Tehching Hsieh lecture at CMU School of Art, February 19.

At the 2010 Gwangju Biennale, from DesignBoom. Hsieh photographed himself once an hour for one year, and has the timecards and prints to prove it.

Carnegie Mellon University School of Art will host Tehching Hsieh on February 19 as part of the Spring 2013 Lecture Series. Hsieh

was born in Taiwan in 1950. He did his first performance “Jump Piece” in 1973 and broke both ankles. Trained as a sailor, he arrived in Philadelphia in 1974, jumped ship, and stayed in the states as an illegal immigrant for fourteen years until granted amnesty in 1988. From 1978 to 1999, Hsieh did five One Year Performances and the Thirteen Year Plan in New York City. The first four One Year Performances made him a regular name in the art scene; the last two, in which he intentionally retreated from the art world, set a tone of sustained invisibility. Since 2000, Hsieh—released from the restriction of not showing work during the Thirteen Year Plan—has lectured and exhibited worldwide, including MoMA, the Guggenheim, the Liverpool Biennial, the Gwangju Biennial, and the Sao Paulo Biennial. He received the United States Artists award in 2008.

Google will be your friend for more on the artist. Pictured above is an exhibit at the 2010 Gwangju Biennale in South Korea from DesignBoom, which has more photographs on and information about on Hsieh's work.

All in This Tea at Winchester Thurston School, February 23.

As part of the annual Asia Unreeled series, Winchester Thurston School in Shadyside (map) will show the 2007 documentary All in This Tea on Saturday, February 23, at 2 pm.

Japanese plays, "Seinendan Theater Company – Robot / Android - Human Theater" in Pittsburgh, March 8 and 9.

Two Japanese one-act plays will be performed at the Andy Warhol Museum (map) on March 8 and 9. The Seinendan Theater Company + Osaka University Robot Theater Project, sponsored by the Japan Foundation and Japan Society, present "I, Worker" and "Sayonara", which star two robots and "an incredibly human-like android who consoles the human actor dealing with a fatal illness", respectively. An introduction from the Japan Society website:

Imagine a time when "robot maids" are commonly found in family households. That's the much-anticipated setting of these two heartrending short plays by Oriza Hirata, founder of Japan's celebrated Seinendan Theater Company. In Sayonara (android and human actors), an android is bought to console a girl suffering from a fatal illness, but when its mechanics go awry, the meaning of life and death to humans and robots comes into question. In I, Worker (robots and human actors), a husband's struggle to cope with the loss of his child is juxtaposed with the malaise of one of his robots, which has lost all motivation to work. This double bill was developed in collaboration with Dr. Hiroshi Ishiguro, a leading international researcher on robotics and Director of the Intelligent Robotics Laboratory at Osaka University. Sayonara will be performed in English and Japanese with English subtitles. I, Worker will be performed in Japanese with English subtitles.

The Verge has a review from last week's New York shows.

The performances are at 8:00 pm on both days, and tickets are available at the Warhol Museum website.

Friends don't let friends write bad poetry. The Post-Gazette gives us "Learn to Speak Chinese" at the start of the Lunar New Year.

5 Centimeters Per Second (秒速5センチメートル) at Frick Fine Arts, February 11.

The second installment in February's Pittsburgh Anime Series is 2007's 5 Centimeters Per Second (Byōsoku Go Senchimētoru, 秒速5センチメートル), which plays at the Frick Fine Arts Building in Oakland (map) on February 11. A plot summary from Anime News Network:

A tale of two people, Tono Takaki and Shinohara Akari, who were close friends but gradually grow farther and farther apart as time moves on. They become separated because of their families yet continue to exchange contact in the form of letters. Yet as time continues to trudge on, their contact with one another begins to cease. Years pass and the rift between them grows ever larger. However, Takaki remembers the times they have shared together, but as life continues to unfold for him, he wonders if he would be given the chance to meet Akari again as the tale embarks on Takaki's realization of the world and people around him.

