Bong Joon-ho film Parasite (기생충) stays in Pittsburgh through (at least) February 27.

The Oscar-winning 2019 Bong Joon-ho film Parasite (기생충) will keep playing throughout the Pittsburgh region through at least February 27. A synopsis from the movie's official site:

Bong Joon Ho brings his singular mastery home to Korea in this pitch-black modern fairytale.

Meet the Park Family: the picture of aspirational wealth. And the Kim Family, rich in street smarts but not much else. Be it chance or fate, these two houses are brought together and the Kims sense a golden opportunity. Masterminded by college-aged Ki-woo, the Kim children expediently install themselves as tutor and art therapist, to the Parks. Soon, a symbiotic relationship forms between the two families. The Kims provide “indispensable” luxury services while the Parks obliviously bankroll their entire household. When a parasitic interloper threatens the Kims’ newfound comfort, a savage, underhanded battle for dominance breaks out, threatening to destroy the fragile ecosystem between the Kims and the Parks. By turns darkly hilarious and heart-wrenching, PARASITE showcases a modern master at the top of his game.

Here is a list of currently-scheduled screenings:

• AMC Mt. Lebanon: now through February 26
• AMC Loews Waterfront: now through February 26
• Cinemark Pittsburgh Mills: now through February 26
• Cinemark Robinson: now through February 20
• Row House Cinema: February 21 through 27 (black and white version)
• Squirrel Hill Manor: now through February 20
• Tull Family Theater: now through February 20
• Southside Works Cinema: now through February 27
• Waterworks Cinema: now through February 26

My Hero Academia: Heroes: Rising (僕のヒーローアカデミア THE MOVIE ヒーローズ:ライジング) in Pittsburgh, from February 26.

The 2019 animated movie My Hero Academia: Heroes: Rising (僕のヒーローアカデミア THE MOVIE ヒーローズ:ライジング) will play in Pittsburgh at several local theaters from February 26. From the distributor:

Class 1-A visits Nabu Island where they finally get to do real hero work. The place is so peaceful that it’s more like a vacation … until they’re attacked by a villain with an eerily familiar Quirk! Now, Deku and his friends are the island’s only hope.

It will play locally at AMC Loews Waterfront, the Hollywood Theater, the Southside Works Cinema, AMC South Hills Village, the Waterworks Cinema, and the Cinemark theaters in Monaca, Monroeville, North Hills, Pittsburgh Mills, and Robinson. Tickets are available online and it will play here through at least March 7.

"Making Green Tea For America - And For Japan," February 21 at Pitt.

via cyclonebill (Creative Commons)

The University of Pittsburgh's Asian Studies Center will host Dr. Robert Hellyer and "Making Green Tea For America - And For Japan" on February 21.

Join Professor Robert Hellyer of Wake Forest University for a discussion on the socio-economic history of green tea in America and Japan in the late 19th and early 20th century.
Soon after the Meiji Restoration of 1868, Japan dramatically expanded tea production—especially of high-quality sencha green tea—specifically to meet demand from the United States, then a green tea consuming nation. This presentation will outline that export trade highlighting how tea production helped to ease social tensions in the nascent Japanese nation-state by providing employment for Tokugawa retainers who had opposed the new central regime during the Boshin War (1868-1869). It will also explain the ways in which a change in American tastes—the 1920s’ embrace of black teas produced in South Asia—brought a decline in Japanese tea exports to the United States. Facing a glut, Japanese tea merchants aggressively marketed sencha at home for the first time, emphasizing its health benefits. As a result, more Japanese began to consume sencha, setting in motion a trend that made that type of green tea the definitive daily beverage it remains today.

The event starts from 3:00 pm in 4130 Posvar Hall (map).

1963 Kurosawa film High and Low (天国と地獄) in Pittsburgh, from March 13.

The 1963 Akira Kurosawa film High and Low (天国と地獄) will play at the Row House Cinema from March 13 to 19, part of the theater's Film Noir series. The Criterion Collection provides a summary:

Toshiro Mifune is unforgettable as Kingo Gondo, a wealthy industrialist whose family becomes the target of a cold-blooded kidnapper in High and Low (Tengoku to jigoku), the highly influential domestic drama and police procedural from director Akira Kurosawa. Adapting Ed McBain's detective novel King's Ransom, Kurosawa moves effortlessly from compelling race-against-time thriller to exacting social commentary, creating a diabolical treatise on contemporary Japanese society.

