Special Events Schedule
Opening Night with Electric Dragon 80.000V
7:15 and 9:30 pm – March 17 – $28
We’re opening the 2023 Pittsburgh Japanese Film Festival with this wildly fun, comic-book style cult classic. A violent, guitar-playing, electrically charged boxer faces off against an electronic wizard half-merged with a metallic Buddha…. which is pretty much all you need to know about why this movie rules.
Saké Tasting with Ox-Head Village
10 pm – March 18 – $19
Sample a few types of saké — or Japanese rice wine — and learn about the wide range of flavor profiles distillers create before watching the new spooky film Ox-Head Village. Please plan to arrive 10-15 minutes early to enjoy the tasting.
Godzilla vs. Destoroyah with an Intro from Pitt Prof. Mark Best
5:15 pm – March 19 – $13
Enjoy very 1990s special effects in this Kaiju mega-movie with an intro from Film and Media Studies Professor Mark Best. A burning Godzilla, on the verge of meltdown, emerges to lay siege to Hong Kong. At the same time horrifying new organisms are discovered in Japan. These crustacean-like beings are seemingly born of the Oxygen Destroyer, the weapon that killed the original Godzilla. Please plan to arrive 10-15 minutes early to enjoy the intro.
Godzillympics
7:35 pm – March 20 – $15
Smash buildings, throw boulders, and… pin the tail on Godzilla. It’s the Godzillympics. A fun, Row House Original event with monstrously awesome prizes. Just sign up when you arrive and you could be called onstage to compete! Or just kick back and enjoy the spectacle! Please plan to arrive 10-15 minutes early to enjoy the full program.
Anime Challenge with Anime Supremacy!
7:10 pm – March 24 – $16
We’re going to invite some anime-style artists on stage to draw an audience- created cartoon prompt — Mad Lib style. See what they come up with while you watch this fantastic new movie about ambition in the modern anime industry — Anime Supremacy! Please plan to arrive 10-15 minutes early to enjoy the full program.
Pompo the Cinephile with an Intro from Prof. Yoshihiro Yasuhara
5 pm – March 26 – 13
Yoshihiro Yasuhara, an Associate Teaching Professor in Japanese Studies at Carnegie Mellon University’s Department of Modern Language, will introduce this new anime film and give a short talk on the history and evolution of anime. Please plan to arrive 10-15 minutes early for the intro.
Gamera vs. Guiron with Onigiri
7:15 pm – March 28 – $21
Snack on some Onigiri — aka adorable and savory filled rice cakes (one salmon and one regular) — from Mola while you watch this campy and fun 1960s outer space monster movie!
Destroy All Monsters Brew & View
7:15 & 9:45 pm– March 30 – $29
We are wrapping up two weeks of monster-movie fun the best way we know how — a Destroy All Monsters Brew & View! Ishirō Honda’s 1968 film takes place in 1999 when aliens release a whole crew of kaiju monsters — Godzilla, Mothra, Rodan, Ghidorah, and more — onto major cities across the world.
Week 1 Films

The Island of Cats
2019, Drama
An aging widower and his cat live on an island of cats.
Showtimes:

Dance with Me
2019, Musical Comedy
A woman who hates musicals can’t stop breaking into song in this charming musical comedy
Showtimes:

Stray Dog
1991, Yakuza
An aging widower and his cat live on an island of cats.
Showtimes:

Samurai Rebellion
1957 , Samurai
A woman who hates musicals can’t stop breaking into song in this charming musical comedy
Showtimes:
Friday, March 20th
— Ugetsu
— We Are Little Zombies
— Weathering With You
OPENING NIGHT CAT FESTIVITIES
— The Island of Cats
— The Island of Cats
Saturday, March 21st
— Weathering With You
— Ugetsu
— We Are Little Zombies
— Human Lost
— Weathering With You
Sunday, March 22nd
— Human Lost
— Weathering With You
— We Are Little Zombies
— Ugetsu
Monday, March 23rd
— Weathering With You
— We Are Little Zombies
— Human Lost
— Weathering With You
— Ugetsu
Tuesday, March 24th
— Ugetsu
— Human Lost
— We Are Little Zombies
— Ugetsu
— Weathering With You
Wednesday, March 25th
— We Are Little Zombies
— Ugetsu
— Human Lost
— Children of the Sea
— A Girl Missing
Thursday, March 26th
— We Are Little Zombies
— Ugetsu
— Ride Your Wave
— Sansho the Bailiff
— Matango: Attack of the Mushroom People
Friday, March 27th
— Weathering With You
— Violet Evergarden: Eternity And Auto Memory Doll
— Sansho the Bailiff
— Ride Your Wave
— We Are Little Zombies
Saturday, March 28th
— Human Lost
— Violet Evergarden
— Weathering With You
— A Girl Missing
— Violet Evergarden
— Matango: Attack of the Mushroom People
Sunday, March 29th
— Ugetsu
— Sansho the Bailiff
— Street of Shame
— Violet Evergarden
— Weathering With You
Monday, March 30th
—Street of Shame
— Ride Your Wave
— A Girl Missing
— Violet Evergarden
— Matango: Attack of the Mushroom People
Tuesday, March 31st
— Violet Evergarden
— Matango: Attack of the Mushroom People
— Sansho the Bailiff
— A Girl Missing
— Weathering With You
Wednesday, April 1st
— Sansho the Bailiff
— A Girl Missing
— Violet Evergarden
— Street of Shame
— Ride Your Wave
Thursday, April 2nd
— Violet Evergarden
— Sansho the Bailiff
— Ride Your Wave
CLOSING NIGHT FESTIVITIES
— Rise of the Machine Girls & Japan’s Craziest TV Game Shows
Brew & View Event
21+ Only
— Rise of the Machine Girls & Japan’s Craziest TV Game Shows
Brew & View Event
21+ Only