The works of Makoto Shinkai, of which this is a prominent example, are especially well known for their exceptional animation and attention to detail. His 2002 short film Voices of a Distant Star is among my favorites.

The film starts at 7:00 and admission is free.

Make Your Own Peppero, February 13.

Peppero, by ThisDeliciousLife.

On February 13th is an event for Pitt undergraduates: Make Your Own Peppero. This is done by the Korean Culture Association and will be held at 7:30 on the 6th floor of the William Pitt Union. And on Valentine's Day:

We will also be tabling in Towers lobby on the following days to sell Peppero! 1 bag for $2.00 and 2 bags for $3.00. Come out and get some goodies for yourself or your hunny :)

Valentine's Day is one of the bigger couples' holidays in South Korea, a day when, for a change, a girlfriend or wife gives something to the special man in her life. On March 14th, White Day, he returns the favor. If you're alone, you have Black Day on April 14th. Actually, each 14th of the month is a consumer holiday: January has Diary Day, May has Rose Day, June has Kiss Day, with Silver Day, Green Day, Photo Day, Wine Day, Movie Day, and Hug Day rounding out the year.

If you prefer to wait for Peppero Day (November 11) to do your cooking, or if you are not a Pitt undergrad, you can find plenty of Peppero recipes online.

MEPPI Japan Lecture Series: Counter-Culture in Japan, February 21.

Dr. Gabbi Lukacs, an associate professor of anthropology at the University of Pittsburgh, will be giving a talk on February 21 in Oakland called "Counter-Culture in Japan".. This is one of several events this spring sponsored by Mitsubishi Electric Power Products, Inc., which has an office in Warrendale. An overview from the Japan-American Society of Pennsylvania:

Dr. Gabbi Lukacs, Associate Professor of Anthropology, University of Pittsburgh, will examine new labor subjectivities such as the net idols that become famous by posting their photos and diaries on the web, cell phone novelists whose novels have recently come to dominate literary bestseller lists, and entrepreneurial homemakers who conjure wealth from day trading. The subjects of mass culture theory, digital media theory, work and play, consumer culture, and Japan in the twentieth century are also topics for discussion. There will be a cash bar and light refreshments.

The talk is from 5:30 to 7:00 at the Pittsburgh Athletic Association on Fifth Ave (map).

Dr. Lukacs gave a lecture in October 2012 at Pitt titled "The Labor of Cute: Net Idols, Cute Culture, and the Social Factory in Contemporary Japan", a lecture that had been going around for about a year at that point. In 2010 Dr. Lukacs presented on similar topics, "The Net Idols: Cute Culture, Social Factory, and Neoliberal Governmentality in New Millennial Japan" at Pitt:

In this presentation, I analyze a recent Japanese phenomenon, what is called the net idols—young women who produce their own websites featuring personal photos and diaries. Many net idols earn an income from maintaining these websites, thus I understand them as new labor subjectivities that have evolved in late 1990s Japan in response to the deregulation of labor markets and unprecedented developments in new information technologies. Mastering cute looks and embracing cute behavior are key to the popularity of net idols. While the culture of cute has drawn considerable scholarly attention in recent years, it has been dominantly understood as a form of resistance to work-oriented adult society, a retreat to childhood—a space within which young women find redemption indulging in infantile play and passive behavior. By contrast, I draw on the Italian autonomists’ theory of the social factory to analyze the net idols’ production of cute culture as symptomatic of the ways in which the meanings, forms, and conditions of work have changed as intangible commodities (such as cute) have become the new center of economic gravity in the wake of growing economic volatility. Equally important, by analyzing the net idol phenomenon I also aim to theorize an emerging form of rationality (the foundational logic of neoliberal governmentality) within which individuals accept and even celebrate the end of job security as a marker of a shift from the postwar order of “working to find pleasure” to the neoliberal imperative to “find pleasure in work.”

Lunar New Year celebrations in western Pennsylvania.

This year the Lunar New Year falls on February 10, and there are several celebrations in the area over the next month. A couple have already taken place, but you'll notice there are quite a few others this weekend and next. Many are free and open to the public.


