2023 Japanese + Wim Wenders film Perfect Days at Three Rivers Film Festival 2023, November 11 and 12.

The 2023 Japanese film Perfect Days, directed by Wim Wenders, will play in Pittsburgh on November 11 and 12 as part of the Three Rivers Film Fest 2023.

Who knew Japan has the most elegant public restrooms in the world? Wim Wender’s Perfect Days is a poetic reflection on finding the simple beauty that surrounds us in our everyday world. Kôji Yakusho delivers an award-winning performance as Hirayama, a quite-contented man who spends his days working as a cleaner of public toilets in Tokyo. His thoroughly structured daily routine reveals his passion for music and books and his love of the trees he photographs. As we are immersed in his daily life, a series of unexpected encounters gradually expose more of his past.

It plays at the Waterworks Cinema on the 11th at 7:30 pm and at the Harris Theater in Downtown's Cultural District on the 12th at 4:00 pm. Tickets are available online.

"Japanese Demons: Oni," November 8 at Pitt.

The Department of East Asian Languages & Literatures at the University of Pittsburgh will host Dr. Noriko Reider for a lecture on "Japanese Demons: Oni" on November 8. The talk starts at 4:00 pm in 501 Cathedral of Learning.

New movie Godzilla Minus One (ゴジラ-1.0) in Pittsburgh from November 30.

The latest Godzilla movie, Godzilla Minus One (ゴジラ-1.0), will play in Pittsburgh from November 30.

Japan, devastated after the war, faces a new threat in the form of Godzilla. How will the country confront this impossible situation?

It plays locally in Japanese with English subtitles at AMC Loews Waterfront, AMC Classic Mt. Lebanon, AMC Classic Westmoreland, and the Cinemark in Robinson, and tickets are available online.

Korean singer BoyWithUke coming to Pittsburgh, April 27.

Korean singer BoyWithUke will perform in Pittsburgh on April 27 as part of his Lucid Dreams Tour. Ones To Watch summarized his sound in 2021:

While BoyWithUke’s music may drift toward popular indie and lo-fi sounds, incorporating his ukelele sets him apart from other artists heading down the same sonic path. In addition, his instrumental talent adds a fresh layer of artistry, blurring the line between acoustic and electronic beat sounds, often making you forget that one or the other is even there.

He will play at Stage AE and tickets for the 7:00 pm show are available online.

1995 film Ghost in the Shell (攻殻機動隊) in Pittsburgh as next installment of Satoshi Kon Fest, November 8 - 12.

The 1995 Japanese film Ghost in the Shell (攻殻機動隊) will play in Pittsburgh November 8 - 12 as the next installment of a Satoshi Kon Fest playing nationally.

Anime Expo Cinema Nights invites you to return to the visually stunning and poignant classic GHOST IN THE SHELL. 2029: A female cybernetic government agent, Major Motoko Kusanagi, and the Internal Bureau of Investigations are hot on the trail of "The Puppet Master," a mysterious and threatening computer virus capable of infiltrating human hosts. Together with her fellow agents from Section 9, Kusanagi embarks on a high-tech race against time to capture the omnipresent entity. Director Mamoru Oshii's award-winning cyber-tech thriller, based on the comic book by Shirow Masamune, is lauded as one of the leading Japanese animation films of all time.

The first installment, Perfect Blue, plays locally September 6 - 10. Ghost in the Shell will play at the AMC Loews Waterfront and the Cinemark in Robinson, and tickets are available online.

2023 Japanese movie Digimon Adventure 02: The Beginning (デジモンアドベンチャー02 THE BEGINNING) in Pittsburgh, November 8 and 9.

The 2023 Japanese movie Digimon Adventure 02: The Beginning (デジモンアドベンチャー02 THE BEGINNING) will play in Pittsburgh on November 8 and 9.

It’s 2012, and ten years have passed since the adventure in the Digital World. Daisuke Motomiya is now twenty, and he and the rest of the DigiDestined seem to be changing bit by bit in terms of appearance and lifestyle. Then one day, a giant Digitama suddenly appears in the sky over Tokyo Tower. Daisuke and the others encounter a mysterious young man named Lui Ohwada, who informs them that he’s the first ever DigiDestined in the world… The feature will include an introduction from the director, Tomohisa Taguchi. PLUS, as a special bonus, the first 50 guests to arrive at each night’s screening will receive a complimentary Digimon Card Game Tamer Party Pack -THE BEGINNING- ver. 2.0, which includes 3 out of 14 possible cards from the new Digimon Card Game deck commemorating the film (while supplies last, first-come, first served).

