One-time screening of Masaaki Yuasa's Mind Game (マインド・ゲーム), June 8 at Row House Cinema.

The 2004 Japanese film Mindgame (マインド・ゲーム) will have a one-time screening at the Row House Cinema's New Animated Films series on June 8. The distributor summarizes the Masaaki Yuasa film:

Buckle in and prepare to surrender yourself to an exhilarating and wildly entertaining ride. Cult classic Mind Game is an explosion of unconstrained expression – gloriously colorful mages ricochet in rapid fire associations,like Masaaki Yuasa’s brain splattered onto the screen in all its goopy glory. Audiences will begin to grasp what they are in for early on as loser Nishi, too wimpy to try to save his childhood sweetheart from gangsters, is shot in the butt by a soccer-playing psychopath, projecting Nishi into the afterlife. In this limbo, God – shown as a series of rapidly changing characters – tells him to walk toward the light. But Nishi runs like hell in the other direction and returns to Earth a changed man, driven to live each moment to the fullest.

Two other Japanese films, Haikara-san ga Tōru (はいからさんが通る) and Lu Over The Wall (夜明け告げるルーのうた) , will run the duration of the series through June 15. Tickets for the 9:30 pm screening on June 8 are available online. The single-screen theater is located at 4115 Butler Street in Lawrenceville (map).

Haikara-San: Here Comes Miss Modern Part One (はいからさんが通る) at Southside Works Cinema, June 10.

The film adaptation of the long-running animated TV series Haikara-san ga Tōru (はいからさんが通る) will play at the Southside Works Cinema on June 10. A synopsis from the distributor:

During the Taisho era of 1918, 17-year-old Benio Hanamura thrives on bucking tradition. As a boisterous and quarrelsome tomboy, Miss Hanamura leads a life of kendo and tree-climbing adventure with her best friends Tamaki and Ranmaru. Benio determines to find love on her own, though her family has other plans. Benio will encounter tests of love, independence, and friendship during wartime.

Tickets for the 7:00 pm show, subtitled in English, are available online. The theater is located at 425 Cinema Drive in the Southside, one block from the Hot Metal Bridge (map).

Miao Wang's Maineland in Oakland, June 7.

The 2017 documentary Maineland will play at a resuscitated 3 Rivers Film Fest on June 7.

Filmed over three years in China and the U.S., MAINELAND is a multi-layered coming-of-age tale that follows two affluent and cosmopolitan teenagers as they settle into a boarding school in blue-collar rural Maine. Part of the enormous wave of "parachute students" from China enrolling in U.S. private schools, bubbly, fun-loving Stella and introspective Harry come seeking a Western-style education, escape from the dreaded Chinese college entrance exam, and the promise of a Hollywood-style U.S. high school experience. As Stella and Harry’s fuzzy visions of the American dream slowly gain more clarity, they ruminate on their experiences of alienation, culture clash, and personal identity, sharing new understandings and poignant discourses on home and country.

It plays from 7:00 pm at the Melwood Screening Room in Oakland (map). Ticket information has not been announced yet.

Talk on Japanese gardens at Murrysville Community Center, June 7.

At Shofuso Japanese House & Garden in Philadelphia, 2013.

The Murrysville Garden Club will host professor Josh Belbo and his talk on Japanese gardening on June 7. From the Tribune-Review:

Adjunct professor Joshua Beblo , who holds a master's degree in landscape architecture from Penn State as well as a master's degree in education from Duquesne University, will present a program on Japanese gardens, which combine the basic elements of plants, water, and rocks with simple, clean lines to create a tranquil retreat, according to Better Homes & Gardens magazine.

The event starts at 10:00 am at the Murrysville Community Center (map) and is free and open to the public.

"Bubblepop: k-pop · j-pop · retro pop dance party," June 9.

Bubblepop, "a dance party for K-Pop, J-Pop, Mando-pop and everything else fun and cute," is back with its next event on June 9, the "K-pop, J-Pop, Retro Pop Dance Party."

Kawaii babes are playing your favorite international pop, disco and new wave at P-Town with psyched out karaoke-style visuals. Dress up is encouraged. Get weird and come dance your adorable asses off with us!

It runs from 9:00 pm to 1:00 am at P Town Bar in Bloomfield (map).

Spirited Away with Whiskey & Beer Tasting and Cosplay, June 23rd at The Oaks theater.

Oakmont's The Oaks Theater will play the Studio Ghibli classic film Spirited Away (千と千尋の神隠し) on June 23rd.

Join us for a great night of Anime and Cosplay!

Dress up and receive special prizes and specials at the bar.

This Show is all ages but you must have a valid ID to participate in the drink sampling

Construction underway on Philippine Nationality Room.

via Popi Laudico.

As reported in the Spring 2018 Nationality and Heritage Rooms News newsletter, construction began on the Philippine Nationality Room on May 3. And as reported in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette yesterday, it is planned for room 313.

Fireworks, Should We See It from the Side or the Bottom? (打ち上げ花火、下から見るか? 横から見るか?) at Row House Cinema, too, this July.

The 2017 Japanese animated film Fireworks, Should We See It from the Side or the Bottom? (打ち上げ花火、下から見るか? 横から見るか?), which will play at the Cinemark Theaters in Monroeville and Pittsburgh Mills from July 3, will also play at the Row House Cinema from July 6 through 12 as part of an "In Case You Missed It" series. There will be a timely preview screening on the 4th as well.

Pitt hiring two student workers for "Japan support, website development" for Tale of the Heike (平家物語 ) site.

The University of Pittsburgh is hiring student workers to build a website in support of a class on the epic Japanese text Tale of the Heike (平家物語 ). The pay is $12 per hour and those interested should apply through Pittsource.

English dub of Fate/stay night: Heaven's Feel 1. presage flower (劇場版 Fate / stay night [Heaven's Feel] 第一章「presage flower」) in Pittsburgh, June 5 and 7.

The English dub of Fate/stay night: Heaven's Feel 1. presage flower (劇場版 Fate / stay night [Heaven's Feel] 第一章「presage flower」), which will play locally at the Cinemark theater in Robinson on June 5 and 7.