CSSA Spring Festival Celebration - February 9.



The Chinese Students & Scholars Association will be holding a celebration on Saturday, February 9, from 2:00 pm through the evening at the University of Pittsburgh's William Pitt Union. From the group's website:

Tea House and Chinese Culture Exhibition, 2 pm to 5 pm, WPU Main Floor Lower Lounge There will be games and prizes. Every year, a lot of people participate to appreciate Chinese culture, have fun and enjoy the atmosphere of the festival.

Dinner (free for students with registration), 5:30 pm to 7 pm, WPU Main Floor The website for registration is http://www.pittcssa.net/springfestival2013/. Hurry up, the deadline for registration is Feb. 3rd 6pm.

Spring Festival Stage Show (Chun Wan), 7:30 pm and after, Alumni Hall 7th Floor Auditorium Audiences can enjoy Kong Fu, singing, dancing, stand-up comedy, and many other wonderful performances.

Lion Dancing in the Strip - February 9.
From 11 am to 2 pm in the Strip District, Gong Lung Kung Fu and Lion and Dragon Dance will be, says the Facebook event page,

starting at Lin's Hair Studio at 1627 Penn, going to Shanghai Restaurant next door, and then heading out to Wing Fat Hong Grocery at 2227 Penn Ave, our lions will travel through the strip stopping at shops to bring New Years blessings. People on the street may also feed the lions for their own blessing as the lions drive out any malevolent spirits and bring good fortunate for the new year.

Chinese American Students' Association at Pitt Annual Chinese New Years Festival - February 16.
The Chinese American Students' Association [CASA] will host its annual Chinese New Years Festival on Saturday, February 16, in the O'Hara Student Center (map) from 5 pm. From CASA's site:

Its that time of year again! This year we will be ringing out the year of the Dragon and welcoming the year of the Snake! Come celebrate with us for a spectacular night! Guest performances will include students of the Yanlai Dance Academy, Steel Dragon of Pittsburgh, as well as students from PITT showing off their talents! Best of all, the annual Fashion Show will be bigger and better than ever!

Chinese New Year Celebration at Children's Museum of Pittsburgh - February 17
Held at the Children's Museum of Pittsburgh on the North Side (map) from 12 - 4 pm. From the museum's website:

Celebrate the Year of the Water Snake! Make culturally-themed art with Silk Screen Asian Arts and Culture Organization, enjoy a live performance by the Steel Dragon Lion Dance Team and join a parade through the Museum for the finale! Visit our Studio to learn how to paint the Chinese symbols for luck, joy or auspiciousness at the painting easels. Hand-make paper or silk-screens today in red and gold, colors that symbolize good luck, fortune and happiness in Chinese culture.

Lunar New Year Celebration Hosted by the Vietnamese American Community of Pittsburgh - February 17.



On Sunday, February 17, from 4:00 pm at the Dormont Rec Center (map). Attractions include food and a performance by Steel Dragon Kung Fu & Lion Dance.


OCA Pittsburgh Lunar New Year Banquet - February 23.
By the Organization of Chinese Americans Pittsburgh and held at Syria Shriners Center in Cheswick, PA (map). The priciest and most formal of the season, the cost is $50 for members and $60 for non-members, and includes dinner and performances by local ensembles. Reservations required.

Pace yourself with "Modern Japan", "Introduction to Asian Studies" online.

A few days ago the Japan American Society of Greater Philadelphia posted that a free online course "Intro to Japanese Culture" through the Massechusetts Institute of Technology [MIT] was now available. Navigating the MIT website you'll see a syllabus, a list of readings, and downloadable materials that direct back to the website. I noted on their Facebook page that this particular site was a useful guide but that it lacked any lectures or uploaded materials, so it wasn't exactly a "course" but rather a checklist. This and the numerous other Asia-related courses available from MIT---including Japanese Literature and Cinema, Smashing the Iron Rice Bowl, and Race and Gender in Asian America---are useful for enthusiastic learners wanting to pace themselves with previously-offered university courses, but are incomplete in that readings, lectures, assignments, and films are, because of logistical and copyright concerns, unavailable. It wasn't my goal to bicker with somebody behind an excellent resource for Japanophiles in Philadelphia, just to look more closely at what's actually available.