Guests should check with the theater in advance to see if they are participating in the promotions. It is scheduled to play at the AMC Loews Waterfront, the AMC Classic Westmoreland, and the Cinemark Theaters in Monroeville, North Hills, and Robinson. Tickets are available online; the November 8 shows are dubbed in English while the November 9 ones are in Japanese with English subtitles.

2019 documentary Geographies of Kinship at Pitt, November 10.

The 2019 documentary Geographies of Kinship will play at the University of Pittsburgh on November 10.

In honor of National Adoption Month, the Pitt Adoption Community for Education is screening Geographies of Kinship. The film follows four adult adoptees as they return to Korea, their country of birth, and recover the personal histories that were lost when they were adopted in the U.S. We'll have tea and cookies and open discussion after the film.

The Pitt Adoption Community for Education includes faculty from the English Department at the Oakland and Greensburg campuses.

It starts at 7:00 pm in 118E Mervis Hall (map).

2022 Japanese animated film The Tunnel to Summer, the Exit of Goodbyes (夏へのトンネル、さよならの出口) in Pittsburgh, from November 2.

The 2022 Japanese animated film The Tunnel to Summer, the Exit of Goodbyes (夏へのトンネル、さよならの出口) will play in Pittsburgh from November 2.

Kaoru finds himself standing in front of a mysterious tunnel and thinks of Karen, the sister he lost in an accident five years ago. Anzu Hanashiro, the new transfer student, follows him and promises to help him experiment with the tunnel.

It plays locally at the AMC Loews Waterfront and tickets are available online. Please note, some shows are in Japanese with English subtitles while others are dubbed in English.

"Did Fenollosa Save Traditional Japanese Art from Extinction? Fenollosa's Legacy in Japan, 1878-1890," November 1 at Pitt.

The Department of East Asian Languages & Literatures at the University of Pittsburgh will host Hiroshi Nara and his colloquium "Did Fenollosa Save Traditional Japanese Art from Extinction? Fenollosa's Legacy in Japan, 1878-1890" on November 1.

Ernest F. Fenollosa (1853-1908) was an art theorist and administrator known to many in Japna today. His name is spoken in admiration for his work in rediscovering traditional Japanese art, saving it from extinction, and modernizing it. Without his intervention, Japanese painting (nihonga) would have died. So goes the received reputation of Fenollosa's work. In this talk, Nara will explore some aspects of the work of Fenollosa that directly pertain to this reputation, by first discussing the pivotal speech he made in 1882 that made him very famous in the world of Japanese art then analyzing how his revolutionary ideas were implemented. The talk will attempt to answer the question of whether his work saved Japanese art from extinction.

The talk starts at 12:00 pm in 1219 Cathedral of Learning.

2001 film Spirited Away (千と千尋の神隠し) in Pittsburgh-area theaters, October 28 - November 1.

The 2001 film Spirited Away (千と千尋の神隠し) will play in Pittsburgh-area theaters from October 28 through November 1 as part of this year's Studio Ghibli Fest. A synopsis, from the distributor:

Winner of the Academy Award® for Best Animated Feature, Hayao Miyazaki’s wondrous fantasy adventure is a dazzling masterpiece from one of the most celebrated filmmakers in the history of animation.

Chihiro’s family is moving to a new house, but when they stop on the way to explore an abandoned village, her parents undergo a mysterious transformation and Chihiro is whisked into a world of fantastic spirits ruled over by the sorceress Yubaba. Put to work in a magical bathhouse for spirits and demons, Chihiro must use all her wits to survive in this strange new place, find a way to free her parents and return to the normal world. Overflowing with imaginative creatures and thrilling storytelling, Spirited Away became a worldwide smash hit, and is one of the most critically-acclaimed films of all time.

It plays locally at numerous theaters, including: the AMC Loews Waterfront, Waterworks Cinema, Cranberry Cinemas, Phoneix Luxury 14 in Bridgeville, and the Cinemarks in Robinson, Monroeville, Monaca, and McCandless. Tickets are available online; please note, some shows are dubbed in English while others are in Japanese with English subtitles.