Asian Paper Lantern Festival coming to Pittsburgh Zoo in 2021.

The Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium will hold an Asian Paper Lantern Festival in the second half of 2021. Dates have not been confirmed, though the planned event was first publicized during the holiday season's Zoo Lights Drive-Thru. The Cleveland Zoo has had a similar lantern festival for the past few years, though the northeastern Ohio city has tended to have more visible Asian events (1, 2).

Five years ago I mused that Pittsburgh should have its own riverfront lantern festival, like Jinju famously does in South Korea, and still maintain this would be an excellent use of the city's three rivers during warmer months. via jinju.go.kr

Virtual Japanese-English Reading Circle with Japan-America Society of Pennsylvania, continues from January 9.

The Japan-America Society of Pennsylvania's Japanese-English Reading Circle, which had in-person meetings in Shadyside prior to COVID-19, will resume again online from January 9.

Mission: to promote language learning through reading and language exchange. We aim to keep positivity and motivation high while developing reading fluency, vocabulary, content discussion, and reading strategies in a fun, collaborative environment.

Meetings: will consist of icebreaker language games, discussions about book topics, questions about language, formation of reading goals, and reading strategy sharing/reflection

Who can join: Japanese learners of English or English-speaking learners of Japanese. Any proficiency level is okay, although it would help to have at least beginner level knowledge of the second language you are studying. You can also sign up for the Facebook group or Google group for reminders.

Virtual meetings are held roughly every two Saturdays---January 9, January 16, February 6, February 20, March 6, March 20---and those interested should email the JASP or connect with its Facebook or Google groups.

"In Conversation Online: Dawoud Bey and An-My Lê," January 16 with Carnegie Museum of Art.

via anmyle.com.

The Carneige Museum of Art will present "In Conversation Online: Dawoud Bey and An-My Lê" online on January 16 in the final weekend of Lê's exhibition On Contested Terrain.

Join artists Dawoud Bey and An-My Lê for a conversation on the occasion of the closing weekend of the exhibition An-My Lê: On Contested Terrain.

Both artists work with scale, representation, memory, lived experience, and the traces of history in landscape. The recent turn to this subject in Bey's work connects with Lê's longstanding interest in the genre and reunites these MacArthur Fellows more than 25 years after their graduation from the MFA program at Yale University in 1993. Learn about where their careers have traveled since that time and what they have in store for the future.

The online event runs from 12:00 to 1:10 pm and is priced at pay-what-you-wish. Registration can be completed online.

Jian's Kitchen (品江南) opens in Squirrel Hill.

Jian's Kitchen (品江南) has recently opened in Squrrel Hill, in the place occupied by Northeastern Kitchen (东北小厨) since May 2018. Check out the restaurant's website for a menu and pictures. It's located at 5824 Forbes Ave. (map).

"Between Poetry and Performance: Turning Emotion into Visual Metaphor with Danny Cho," March 29, 2021.

Looking ahead to next March, the City of Asylum presents "Turning Emotion into Visual Metaphor with Danny Cho" as part of its Between Poetry and Performance series on March 29.

Participants will bring a poem and we’ll reflect on what emotion each part of the poem emits. Then, according to the emotions, animator Danny Cho will lead participants in creating a series of illustrations that represent these emotions and help ideate how to animate them.

This interactive workshop is open to all. The workshop will be held on Zoom, and space is limited. Participants should have a poem to work with, writing utensils, headphones, and an internet connection. Participants will receive the meeting link in a reminder email in the days preceding this workshop. There is no cost to attend.

Danny Cho is a designer who wants to create wholesome giggles and awe. 2D and 3D motion graphics are his main medium of choice. He has created motion works for branded experiences, explaining concepts for a machine learning algorithm, and is currently leading the motion team for Lunar Gala, a student-led annual fashion show held at CMU. Graduating from CMU as a Bachelor of Design with a minor in Human Computer Interaction in May 2021.

Between Poetry and Performance is a virtual workshop series curated by Paloma Sierra, Emerging Poet Laureate of Allegheny County. The series invites writers of all experience levels to reimagine poetry through theater and film. How can these two mediums help us reclaim our voices, speak our minds, and connect with others? How do we push our words into motion, and thrust poetry towards action?