However, some university professors put their course sylabii and more online, allowing people to follow along at home. Dr. Alan Baumler at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, for an example in western Pennsylvania, teaches "Modern Japan" and has posted not only a syllabus but also the articles his students can choose to read. As he explains on this Frog in the Well blog post last month, students choose among several optional readings in order to customize the course a bit to their own interests.

I could give them a whole graduate seminar of readings, but that would not work, in part because undergraduates mostly need the ‘lecture’ part of lecture-discussion: someone leading them through the major themes of the period rather than assuming they already know them.

The way I have been approaching this is giving them a set of “optional” readings. Each week they need to do whatever common readings we have, and also at least one of the optional readings, usually an article or a book chapter. The idea here is that they can tailor the class to fit their own interests. More interested in economics, or women? Then pick the optional readings that fit your interests.

Dr. Baumler also teaches "Introduction to Asian Studies", for which there is also a syllabus and selected readings online.

Eunsuh Choi exhibition "Consciousness" at Pittsburgh Glass Center in Garfield, Feb 1 - Jun 16.

Eunsuh Choi's exhibition "Consciousness" opens at Garfield's Pittsburgh Glass Center (map) tomorrow and runs through June 16. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette wrote a lengthy preview on the 30th.

Her work is about aspiration and the symbolism that permeates her sculptures attests to that. Trees, for example, reach upward, as do ladders. Trees also symbolize human beings. The reaching limbs, as graceful as a ballerina's arms, end in small rounded buds at the ready to blossom into fulfillment. "Humans also kind of have seasons," Ms. Choi noted, cycling the relationship back. And, unlike ladders, she writes in an artist statement, "this is an object that lives and breathes, has the capability of growing and is equally capable of dying."

The confining spaces of the boxes reflect "how I feel about living in a foreign country," Ms. Choi said.

More about her is on her official website,

I’m interested in portraying the human aspiration in life with organic forms from the new perspective I had about myself within a foreign country. Originally from Korea, I relocated to the United States and my Korean heritage tends to make me ask about myself in terms of my direction as an artist and an individual especially after I came to the USA. What are my ambitions, how can I achieve these, and what is the personal significance?

and the Pittsburgh Glass Center Facebook page has a lot of neat photos of, among other things, the pre-exhibition exhibition.

Pittsburgh Quarterly on Teppanyaki Kyoto.

By Laura Petrilla for Pittsburgh Quarterly.

Highland Park's Teppanyaki Kyoto has been open for a year, and has been reviewed a few times by the local papers (1, 2, 3). This month it's Pittsburgh Quarterly's turn, and this time they took some good photos. And like the other reviewers, this one understands there is more to Japanese food than sushi and a hibachi:

Very few people view Japanese food as comfort food — but in the dead of winter, Teppanyaki Kyoto is a great spot to eat a warm meal in a peaceful setting. It joined the expanding Bryant Street restaurant district in Highland Park last January and serves authentic Japanese food grilled (yaki) on an iron griddle (teppan).

Here, sushi isn’t on the menu; instead, there are meats, seafood and noodles.

They also talked with the restaurant's owner, who moved here from Taiwan and is married to a Japanese woman:

Why did you choose to set up on Bryant Street?
It’s quiet — the right atmosphere for a Japanese restaurant. I feel like Shadyside and downtown are too busy, whereas Bryant Street has just the right number of restaurants. We live close by and my family likes the neighborhood. In addition, my restaurant is popular with younger people, and it’s easy for them to get here by bus or car.

Akira at Pittsburgh Anime Film Series, February 5.

