Documentary Never-Ending Man: Hayao Miyazaki (終わらない人 宮崎駿) in Pittsburgh area, December 13 and 18.

The 2016 documentary, Never-Ending Man: Hayao Miyazaki, will play locally at the Cinemark theater in Robinson on December 13 and 18 as part of its US premiere. A summary from the distributor:

In 2013, Academy Award®-winning film director and animator Hayao Miyazaki suddenly announced his retirement at the age of 72. But he can’t shake his burning desire to create. After an encounter with young CGI animators, Miyazaki embarks on a new project to utilize CGI for the first time ever. But the artist, who has been adamant about hand-drawn animation, confronts many challenges that threaten to cancel the film. Can an old master who thinks he’s past his prime shine once again? This program goes behind the scenes over two years as Miyazaki overcomes struggles to create his short film Boro the Caterpillar using CGI.

The shows are in Japanese with English subtitles, and tickets are available online.

Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters at Row House Cinema, from December 7.

The Row House Cinema will show the 1985 American biographical film Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters from December 7 through 13. From the home video distributor:

Paul Schrader’s visually stunning, collagelike portrait of the acclaimed Japanese author and playwright Yukio Mishima (played by Ken Ogata) investigates the inner turmoil and contradictions of a man who attempted the impossible task of finding harmony among self, art, and society. Taking place on the last day of Mishima’s life, when he famously committed public seppuku, the film is punctuated by extended flashbacks to the writer’s past as well as gloriously stylized evocations of his fictional works. With its rich cinematography by John Bailey, exquisite sets and costumes by Eiko Ishioka, and unforgettable, highly influential score by Philip Glass, Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters is a tribute to its subject and a bold, investigative work of art in its own right.

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

"Kitsuke: The Art Of Kimono," December 4 at Pitt.

"Vivid kimono" by Raita Futo (Creative Commons).

The University of Pittsburgh's Asian Studies Center will host Evan Mason and his workshop "Kitsuke: The Art Of Kimono" on December 4.

Through this interactive workshop, learn about the intricate art of dressing in kimono with expert and Pitt alumnus Evan Mason. The workshop will begin with a lecture on the culture and history of the kimono in Japan followed by a demonstration of kitsuke and an opportunity for participants to dress in yukata and try out their new skills!

It runs from 5:30 to 6:30 pm in 4130 Posvar Hall (map).

"Building Peace, Security, and Diversity in Squirrel Hill and Beyond: Pittsburgh’s Asian American leaders and members meet with the United States Department of Justice," December 3 at Chatham University.

Chatham University in Shadyside will host representatives from the Department of Justice to address concerns from the Asian-American and refugee business communities regarding safety and security in culturally and politically hostile environments.

The Department of Justice is coming to Pittsburgh to address the concerns of the Asian American and Refugee communities on Monday, December 3, 2018 from 6:30pm to 8:30pm in the Mellon Board Room (MBR) in Mellon Center on Chatham University Shadyside Campus.

This meeting will cover security, safety, best practices when communities come under attack, protection of children, families and businesses. This will be very much like a Town Hall meeting where the audience has an opportunity to ask questions from these specialists.

The DOJ is making this special trip to share as much information possible and get our input, so please bring your questions and comments. We have their attention and this may be our only chance, so we need to do our best to bring as many people from our community to this meeting.

If translators are needed, please let us know.

Free parking is available and is about a 5-10 minute walk to the meeting room.

Please make your best effort to attend, we hope to see everyone there.

The Tale of The Princess Kaguya (かぐや姫の物語) at Carnegie Museum of Art, December 1.

For this month's Cinematheque event as part of the Carnegie International exhibition, the Carnegie Museum of Art will present the 2013 Studio Ghibli film The Tale of The Princess Kaguya (かぐや姫の物語) on December 1. A 2014 A.V. Club review provides a summary:

A humble bamboo cutter named Okina (translation: “old man”) happens upon a glowing stalk in the grove near his house. When he investigates, the shimmering tree blossoms reveal a baby nested inside. Believing this discovery to be a gift from the heavens, Okina brings her home to his wife Ouna (“old woman”), with whom he begins to raise the child as their own. Dubbing her “Princess” Kaguya, Ouna and Okina marvel at how rapidly the girl begins to grow, racing from infancy to pre-adolescence in a matter of days.

