Nakama voted best Japanese restaurant in Pittsburgh by Pittsburghers who don't know Japanese restaurants, beating out Umami, Teppanyaki Kyoto, GetGo.

via @familymart.japan 

The Pittsburgh City-Paper announced the winners of this year's Best of Pittsburgh readers' poll today, with Nakama again being named Best Japanese food in the city. The restaurant, with locations in the South Side and Wexford, is the perennial winner of this and other local readers' polls, at the expense of more authentic Japanese restaurants, and thus the joke about Nakama and GetGo is an annual one. Umami placed second and Ichiban Hibachi Steakhouse third. Readers also selected winners for Best Asian Fusion, Best Bubble Tea, Best Chinese, and Best Korean, Best Sushi, Best Thai, and Best Vietnamese.

2022 Korean film The Girl on a Bulldozer (불도저에 탄 소녀) in Pittsburgh, October 1.

The 2022 Korean film The Girl on a Bulldozer (불도저에 탄 소녀) will play in Pittsburgh on October 1 as part of this year's SCREENSHOT: Asia Film Festival.

With a dragon tattoo blazoned across her left arm, Kim Hye-Yoon plays the headstrong heroine who, after her dad falls into a coma following a suspicious accident, doggedly seeks answers despite mounting resistance from a variety of corrupt forces. Faced with the additional pressures of tending to her father’s restaurant, taking care of her younger brother, and completing mandatory work training following a short prison stay, our heroine is forced to grow up fast. Simultaneously a vehicle for social critique, a coming-of-age story, and a gripping thriller, The Girl on a Bulldozer is driven by Kim’s visceral, charismatic performance, which won her the 2022 Screen International Rising Star Award at the New York Asian Film Festival.

It plays at 2:00 pm in the Frick Fine Arts Auditorium in Oakland (map), and tickets are available onilne.

2020 Taiwanese film Dear Tenant (親愛的房客) in Pittsburgh on September 30, part of SCREENSHOT: Asia Film Festival.

The 2020 Taiwanese film Dear Tenant (親愛的房客) will play in Pittsburgh on September 30, part of this year's SCREENSHOT: Asia Film Festival.

Winner of three Golden Horse awards including Best Leading Actor for Mo Tzu-Yi, the film tells the story of Mr. Lin, an apartment tenant who tends to the daily needs of the elderly apartment owner and helps look after her orphaned nine-year-old grandson, whom he has legally adopted. When the boy’s uncle returns from overseas and charges him with using the adoption as pretext to secure the deeds to the apartment, a troubled past is brought to light. Suffused with melancholy, tenderness, and a sense of the daily rhythms of metropolitan Taiwan, Dear Tenant dramatizes the continued challenges faced by queer couples despite the legalization of same-sex marriage in 2019 and serves as a showcase for Mo’s subtle, heartbreaking performance.

It will play at the Harris Theater in downtown's Cultural District (map) from 8:30 pm. Tickets are available online, though Pitt affiliates with valid university cards can enter for free.

1977 Japanese film House (ハウス) at Row House CInema, October 21 through 31.

The 1977 Japanese psychedelic thriller House (ハウス) will play at the Row House Cinema from October 21 through 31 as part of its Row House of Horrors series. "The film," says Wikipedia,

is about a schoolgirl traveling with her six classmates to her ailing aunt's country home, where they come face to face with supernatural events as the girls are, one by one, devoured by the home.

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

Pitt's Asian Studies Center continues language partner program.

The University of Pittsburgh Asian Studies Center is continuing its language partner program for people interested in learning an Asian language or helping Asian students at Pitt meet native English speakers. From the latest newsletter:

Are you looking to practice an Asian language? Or are you a native speaker of an Asian language hoping to practice English? The Asian Studies Center can help match you with a language exchange partner! The form to sign-up can be found here. The program is open to university students and community members living in Pittsburgh. Languages represented are English, Mandarin, Cantonese, Japanese, Korean, Hindi, and Vietnamese. Please email asia@pitt.edu with any questions.