The first selection in this February's Pittsburgh Anime Film Series will be Akira (アキラ), February 5th at Toonseum downtown in the Cultural District (map). Wikipedia tells us about the film:

The film depicts a dystopian version of the city of Tokyo in the year 2019, with cyberpunk tones. The plot focuses on teenage biker Tetsuo Shima (Nozomu Sasaki) and his psychic powers, and the leader of his biker gang, Shotaro Kaneda (Mitsuo Iwata). Kaneda tries to prevent Tetsuo from releasing the imprisoned psychic Akira. While most of the character designs and settings were adapted from the original 2182-page manga epic, the restructured plot of the movie differs considerably from the print version, pruning much of the last half of the manga. The film became a hugely popular cult film and is widely considered to be a landmark in Japanese animation.

The movie starts at 7:00 pm and is free with Toonseum admission ($5 for adults). About the screening:

The film is being screened in conjunction with a special exhibition of original production art from the film, running throughout February at the ToonSeum. The screening will be followed by a lecture on Akira by film writer Joe Peacock, owner of a number of the pieces on display in the exhibition.

The other movies in the series are: 5 Centimeters Per Second (Byōsoku Go Senchimētoru, 秒速5センチメートル) on February 11, Memories on February 18, and Summer Wars (Samā Wōzu, サマーウォーズ) on February 25. They're free, and they're held on the campuses of Pitt and Carnegie Mellon University. More details available at the series' official website.

As an aside: New Orientalism.

One of the hallmarks of American media coverage of East Asia over the past decade has been a new sort of Orientalism, a patronizing look at its development that preserves audiences' sense of superiority by marveling at its rapid progress, questioning implicitly how those people could do it, and comforting readers that "we" are still ahead. It's hard to watch anything about Asia on the Discovery Channel, National Geographic, or even Animal Planet without repeatedly hearing how "exotic" the cultures are, while the contrast is deliberately underscored through a shamisen, erhu, or other traditional stringed-instrument in the background. It's also apparently an unwritten rule to frequently return to that theme of contrast throughout the article or video report: old versus new, tradition versus Western influence, and the stories of those left behind in the countries whose economic developments have been unparalleled this century.

Japanese film After Life (ワンダフルライフ) at Pitt, January 31.

The University of Pittsburgh's undergraduate Linguistics club Yinzling will show the Japanese movie After Life (Wonderful Life, ワンダフルライフ, in Japan[ese]) on January 31. Wikipedia says:

The movie is set in a building resembling a decrepit travel lodge or social services institution. Every Monday, a new group of recently deceased people check in, and the "social workers" in the lodge explain to each guest their situation. The newly-dead have until Wednesday to identify the single happiest memory. For the rest of the week, the workers at the institution work to design and replicate each person's chosen memory, thereby replicating the single happiest moment of that person's life, and it is filmed.

At the end of the week, the recently deceased watch the films of their recreated happiest memories in a screening room. As soon as each person sees his or her own memory, he or she vanishes to whatever unknown state of existence lies beyond and takes only that single memory with them, to live and relive for eternity.

It starts at 8:30 pm in room 324 of the Cathedral of Learning. Those interested should RSVP on the event's Facebook page.

Philadelphia cherry blossom festival postcard.

The Subaru Cherry Blossom Festival of Greater Philadelphia recently released a couple of postcards to promote its 2013 event, held from April 1 through 26 this year. Here's the best of the bunch:



And since we're looking at that side of the state, here are a few pictures of a frozen Shofuso Japanese House and Garden.

When Kimchi Bus came to Pittsburgh (and took a nice picture).

Back when it was nice out, the Kimchi Bus visited Pittsburgh.

The Kimchi Bus is, um, a bus that was on a mission to introduce Korean kimchi by touring around the world. It found Pittsburgh back in September. Unfortunately, it didn't tell anyone, so just a few people happened across it by accident. It did give us this nice picture, though, which should hold us over until the weather gets better and until we have interesting things to write about later.

Local student earns gold medal at World Traditional Wushu Championships.