The event is free and open to the public, though registration details are not yet available.

Sushi platters from Sushi Tomo on McKnight Road (map). It is also currenty offering buy-one-get-one-free Japanese beers. via @sushitomopittsburgh

Kiku Japanese Restaurant in Station Square is offering Holiday Sushi Party Sets for online pre-order and pick-up.

Pre-order for holiday season takeout. 24 pc nigiri sushi, 18pc reverses roll, 1 Seaweed salad,3 Miso soup. (serve 3-4)

Traditional Japanese New Year's bento boxes available for pre-order through Teppanyaki Kyoto.

Highland's Teppanyaki Kyoto (map) is now accepting pre-orders for traditional Japanese New Year's bento boxes.

We are selling the Japanese traditional New Year food(bento) osechi-ryori box. In order to reserve the Osechi Ryori bento boxes, you can give us a call (4124411610). This special will be available from December 18 to December 27(pre-order only). And the bento boxes will be available to pick up on December 30 or December 31. Call now so you can experience our traditional Japanese culture!

From University of Pittsburgh: "New Initiative Offers Courses, Lectures, Community Outreach in Taiwan Studies"

Taipei, by Heikki Holstila (Creative Commons)

December 17, 2020 press release

PITTSBURGH—A new initiative at Pitt’s Asian Studies Center (ASC) is putting the focus on Taiwan—an island whose history encapsulates important historical and cultural forces that helped to shape Asia.

“Centering Taiwan in Global Asia,” which will be rolled out next year, has three components:

• Two new courses in Taiwan Studies—Taiwan Diaspora: From Island to Home in a Global Context and The History of Modern Taiwan—will be offered. They will be taught by Shih-yung Liu, who obtained his PhD from Pitt in 2020 and taught for many years at Academia Sinica in Taiwan.

• A robust community engagement program that will help regional educators learn more about Taiwan’s culture and religion; provide teaching and lesson plans to as many as 460 K-12 teachers in other states, including those who teach under-represented students; and offer a new Global Asia website to teachers for lesson planning.

• A Taiwan Studies lecture and film series that will invite leading intellectuals to Pittsburgh to deliver lectures and meet with Pitt faculty, students and members of community groups. A Taiwanese film will be added to the ASC’s annual Screenshot Asia film festival.

ASC Director Joseph Alter said the Global Asia initiative will help to introduce the island’s unique culture and history to a broader audience of teachers, students and the general public.

“Understanding Taiwan means more than remembering a location on a map,” said Alter. “Recognizing Taiwan as emblematic of the historical and contemporary forces that connect Asia to the United States and the world will work to develop a stronger and nuanced understanding of what it means to be Taiwanese and build a deeper appreciation of its role in shaping modern Asia.”

Pitt’s ASC, which is part of the University Center for International Studies, provides more than 270 East Asian-focus courses taught by 137 faculty members and reaches about 8,540 students.

"In Conversation Online: Diane Severin Nguyen and Hannah Turpin," December 16 at Carnegie Museum of Art.

The Carnegie Museum of Art will present "In Conversation Online: Diane Severin Nguyen and Hannah Turpin" on December 16.

Join artist Diane Severin Nguyen and Hannah Turpin, Carnegie Museum of Art's Curatorial Assistant for Modern and Contemporary Art and Photography as they discuss Diane Severin Nguyen: Tyrant Star, the museum's latest online exhibition.

Filmed entirely in Ho Chi Minh City, Tyrant Star prompts viewers to consider the social, psychological, and spatial impacts of our time. The stitching together of differently sourced sounds with distinct visual chapters of trash-strewn landscapes, quiet interiors, and fragmented bodies suspend the viewer in an environment of solitude, longing, and uncertainty. The subtle movements highlight the ways our surroundings are alive, swelling with the memories of the past.

Tyrant Star is available online through February 14. The conversation on Deember 16 runs from 6:00 to 7:00 pm and the price is pay-what-you-wish. Those interested should sign up in advance.