Seminal Japanese pop punk band Shonen Knife back in Pittsburgh, September 4.

The Japanese pop punk band Shonen Knife (少年ナイフ) will return to Pittsburgh on September 4 as part of their 2018 US tour, the band announced today. According to a press release:

Boasting a nearly 40 year career, these three luminaries of rock & roll have wielded fun and food-centered bops that earned them the love and respect of music goliaths like Nirvana andSonic Youth. They’ve made their way from their home of Osaka, Japan to the United States many times, but this year they’re putting their personal affection for each and every city on display. Following the release of their tenacious live DVD/CD ALIVE! In Osaka (Released onRobby Takac of THE GOO GOO DOLLS’ Good Charamel Records), Shonen Knife have prepared to deliver that same hometown energy from Buffalo on August 28th to Brooklyn on August 31st, Chicago on September 9th, Los Angeles on October 5th, and so much more. Each city will have its own personalized and limited edition artwork available at the show, because for Shonen Knife, home is where the fans are.

Shonen Knife frontwoman Naoko comments, “Our first live album Live in Osaka was released in 2006, and was recorded at the same venue as this new one. After the first live album, we toured, released music constantly, grew as a band and improved. This year we would like to bring the fever from ALIVE! in Osaka on our US tour. Not only will we play songs from the record, but we are also preparing special rarely played songs from earlier albums to the present. Let’s have a fun time together!”

Tickets for the show at Spirit Lounge are not yet available. The band played in Pittsburgh previously in 2016 and 2011.

SAP Ariba hiring for bilingual Mandarin-English Procurement Operations Specialist positions in Pittsburgh.

SAP Ariba, "the world’s business commerce network," is again hiring for bilingual Mandarin-English Procurement Operations Specialist positions in Pittsburgh. The job posting, via a staffing agency:

The Big Picture – Top Skills You Should Possess:

• Full Mandarin and English Bilingual must be able to write and speak both fluently
• Superior communication and telephone skills.

What You’ll Be Doing:

• Provides inbound application and functional support for all relevant Company applications, both internally and externally, by way of chat, web form and phone.
• Resolves 80% of issues without escalation.
• Respond to customer inquiries in a timely manner and within service level objectives.
• Help our customers maximize the benefits of solutions to facilitate a global exchange of goods and services in the world’s largest business to business trading community.

What You Need to Bring to the Table:

• Full Mandarin and English Bilingual must be able to write and speak both fluently
• Bachelor’s degree or 2-year Technical school degree preferred.
• Minimum of 1 year work experience preferred

2017 documentary Ryuichi Sakamoto: Coda at Southside Works, July 31.

The 2017 documentary on composer Ryuichi Sakamoto, Ryuichi Sakamoto: Coda, will play in Pittsburgh on July 31 at the Southside Works Cinema. A July 6 Variety review provides a summary:

Admirers of the highly respected Japanese musician (and occasional actor) will enjoy “Ryuichi Sakamoto: Coda,” a leisurely look at a multi-talent best known in the west for composing memorable original scores for directors from Bertolucci and Oshima to Inarritu and Miike. Stephen Nomura Schible shot this documentary over a five-year span, during which Sakamoto survived a serious cancer scare. That lends some drama to a tastefully elegiac portrait that otherwise demurs from any discussion of its protagonist’s personal life or background.

Tickets for the 7:30 pm show are now available online. The theater is located at 425 Cinema Drive in the Southside, one block from the Hot Metal Bridge (map).

Pittsburgh Korean School now enrolling for the fall semester.

The Pittsburgh Korean School (피츠버그 중앙한국학교) is now enrolling students ages 3 to 14 for the fall semester. The school meets every Saturday at the Korean Central Church of Pittsburgh in Shadyside from 12:30 to 3:30 pm from September 1 through December 1 (no class on November 24). The cost is $200 and payment is made by check to PKS. Volunteer instructors are being sought as well. Registration closes on August 26.

Lisa Ko's The Leavers at Smithfield Critics Book Discussion Group, July 18 downtown.

Lisa Ko's The Leavers will be the topic of discussion with the Smithfield Critics Book Discussion Group at the downtown branch of the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh.

One morning, Deming’s mother, Polly, an undocumented Chinese immigrant, goes to her job at a nail salon and never comes home. With his mother gone, eleven-year-old Deming is left mystified and bereft. Eventually adopted by a pair of well-meaning white professors, Deming is moved from the Bronx to a small town upstate and renamed Daniel Wilkinson. Far from all he’s ever known, Daniel struggles to reconcile his adoptive parents’ desire that he assimilate with his memories of his mother and the community he left behind.

The group meets from 12:00 to 1:00 pm, and the library is located at 612 Smithfield St. (map).

Pipa soloist Yang Jin in Oakland, September 23.

The Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh's branch in Oakland will host pipa soloist Yang Jin on September 23 as part of its World Kaleidoscope series.

2016 Stephen Chow movie The Mermaid (美人鱼) at Oakland's Carnegie Library in October.

The October installment of International Cinema Sunday will feature the 2016 Stephen Chow movie The Mermaid (美人鱼), the highest-grossing movie in China that year.

Shutaro Noguchi playing at Howlers, July 12.

Japanese musician Shutaro Noguchi (currently based in Louisville, Kentucky) will play at Howlers on July 12. A Forced Exposure review describes his forthcoming LP thus:

[T]he sound is wonderfully hybridized. At times its merger of prog, pop, fusionism and complexity make me think of a collision between the Glenn Phillips Band and Todd Rundgren's Utopia with Terje Rypdal sittin' in. I know I'm making it sound like a crazy quilt, and I suppose if sort of is, but only in the sense that it avoids the monochromaticism of so much contemporary music. Shutaro does not grab a single schtick and just shake it until his arm is tired. He mixes up of ballads and thunder (sometimes in a single song) in a way that strikes me as somehow very Japanese. But mostly it just strikes me about the head. In the most pleasant of ways. Take off your helmet and give it a try. You'll never know what hit you.

The show starts at 8:00 pm and tickets are $10. Howlers is located at 4509 Liberty Ave. in Bloomfield (map).

Manila Killa at Spirit Hall, September 28.

via @manilakilla.

EDM artist Manila Killa will play at Spirit Hall on September 28, opening for Whethan. Ones to Watch profiled him back in January:

[Chris] Gavino is known around the world as future bass producer Manila Killa, half of indie-dance and house duo Hotel Garuda, and founding member of the internet-born music collective Moving Castle. All things considered, these notable achievements would prove impressive for anyone in the world of electronic music and are even more astounding when viewed in context.

Gavino managed to achieve these monumental feats all while still attending college full-time, where he was studying business management. Balancing both college and an ever-growing music career where he was asked to play shows across the country, Gavino chose the path most artists rarely do. The rising producer fully committed himself to both worlds, succeeding in further honing and developing his craft without sacrificing his academic pursuits.

Tickets are $23 in advance or $25 at the door. The all-ages show starts at 7:00 pm (doors open at 6:00). Spirit is located at 242 51st Street in Lawrenceville (map).

Pitt's GSPIA hiring bilingual Mandarin-English student for "math camp" support.

Dr. Sera Lenardi in Pitt's Graduate School of Public and International Affairs is hiring a bilingual Mandarin-English student for its preparatory math camp for incoming students this summer.

Applicants must also be proficient in IT setup including helping new students set up their internet access and install software in both English and Chinese language operating systems.

The Student Assistant must be proficient in working with mathematical equations in LaTeX, programming Qualtrics survey, and good in explaining introductory statistical concepts. Must have participated both days in either the 2016 or 2017 GSPIA Math Camp.