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. 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 21-and-over show at Spirit Hall in Lawrenceville are available online, at Dave's Music Mine in the South Side, Jerry's Records in Squirrel Hill, and Juke Records in Bloomfield. The band played in Pittsburgh previously in 2016 and 2011. Spirit is located at 242 51st St. in Lawrenceville (map).

2018 animated film Maquia: When the Promised Flower Blooms (さよならの朝に約束の花をかざろう) returns to Pittsburgh (this time dubbed in English), September 23.

An English-dubbed version of the 2018 Japanese animated film Maquia: When the Promised Flower Blooms (さよならの朝に約束の花をかざろう) will play at Southside Works Cinema on September 23. The Anime News Network provides a summary:

Maquia is from a clan where all the members stop aging in their mid teens. She has no parents and, although her days are peaceful, she feels lonely. Their peace is shattered when an army invades, seeking the secret to her people's immortality. Leilia, the most beautiful girl in her clan, is taken away, and the boy Maquia has secret feelings for disappears. Maquia is able to escape, but she loses her friends and her home. Wandering alone in the forest, she finds Erial, a baby boy who has lost his parents. The story follows the changing relationship between the two as Erial grows up and Maquia does not.

The movie first played in Pittsburgh in July, premiered in Japan on February 24, and was the fifth-highest-grossing movie there its opening weekend.

Tickets for the 7:00 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).

"Night at the Movies" with Mori, the Artist's Habitat (モリのいる場所) and shakuhachi performance, September 23 at Pitt.

The Japanese Nationality Room is sponsoring an event to coincide with a screening of the 2018 film Mori, the Artist's Habitat (モリのいる場所) on September 23 as part of this year's Silk Screen Asian American Film Festival. From the Japan Association of Greater Pittsburgh's mailing list:

The Japanese Nationality Room is sponsoring “Night at the Japanese Movie" on Sunday, September 23. This special evening will also include Japanese Shakuhachi and Koto performances. We hope you enjoy a wonderful evening of Japanese culture with your family and friends.

Place: Auditorium on the 7thFloor of Alumni Hall at University of Pittsburgh

(Alumni Hall is across the 5thAvenue from Cathedral of Learning)

https://www.tour.pitt.edu/tour/alumni-hall

Time: 4:00 pm. The Theater and Ticket desk Opens.

4:15 pm. Shakuhachi and Koto Performance and Talk on “This Summer Experiences in Japan” by the Shakuhachi musician.

5:00 pm. Screening of a Japanese Movie: Mori, the Artist’s Habitat

The screening of this Japanese movie is a part of the 2018 Silk Screen Summer Festival, and will cost $10 per person for the general audience, but the Japanese Nationality Room is offering a special discount of $5 per person for the first 50 people who reserve seats through the JNR. Please order directly by emailing Sono Takano sonohayes@gmail.com and specify your full name and the number of tickets you will need. We will maintain a list of reserved tickets and you may pay at the ticket table at the Auditorium on Sunday, 9/23.

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

The University of Pittsburgh's University Center for International Studies is hiring a student worker to help build a website in support of a class on the epic Japanese text Tale of the Heike (平家物語).

The University of Pittsburgh is seeking a student worker to help with website development. Specifically, developing a website resource for reading and teaching Tale of the Heike.

Job Requirements
Develop the website, proofread content for the class website.

The pay is $12 per hour and those interested should apply through Pittsource.

"New Voices from Japan: Engagement and Dialogue with Emerging Policy Experts from Japan," September 7 at Pitt.

The University of Pittsburgh's Asian Studies Center will host "Voices from Japan: Engagement and Dialogue with Emerging Policy Experts from Japan" on September 7. This annual panel discussion will bring the following scholars and topics to Pitt this year:

• Saya Kiba, "Japan's Engagement in Meeting Security Needs in Southeast Asia."
• Takemasa Sekine, "Japan's Leadership in International Trade Rule-Making."
• Akai Ohi, "'The Politics of Reform': A Guide to Understanding Contemporary Japanese Political Confrontation."

The talk starts at 12:00 pm in 4130 Posvar Hall (map) and is free and open to the public.

Parts 1 and 2 of Laughing Under the Clouds Gaiden (曇天に笑う外伝) trilogy at Row House Cinema, August 31 and September 2.