Last week the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review---and Examiner.com the month before---wrote about Gina Bao, a North Allegheny Intermediate High School student who earned a gold medal in her age group for taijijian at the World Traditional Wushu Championships in Huangshan City, China back in November.

Bao, 15, traveled with the U.S. Traditional Wushu Team to participate in the Fifth World Traditional Wushu Championships from Nov. 5 to 11, when she competed with and defeated contestants from several other countries to win the gold medal in her age group, 14 to 18.

. . .

She also won the bronze medal for females in her age group for taijiquan, or tai chi hand form, in the competition.

Both articles have decent write-ups of her training and upbringing in kung fu and other activities.

Originally a ballet dancer, Bao gave up that activity when her family recognized her talent in martial arts.

“That was really hard for me because I didn‘t like martial arts, but we (she and her father) both knew I was better,” Bao said. “I liked dance a lot more, but I was better at martial arts. In the end I chose martial arts. I love tai chi because it‘s like dance. I like to compete, and I like to win because I like to make my parents proud.”

She has won 25 domestic and international medals, according to the Tribune-Review, and will perform at the OCA Pittsburgh Lunar New Year Banquet on February 23.

Pittsburgh Taiko beginner lesson, January 19.

Pittsburgh Taiko, a local Japanese drumming group, will offer a free "crash course" for beginners tomorrow, January 19, from 2 to 5 pm at Shadyside's Winchester Thurston School (map).

During this session, you’ll be learning basic warm-ups and exercises, the proper form and technique, and then diving into your first two kumidaiko songs!

You can see and hear Pittsburgh Taiko on YouTube.

Ramen a "dining-out specialty", writes Tribune-Review.

Gone are the days when Pittsburghers had to make a field trip to Morgantown to get Japanese ramen. The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review looked yesterday at several local restaurants that have recently started serving variations of the dish.

"Ai Weiwei: Activist and Visionary" movie and potluck dinner at Thomas Merton Center, January 28.

GlobalPittsburgh's twitter tells us the Thomas Merton Center will show the documentary Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry as part of a potluck-dinner-and-a-movie on January 28th. The official website describes the film and subject:

Ai Weiwei is China's most famous international artist, and its most outspoken domestic critic. Against a backdrop of strict censorship and an unresponsive legal system, Ai expresses himself and organizes people through art and social media. In response, Chinese authorities have shut down his blog, beat him up, bulldozed his newly built studio, and held him in secret detention.

The film was last in Pittsburgh in September, and the Pittsburgh City Paper wrote about the subject:

Weiwei enjoys fawning attention in the West, particularly for his pointed critiques of his homeland's government, while in Beijing, his celebrity and influence is constantly checked by the authorities.

The event is from 6:30 to 8:30 and "guests should bring food and drink to share". The Thomas Merton Center is located at 5129 Penn Avenue in Friendship (map), and

works to build a consciousness of values and to raise the moral questions involved in the issues of war, poverty, racism, classism, economic justice, oppression and environmental justice.

Pirates prospect to pitch for Taiwan in 2013 World Baseball Classic.

On the 14th we learned Taiwan's (Chinese Taipei) team for the 2013 World Baseball Classic will feature Pittsburgh pitching prospect Wei-Chung Wang (王維中) as one of the 13 pitchers on the roster. Wang is twenty years old was one of two Taiwanese players signed by Pittsburgh in 2011. Like most Pirates signings, he was already injured, and underwent Tommy John surgery. Little has been written about Wang vis-a-vis the Pirates because he hasn't pitched recently, and it is impossible to speculate where he might project.

The second player signed in 2011 was catcher Chin-De Chang (張進德, written elsewhere as Jin-De Jhang), a 19-year-old who last week was ranked the #20 prospect by PiratesProspect.com. Because he is not a 34-year-old backup, it isn't clear where he figures into Pittsburgh's long-term plans. Pittsburgh's Major League roster has been relatively Asian-free, with three Japanese players and a Korean playing in the regular season, but this list from TaiwaneseBaseballPlayers.com shows five other Taiwanese players who have been in the system the last few years.