2021 Japanese animated film Belle (竜とそばかすの姫) in Pittsburgh, from January 12.

The 2021 Japanese animated film Belle (竜とそばかすの姫) will play in Pittsburgh from January 12. From the distributor:

From the celebrated Academy Award®-nominated director Mamoru Hosoda and Studio Chizu, creators of Mirai, Wolf Children, Summer Wars, and more, comes a fantastical, heartfelt story of growing up in the age of social media.

Suzu is a shy, everyday high school student living in a rural village. For years, she has only been a shadow of herself. But when she enters “U”, a massive virtual world, she escapes into her online persona as Belle, a gorgeous and globally-beloved singer. One day, her concert is interrupted by a monstrous creature chased by vigilantes. As their hunt escalates, Suzu embarks on an emotional and epic quest to uncover the identity of this mysterious “beast” and to discover her true self in a world where you can be anyone.

Belle was the top movie in Japan for three weeks over the summer and was the second-highest grossing film in Japan for 2021. It will play locally the AMC Loews Waterfront and Cinemark theaters in Monaca and Monroeville, and tickets are available online.

Ten most-read posts of 2021.

Here's a look back at the ten most-read Pennsylvasia posts of 2021; seven deal with new restaurants or Asian grocery stores opening in Pittsburgh:

1. Oriental Market moving up the road to Old McKnight Road and the former David's Bridal. [January 9]
2. Oishii Donburi to soft open, March 19. [March 17]
3. 98 K Burger opening in Squirrel Hill. [August 1]
4. Pittsburgh's Chinatown granted State Historical Marker. [March 10]
5. Panda Supermarket (熊猫超市) to open at new location, September 1, with expanded hours. [August 21]
6. African Cuisine moving into old Chaya spot, February 27. [February 16]
7. Sushi Kim 2 opening soon downtown. [July 7]
8. "Four Evenings" discussion with Charles Yu and his 2020 novel Interior Chinatown, October 14 at Pitt. [October 7]
9. New York-based, Chinese-owned fastfood chain 98K coming soon to Squirrel Hill. [September 5]
10. Pittsburgh Chinese Cultural Festival, October 16 at Mellon Park. [September 9]

Let's スケートing at North Park!

A number of Bauer hockey skates at the North Park ice rink have スケート (skate) printed on them in Japanese . . . lest you get the bladed boot confused with another type of footwear.

Food delivery service Hungry Panda hiring Mandarin-speaking Business Development Specialist for Pittsburgh area.

Hungry Panda is hiring a Mandarin-speaking Business Development Specialist for the Pittsburgh area. As PennsylvAsia noted in Summer 2020, more Chinese delivery options, like Fantuan and Chowbus, are making their way to Pittsburgh.

Job Requirements:

• Must be fluent in Mandarin and English
• Educational requirements: Bachelor’s degree and above
• Experience in business negotiation, sales and marketing management is preferred
• Working experience in Internet companies is preferred
• Strong time management and project management skills
• High sensitivity on market trend, high sensitivity on data
• Strong commercial acumen and a desire to work with restaurants, not afraid to be refused, have top-notch people skills
• Excellent teamwork ability, cooperate with different teams to promote business cooperation, and be able to efficiently complete business negotiations independently
• Have a valid driver licence and a vehicle

Tickets now available for 2021 Japanese film Drive My Car (ドライブ・マイ・カー) at Harris Theater, January 20 through 27.

Tickets are now available for the acclaimed 2021 Japanese film Drive My Car (ドライブ・マイ・カー), which will play at the Harris Theater from January 20 through 27, 2022. A brief synospis from a December 7 NPR review:

The story follows a middle-aged Tokyo stage actor named Kafuku, superbly played by Hidetoshi Nishijima. He's a calm, mild-mannered guy who's been married for two decades to a screenwriter named Oto. We get a sense of their mutual devotion when we see Kafuku driving around in his bright red Saab, rehearsing his lines by listening to audio tapes that Oto has painstakingly recorded for him.

