Fifty (one) years of Asian festivals at Pitt.

Fifty-one years ago the University of Pittsburgh held its second annual Asian Spring Festival. No information remains about the first one, but there is ample literature to tell us about the 1972 iteration. Highlights included screenings of the 1961 Korean film Spring Fragrance (better known today as Chunhyang [춘향]), the 1965 Taiwanese film Beautiful Duckling (養鴨人家), an exhibition of 19th- and 20th century Korean art, and a series of lectures and performances.

A February 22 Pitt press release said of the 1961 Korean film, which is now available for free on Youtube with English subtitles:

Directed by Shin San Okk, Spring Fragrance is based on a famous folk tale of romance set in feudal 18th-century Korea. One of the country's most successful and beautiful films, it features may [sic] of Korea's leading stars.

Taiwanese films Dragon Inn (龍門客棧), Goodbye, Dragon Inn (不散) in Pittsburgh, from March 18; double feature discounts (and Taiwanese snacks) available.

The Harris Theater will show the 2003 Taiwanese film Goodbye Dragon Inn (不散) from March 18 through 24, as well as the 1967 Taiwanese film Dragon Inn (龍門客棧) which features in its plot on March 19, 20, and 23. A summary of the former:

Like the Royal Theater in The Last Picture Show and the title movie house in Cinema Paradiso, the Fu-Ho Grand, a movie palace in Taipei, is closing its doors. Its valedictory screening: King Hu’s 1967 wuxia epic Dragon Inn, playing to a motley smattering of spectators, including two stars of Hu’s original opus, Miao Tien and Shih Chun, watching their younger selves with tears in their eyes. Developing the slyest, most delicate of character arcs involving a lovelorn usherette, a Japanese tourist cruising for companionship, and an oblivious projectionist played by Lee Kang-sheng, Tsai crafts a film both powerfully melancholy and deadpan funny. The sense that moviegoing as a communal experience is slipping away takes on a profound and painful resonance in Goodbye, Dragon Inn, a film too multifaceted to reduce to a simple valentine to the age of pre-streaming cinema.

And a synopsis of the latter:

A watershed in the history of Taiwanese popular cinema, the film-within-a-film in Tsai Ming-liang’s Goodbye, Dragon Inn, and the first movie that Hu, who is to the wuxia what John Ford is to the Western, made after fleeing his Shaw Bros. serfdom in Hong Kong to freedom in Taiwan. The emancipatory joy is palpable. The movie’s plot concerns the three marked-for-death children of a framed-up imperial minister as they’re pursued by a unit of ruthless assassins, the Black Arrow Troop, to the Dragon Gate Inn, a remote redoubt where both sides dig in and feel one another out in preparation for an inevitable showdown—but this conveys nothing of the elation of the filmmaking. Unlike many contemporary wuxia directors, including the good ones, Hu painstakingly pre-prepared and composed his films. Here, adapting the music of the traditional Beijing Opera to the rhythms of the fight film, he creates something that feels both ancient and new. This thrilling landmark of film history returns to the screen in a new, beautifully restored 4K digital transfer, created from the original negative.

There is a special promotion on for those who buy tickets to both movies as part of a double feature:

Special double-feature pricing is available when purchasing both the Dragon Inn and Goodbye, Dragon Inn on March 19, 20, and 23 – save $3 per ticket. All double-feature guests also receive complimentary light Taiwanese snacks between the films!

Tickets are available online. The Harris Theater is located in downtown's Cultural District (map).

"Threshold: A Reading & Conversation with Joseph O. Legaspi" at Pitt (online), March 31.

The University of Pittsburgh's Center for Creativity will present "Threshold: A Reading & Conversation with Joseph O. Legaspi" on March 31.

Join us for a reading and talk with poet Joseph O. Legaspi, Global Filipino Literary Award winner.

Joseph O. Legaspi was born in the Philippines, where he lived before immigrating to Los Angeles with his family at age twelve. He received a BA from Loyola Marymount University and an MFA from New York University's Creative Writing Program. He is the author of the poetry collections Threshold and Imago, both from CavanKerry Press; and three chapbooks: Postcards (Ghost Bird Press), Aviary, Bestiary (Organic Weapon Arts), and Subways (Thrush Press).

Recent works have appeared in POETRY, Orion, New England Review, World Literature Today, and Best of the Net.

He cofounded Kundiman, a national nonprofit organization dedicated to nurturing generations of writers and readers of Asian American literature. He lives with his husband in Queens, New York.

The online event runs from 8:00 to 9:00 pm and is free and open to the public, though registration is required.

Sushi Go, descendant of Texas Japanese-Korean chain, coming soon to Shaler.

Signage is up for Sushi Go at 890 Butler St. in Shaler (map). Sushi Go is a small chain of sushi places throughout Texas; this one will be operated by Duk Ku Kang, who ran a Sushi Go in Garland, Texas, until last year.

Pittsburgh-based WholeRen Education (美国厚仁教育集团) hiring Mandarin-speaking Career Counselor.

Pittsburgh-based Chinese education consulting and placement firm WholeRen Education (美国厚仁教育集团) has announced an opening for a Mandarin-speaking Career Counselor.