The Row House Cinema will screen parts 1 and 2 of the Laughing Under the Clouds Gaiden trilogy on August 31 and September 2. Anime News Network provides a synopsis:

The manga includes stories not told in the original manga, including some from the past and some from the future. The original manga's story takes place in the 11th year of the Meiji era, when the number of people in Japan who feel dissatisfaction toward the government are increasing due to the increasing speed of Westernization and the ban on samurai. In order to curb the increased rate of crime, the government opens a new prison. The three brothers of the Kumo family are entrusted with the duty of transporting these criminals to the new prison, but adventures await them on the way.

The trilogy's third installment opens in Japan on September 1. The movies will play for two shows only, and tickets are available online (August 31, September 2). The single-screen theater is located at 4115 Butler Street in Lawrenceville (map).

Marlina The Murder in Four Acts (Marlina Si Pembunuh dalam Empat Babak) at Parkway Theater, from August 24.

The 2018 movie Marlina The Murder in Four Acts (Marlina Si Pembunuh dalam Empat Babak) will play at the Parkway Theater in McKees Rocks from August 24. A June New York Times review writes:

An unwavering slow burn, “Marlina the Murderer in Four Acts” goes down exactly as announced. Marlina, a young widow living in remote Indonesia, spills blood in a story that plays out in four discrete acts. Each of the titled acts telegraphs some impending event (“The Robbery,” “The Birth”) and is clearly meant to create a mild sense of anticipation, much like the movie’s own explanatory title. Mostly, these are self-aware art-film touches ornamenting a blunt rape-revenge story that leans heavily and sometimes effectively on its sweeping landscapes, aesthetic violence, nods to Sergio Leone and what comes across as an overt debt to Jia Zhang-ke’s “Touch of Sin.”

The movie plays on August 24 (7:00 pm and 9:00 pm), August 25 (5:00 pm, 7:00 pm, 9:00 pm), August 28 (7:00 pm), August 29 (7:00 pm, 9:00 pm), and August 30 (7:00 pm). The theater is located at 644 Broadway Ave. in McKees Rocks (map). The movie will also play throughout Pittsburgh in September as part of the Silk Screen Asian American Film Festival.

Selections from September's Silk Screen Asian American Film Festival free for Pitt students, faculty, and staff.

The University of Pittsburgh's campus will host several screenings of next month's Silk Screen Asian American Film Festival, and these selections will be free to those students, faculty, and staff with valid Pitt ID cards. These screenings include:

• Alifu the Prince/ss (阿莉芙; Taiwan, 2017) - September 28, 125 Frick Fine Arts Auditorium at 8:30
• Dynamite Graffiti (素敵なダイナマイトスキャンダル; Japan, 2018) - September 29, 125 Frick Fine Arts Auditorium at 9:00
• Marlina The Murder in Four Acts (Marlina Si Pembunuh dalam Empat Babak; Indonesia+Malaysia+Thailand, 2018) - September 23, Frick Fine Arts Auditorium at 7:30
• Missing Johnny (強尼．凱克; Taiwan, 2017) - September 28, Alumni Hall at 7:30
• Mori, the Artist's Habitat (モリのいる場所; Japan, 2018) - September 23, Alumni Hall at 5:00 pm; September 29, 125 Frick Fine Arts Auditorium at 3:00
• The Return (Denmark+South Korea, 2018) - September 23, 125 Frick Fine Arts Auditorium at 5:30

Take advantage of free Chinese, Japanese, Korean classes in Pittsburgh this semester.

The Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh is an invaluable source of free and enriching programming for people of all ages. Most relevant to this site are the free Chinese, Japanese, and Korean courses at an increasing number of branches. The start of a new school year is an excellent time to revisit this list of free courses available for children, complete novices, high-beginners, intermediate learners, and advanced speakers.

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 overnight bilingual Mandarin-English Procurement Operations Specialist positions in Pittsburgh. The job posting, via a staffing agency:

Description:
Mandarin/English language skills Sun-TH 8PM-5 AM -18.27

Job Description Overview

The Procurement Operations Specialist is the face and voice of Company to our customers, building relationships in each interaction. Specialists help our customers maximize the benefits of Ariba solutions to facilitate a global exchange of goods and services in the world's largest business to business trading community. They use their expertise and collaborate with team members and customers across the globe to provide detailed solutions that exceed expectations.