But their relationship is more complicated than it appears. Years ago, Kafuku and Oto experienced an agonizing loss that has led her to find solace — and perhaps something more — in relationships with other men. Kafuku has deep compassion for his wife, which doesn't make her betrayal any less painful. And then another tragedy strikes when Oto dies suddenly.

It will play at the Harris Theater in downtown's Cultural District (map), and tickets are available online or at the door.

2001 film Cowboy Bebop: The Movie (カウボーイビバップ 天国の扉) at Row House Cinema, from January 14.

The 2001 film Cowboy Bebop: The Movie (カウボーイビバップ 天国の扉) will play at Row House Cinema from January 14 through 20.

This massively popular anime with fantastic animation and a very cool soundtrack from The Seatbelts is a house favorite. Like the original show, Cowboy Bebop is a sci-fi noir about a Star Wars-esque crew of bounty hunters trying to save a human settlement on Mars.

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

Pittsburgh's soul food (ピッツバーグのソウルフード) and Christmas.

Yasuda Women's University in Hiroshima sends cohorts of its English education students overseas each year for additional language training and cultural exchange, and since 2016 a group of students has come to the University of Pittsburgh's English Language Institute each fall and winter. Quick reports of their experirences and exchanges are blogged on Yasuda's Department of English and English/American Literature page. Entries cover Christmas, conversation partners, and Primanti Brothers ("Pittsburgh's soul food"). Program experiences like this are invaluable in helping students experience English as an actual language with real-life speakers, cultures, and meanings, rather than simply a school subject to be memorized and regurgitated.
Decorating a tree with her host family.

Kishi Bashi in Pittsburgh, April 2.

Singer, multi-instrumentalist, and songwriter Kishi Bashi will perform at Thunderbird Cafe on April 2, 2022. His website provides an introduction:

Kishi Bashi is the pseudonym of singer, multi-instrumentalist, and songwriter Kaoru Ishibashi. Born in Seattle, Washington, Ishibashi grew up in Norfolk, Virginia where both of his parents were professors at Old Dominion University. As a 1994 graduate of Matthew Fontaine Maury High School, he went on to study film scoring at Berklee College of Music before becoming a renowned violinist. Ishibashi has recorded and toured internationally as a violinist with diverse artists such as Regina Spektor, Sondre Lerche, and most recently, the Athens, Georgia-based indie rock band, of Montreal. He remains based in Athens.

. . .

His latest album, Omoiyari (a Japanese word for the idea of creating compassion toward other people by thinking about them), was released in 2019. He is currently co-directing a feature length documentary of the same name about minority identity and the Incarceration of Japanese Americans in WWII.

In 2020 Kishi Bashi scored the entire soundtrack for the touching Apple TV+ kids show “Stillwater” with composer Toby Chu, and released it as an album featuring 18 tracks of uplifting orchestral tunes.

His new Emigrant EP, a very special companion piece to 'Omoiyari' is out physically and digitally now. Arranged and recorded over the last year, 'Emigrant EP' serves as a time capsule of the 2020 condition and a continuation of the concepts explored in 'Omoiyari'.

Tickets are now available online. The show is 18+ and attendees are required to show proof of vaccination. The Thunderbird Cafe & Music Hall is located at 4023 Butler St. in Lawrenceville (map).

Jasmine Cho named one of City-Paper's Pittsburgh's People of the Year.

Photo by Jared Wickerham.

Baker, author, and activist Jasmine Cho was named one of the Pittsburgh City-Paper's Pittsburgh's People of the Year.

Jasmine Cho’s activism has initiated conversations on race for years. As founder of online bakery Yummyholic and a self-declared “cookie activist,” she paints intricate portraits of Asian Americans with icing to give representation to the historically underrepresented community.

Dr. Freddie Fu named Pittsburgh Magazine's Pittsburgher of the Year for 2021.

The late Dr. Freddie Fu was named Pittsburgh Magazine's Pittsburgher of the Year for 2021.

With his boundless energy and spirited optimism, Dr. Freddie Fu built a world-class sports medicine program that turned Pittsburgh into a go-to international destination not only for surgeons, athletic trainers and physical therapists, but for many of the world’s best banged-up athletes