While Kaguya busies herself with a normal childhood, making friends with the local kids and bonding with an older boy named Sutemaru, her adopted father becomes distracted by Kaguya’s value to him—the bamboo shoot from which she was born begins producing gold. As Kaguya transforms into a teenager, Okina relocates their family to the capital city, where the girl receives lessons on how to be a proper woman, and is celebrated as a rare beauty. When five aggressive suitors come calling—followed by the emperor himself—Kaguya begins to feel trapped, things falling apart as she imagines a different life for herself.

It goes on to say the film has "some of the most beautifully expressive animation that Ghibli (or anyone else) has ever produced".

The movie runs from 1:00 to 3:15 pm. The museum is located at 4400 Forbes Ave. in Oakland (map), accessible by buses 28X, 58, 61A, 61B, 61C, 61D, 67, 69, 71B, 71D, 75, and P3.

Japanese Conversation Table, November 30 at Pitt.

"Osaka, Japan" by Pedro Szekely (Creative Commons)

Pitt's Department of East Asian Languages & Literatures will hold its final Japanese Conversation Table of the term on Friday, November 30. It's a chance for native Japanese speakers and members of the Pitt community learning Japanese to meet and practice outside of the classroom. The session meets in 244A of the Cathedral of Learning (map) from 4:00 pm to 5:00 pm.

Hanami now open in Oakland but questions about sanitation remain.

A rebranded Thai Hana, named Hanami, is now open at 3608 Forbes Ave. in Oakland (map). It promises sushi, pho, and Asian cuisine.

Thai Hana closed earlier this month after numerous health violations; according to tabulations by WESA FM it had the seventh-most health violations in Allegheny County since 2012, in spite of only opening in 2013. Hanami underwent its initial inspection on November 5 and recorded 10 violations, including some pertaining to sanitation, pest management, and contamination prevention.

Gourmet Chinese Tasting Dinner, December 4 in Highland Park.

Itha Cao of the Hungry Cao will present a Gourmet Chinese Tasting Dinner on December 4.

On December 4th, Casa Brasil welcomes chef resident Itha Cao from the Hungry Cao hosting a unique evening, "Gourmet Chinese Tasting Dinner" where 24 guests will explore a variety of flavors and dishes through a 8 course tasting meal carefully curated by chef Itha!

The menu is composed by a variety of dishes focused on fresh and regional Chinese cuisine.

When - December 4, 2018

Time - 6:30pm – 9pm

Location - Casa Brasil

Tickets- $65 includes a complimentary cocktail

Capacity - 24 guests

Chef Itha will donate portion of proceeds to a charitable effort.

The Hungry Cao

Note: This is a ticketed dinner, no walk-ins.

Join us!

Tickets are required, limited to 24, and available online. Casa Brasil is located at 5904 Bryant St. in Highland Park (map).

Howl's Moving Castle (ハウルの動く城), Kiki's Delivery Service (魔女の宅急便), My Neighbor Totoro (となりのトトロ), and Nausicaä Of The Valley Of The Wind (風の谷のナウシカ) at Row House Cinema, from November 30.

This year's annual Miyazaki Week at the Row House Cinema will feature four movies this year from November 30: Howl's Moving Castle (ハウルの動く城), Kiki's Delivery Service (魔女の宅急便), My Neighbor Totoro (となりのトトロ), and Nausicaä Of The Valley Of The Wind (風の谷のナウシカ). The series runs through December 6, and tickets and showtime information is available online. Movies after 6:00 pm will be shown in Japanese with English subtitles, while daytime movies will be dubbed in English. The single-screen theater is located at 4115 Butler Street in Lawrenceville (map).

"Characters and Words in Learning and Teaching Chinese," December 7 at Pitt.

Dr. Lin Chen of the University of Pittsburgh's Learning and Research Development Center will present "Characters and Words in Learning and Teaching Chinese" on December 7.

Writing systems, the ways that orthography maps to phonology and semantics, influence word reading. In written Chinese, the character is a basic writing unit maps onto a single syllable morpheme. The morphosyllabic nature of Chinese writing system brings some challenges to Chinese learning and Chinese teaching. In this talk, I will present several empirical studies of Chinese word reading for adult Chinese learners and discuss the roles of characters and words in learning Chinese and the implications for teaching Chinese.

Dr. Lin Chen is a Research Associate at Learning Research & Development Center, University of Pittsburgh. She earned her PhD in Psychology and worked as a post-doc in Applied Linguistic for two years. She was an associate professor at Sun Yat-sen, China before she moved to US. Her research focuses on universal and language-specific reading procedures across writing systems, and the writing system constraints on second language acquisition and teaching instruction.

The talk starts at 12:00 pm in 4130 Posvar Hall (map).