PF BBQ (匹夫小馆) opens in Oakland, in former Sichuan Gourmet spot.

PF BBQ (匹夫小馆)) has recently opened in Oakland. It is located at 238 Atwood St. (map), in the location of the former Oakland branch of Sichuan Gourmet. The original Squirrel Hill Sichuan Gourmet location remains open, but the Oakland branch that opened in 2015 closed at the start of COVID. Not much information exists about PF BBQ yet, but here is a quick photo of the menu:

It does appear in the Chinese-language version of the Ricepo app, but not the English-language one. Menu items include several varieties of grilled fish, several hot pot selections, pickle pepper frog, konjac hot pot duck, stir-fried clams, and more.

Rashomon (羅生門) downtown at Harris Theater, October 2 through 6.

The 1950 Akira Kurosawa film Rashomon (羅生門) will play at the Harris Theater from October 2 through 6. A synopsis of the film, from a 2002 Roger Ebert review:

The film opens in torrential rain, and five shots move from long shot to closeup to reveal two men sitting in the shelter of Kyoto's Rashomon Gate. The rain will be a useful device, unmistakably setting apart the present from the past. The two men are a priest and a woodcutter, and when a commoner runs in out of the rain and engages them in conversation, he learns that a samurai has been murdered and his wife raped and a local bandit is suspected. In the course of telling the commoner what they know, the woodcutter and the priest will introduce flashbacks in which the bandit, the wife and the woodcutter say what they saw, or think they saw--and then a medium turns up to channel the ghost of the dead samurai. Although the stories are in radical disagreement, it is unlike any of the original participants are lying for their own advantage, since each claims to be the murderer.

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

Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance hiring Voter Mobilization Canvassers.

The Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance of Pittsburgh is hiring Voter Mobilization Canvassers, with a preference for those proficient in Mandarin, Cantonese, Tagalog, Vietnamese, or Spanish.

Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance (APALA) Pittsburgh, PA

$20 an hour

Part-time, Temporary. Hours range from 8-20 per week and shift hours are flexible.

Summary

The Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance (APALA), AFL-CIO is seeking Voter Mobilization
Canvassers to help our team execute our Every Vote Counts electoral program. The anticipated start date is October 3, 2022 with an end-date of November 8, 2022.

Job Overview

The Voter Mobilization Canvassers will be essential to the success of our Every Vote Counts campaign. Field canvassers will be responsible for direct voter contact through door-to-door canvassing. Canvassers will be based in the Pittsburgh Area, and should have a reliable mode of transportation. Nights and weekends may be required, but hours may also be flexible.

Excellent communication skills required, because you will be interacting with voters! Must be able to follow procedures, track information, practice cultural competence, and have a friendly, professional attitude, demeanor and appearance. Experience helpful but not required; you will be provided with on-the-job training.

The 98 Contemporary Thai Cuisine coming soon to Fox Chapel.

Banners are up for The 98 Contemporary Thai Cuisine, coming soon to Fox Chapel. It will be located at 1034 Freeport Rd. (map), until recently home of one of three Thai Place locations around the city.

Kate Tsang film Marvelous and the Black Hole in Pittsburgh, September 29, part of SCREENSHOT: Asia Film Festival.

The Kate Tsang film Marvelous and the Black Hole will play in Pittsburgh on September 29, part of this year's SCREENSHOT: Asia Film Festival.

A teenage delinquent befriends a surly magician who helps her navigate her inner demons and dysfunctional family with sleight of hand magic. A teenage delinquent (Miya Cech) befriends a surly magician (Rhea Perlman) who helps her navigate her inner demons and dysfunctional family with sleight of hand magic. A coming-of-age comedy that touches on unlikely friendships, grief and finding hope in the darkest moments.

It will play at the Tull Family Theater in Sewickley (map) on September 29, and tickets for the 7:30 show are available online. Pitt affiliates are eligible to receive free tickets by following the instructions on the order link.