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

Profiles on Bloomfield's Cobra Lounge, a new space for yakiniku, Korean BBQ, and DJs..

Cobra Lounge, a new yakiniku + Korean BBQ place slash event space in Bloomfield, has been the subject of two recent profiles in Pittsburgh Magazine and NextPittsburgh. From the former:

The heart of the Cobra experience is the array of 10 smokeless Shinpo Yakiniku grills in the rectangular dining room. Burnell and Piso said they spent a lot of time researching Korean-style barbeque locations in Los Angeles, New York and other places prior to opening Cobra. The experience draws from those Korean culinary influences, and also is informed by the Japanese technique of yakiniku, meaning that all the butchering is done prior to service. “There’s no need for scissors or a steak knife. It’s perfectly butchered for one bite,” says Piso.

Participants needed for Bon Odori in Oakland "Open Streets" event, May 31.

One of Pittsburgh's Open Streets events will take place in Oakland in 2020 and will feature a Bon Odori performance. The Japanese Nationality Room is currently recruiting participants for the May 31 event.

Bon Odori - Join us at Open Streets in Oakland on Sunday May 31, 2020.
We are recruiting Bon Odori participants. It's really easy to learn the steps. If you have Yukata or Happi, it's a great opportunity to wear it too! See our FB Event page for registration.

Japanese film The Little House (小さいおうち) at Maridon Museum, March 6.

The 2014 Japanese movie The Little House (小さいおうち) will play at the Maridon Museum on March 6, the first installment of this spring's Japanese Film Series.

A woman looks back on her family’s life in Tokyo before and during WWII. A maid arrives from the countryside to work for an upper middle-class family. She fits in well, but everyone’s emotions are stirred up with the arrival of a student.

The movie starts at 6:00 pm. The event is free but reservations are required and can be made by calling 724-282-0123. The Maridon Museum is an Asian art museum at 322 N. McKean St. in downtown Butler (map) that runs film series periodically throughout the year, in addition to art classes, book club meetings, and its regular exhibits.

Upcoming Japanese movie Digimon Adventure: Last Evolution Kizuna (デジモンアドベンチャー LAST EVOLUTION 絆) in Pittsburgh, March 25.

The upcoming Japanese movie Digimon Adventure: Last Evolution Kizuna (デジモンアドベンチャー LAST EVOLUTION 絆) will play in Pittsburgh on March 25. From the distributor:

Tai is now a university student, living alone, working hard at school, and working every day, but with his future still undecided. Meanwhile, Matt and others continue to work on Digimon incidents and activities that help people with their partner Digimon. When an unprecedented phenomenon occurs, the DigiDestined discover that when they grow up, their relationship with their partner Digimon will come closer to an end.

As a countdown timer activates on the Digivice, they realize that the more they fight with their partner Digimon, the faster their bond breaks. Will they fight for others and lose their partner? The time to choose and decide is approaching fast. There is a short time before “chosen children” will become adults. This is the last adventure of Tai and Agumon.

The movie is in Japanese with English subtitles. It will play locally at AMC Loews Waterfront, the Cinemarks in Monroeville and Pittsburgh Mills, and Southside Works Cinema, and tickets are available online.

Work progresses on second Fuku Tea location.

via @margittai

Work continues on the second Fuku Tea location at 300 S. Craig St. (map). The new bubble tea place will be open this spring, Margittai Architects write on Facebook. The owners of Fuku Tea also run Sushi Fuku, which has three restaurants in Oakland, including one a few storefronts away.

Pitt hiring part-time Japanese teacher for Summer 2020 start.

The University of Pittsburgh's Department of East Asian Languages & Literatures is hiring a part-time Japanese instructor for a Summer 2020 start.

The Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures seeks a part-time instructor of Japanese Language starting Summer Term 2020. Instructors must have a bachelor’s degree and experience teaching Japanese conversation classes at University level more than one year. Native speakers of Japanese are preferred. Duties include teaching recitation sections. Interested applicants should remit a CV and cover letter. The position will be filled as soon as qualified candidates are found.

The Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences is committed to building and fostering a culturally diverse environment. Excellent interpersonal and relationship-building skills and ability to work effectively with a wide range of individuals in support of a diverse community are required.

Those interested can apply online.