2018 issue of Pitt magazine profiles ten Korean alumni of the University of Pittsburgh influential in growing education, business, and government in South Korea.

[Byong Hyon] Kwon was part of the first wave of South Korean students at Pitt. Today, South Korea has a large and organized Pitt alumni base. Its members include leaders in education, technology, government, the private sector, nursing, and public health. They are part of the colossal effort that turned the world's second-poorest nation into the 11th largest economy---in just three decades.

The print magazine has a lengthy profile on Kwon---a 1968 GSPIA graduate, former Korean ambassador to China, and president of Future Forest---and snapshots on nine others; the Pitt magazine website has full profiles on everyone.

• Sang-joo Lee
• Shin-Bok Kim
• Seung Wook Lee & Hyun Kyung Moon
• Ohjoon Kwon
• Kyungbae Chung
• Gio-bin Lim
• Keun Namkoong
• Namgi Park

There have been many other influential Koreans at Pitt over the years. Young Woo Kang, who died in 2012, is one example. Kang earned his PhD from the School of Education in 1976, and was the first blind Korean student to ever earn a doctorate.

City-Paper covers Pittsburgh's first Seijin no Hi.

The Pittsburgh City-Paper's Blogh has a write-up of the Coming of Age Day, Seijin no Hi, held at Pitt on January 10.

On Jan. 10, about 30 participants gathered together in the ballroom of Pitt’s University Club. Many were dressed in traditional Japanese kimonos, but others wore western business attire. Young men and women participated, and the Japanese international students were grateful for the chance to celebrate this right of passage.

“Before we came here, we couldn't expect this,” said Nika Tanimoto, a 20-year-old student from Hiroshima, at the event. “It is great, a special event.” Tanimoto’s friend and fellow international student, Manami Wada, said the event is an “honor” for her.