Tickets remain for Pittsburgh Opera presentation of world premiere of In A Grove, based on short story by Ryūnosuke Akutagawa, March 1 and 3.

Tickets still remain for the last two days of the Pittsburgh Opera's presentation of In A Grove, based on short story by Ryūnosuke Akutagawa, on March 1 and 3.

Music by Christopher Cerrone, libretto by Stephanie Fleischmann, based on the short story by Ryūnosuke Akutagawa

A silent, expectant grove. A violent encounter between a man, a woman, and a notorious brigand.

Seven testimonies, each proposing a different perspective on the crime. Akutagawa’s classic short story “In a Grove,” which inspired the plot of Kurosawa’s renowned film Rashomon, offers a searing investigation into the impossibility and elusiveness of truth.

Epic and intimate, timeless and devastatingly timely, the story’s structure lends itself powerfully to music’s ability to conjure—via repetition and variation—how human perception, memory, and desire are fallible, imprecise, and subject to interference.

Join us for this unique world-premiere experience in a place where the ground shifts beneath your feet—a space of ambiguity and clarity, of beauty and menace, and of fragility and strength.

Readers should use the POASIA promo code to receive 20% off their tickets for the March 1 and 3 shows. The theater is located at 2425 Liberty Ave. in the Strip District (map).

Japanese Breakfast in Pittsburgh, May 5.

The band Japanese Breakfast will play at the Roxian Theatre on May 5. Flood Magazine describes its latest album, in part:

But if its arc echoes that of other great albums, Jubilee is still frequently surprising and adventurous. “Savage Good Boy” is an approachable pop confection with a sticky, snarky conceptual hook at its core; it’s written from the point of view of an absurdly rich man trying to convince a woman to flee earth with him in the face of apocalypse (and who knows, maybe seize responsibility for repopulation! We’ll sort that out later…). “Be Sweet,” co-written with Jack Tatum of Wild Nothing, was meant for another artist but Zauner opted to keep it; here, it casually becomes one of the most undeniable ’80s-influenced pop songs you’ve ever heard.

Tickets for the 7:00 pm show are available online. Printed proof of vaccination is required to enter. The Roxian Theatre is located at 425 Chartiers Ave. in McKees Rocks (map).

Five more Ghibli films announced for Pittsburgh theaters in 2022.

Earlier this week, GKIDS announced the first two installments of its 2022 Ghibli Film Fest lineup. Overnight, the year's other selections were made public.

• Princess Mononoke (もののけ姫)) - April 3 and 6 (English dubbed), April 4 (Japanese with English subtitles)
• Ponyo (崖の上のポニョ) - May 15 and 18 (English dubbed), May 16 (Japanese with English subtitles)
• The Cat Returns (猫の恩返し) - June 26 (English dubbed), June 27 (Japanese with English subtitles)
• Kiki's Delivery Service (魔女の宅急便) - July 31 and August 3 (English dubbed), August 1 (Japanese with English subtitles)
• Only Yesterday (おもひでぽろぽろ) - August 28 (English dubbed), August 29 (Japanese with English subtitles)
• Howl's Moving Castle (ハウルの動く城) - September 25 and 28 (English dubbed), September 26 (Japanese with English subtitles)
• Spirited Away (千と千尋の神隠し) - October 30 and November 2 (English dubbed), November 1 (Japanese with English subtitles)

Tickets are currently available for the shows at local Cinemark theaters in McCandless, Monaca, Monroeville, and Robinson, though more locations are likely to be announced closer to each show.

2021 animated Japanese film Jujutsu Kaisen 0 (劇場版 呪術廻戦 0) in Pittsburgh, from March 17.

The 2021 animated Japanese film Jujutsu Kaisen 0 (劇場版 呪術廻戦 0) will play in Pittsburgh from March 17. From the distributor:

When they were children, Rika Orimoto was killed in a traffic accident right before the eyes of her close friend, Yuta Okkotsu. "It's a promise. When we both grow up, we'll get married." Rika became an apparition, and Yuta longed for his own death after suffering under her curse, but the greatest Jujutsu sorcerer, Satoru Gojo, welcomed him into Jujutsu High. There Yuta meets his classmates, Maki Zen'in, Toge Inumaki, and Panda, and finally finds his own determination. "I want the confidence to say it's okay that I'm alive! While I'm at Jujutsu High, I'll break Rika-chan's curse." Meanwhile, the vile curse user, Suguru Geto, who was expelled from the school for massacring ordinary people, appears before Yuta and the others. "This coming December 24th, we shall carry out the Night Parade of a Hundred Demons." While Geto advocates for creating a paradise for only jujutsu sorcerers, he unleashes a thousand curses upon Shinjuku and Kyoto to exterminate all non-sorcerers. Will Yuta be able to stop Geto in the end? And what will happen when breaking Rika's curse...?

It is currently scheduled to play at Cinemark theaters in Monroeville and Monaca, with screenings in Japanese or dubbed in English, though tickets are not yet available.

Day & Night: a Hobi and Yoongi Birthday Cupsleeve Event, March 26 at Ineffable Ca Phe.

Organizers of local BTS fan events are holding another one on March 26 in honor of J-Hope and Suga's birthdays. It will run from 10:30 am to 5:00 pm at Ineffable Cà Phê in Lawrenceville (map).