This class is a four-week follow-on course that builds on material taught in the October-November 2025 beginner session. It is open to continuing students from that class and to other people who took a 3-hour workshop in fall 2025.
Class content will depend on who registers, but advanced students can continue to refine the skills they learned in the October-November class, and all students will learn a new taiko piece.
Classes are Sundays at our studio in Bellevue from 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. (Note the new time - later than our previous classes.)
If you aren't sure whether or not this class is right for you, please contact us! Email classes+inquiry@pittburghtaiko.com with any questions.
Remember that our studio is a masked space, and unfortunately it is not accessible to folks who can't climb stairs. More information is available in the FAQ at pittsburghtaiko.com/classes.
Join Weston Konishi, President of the Sake Brewers Association of North America, for a night of sake tasting in Pittsburgh!
As more people outside of Japan learn about sake, more are venturing into the process - and business - of brewing it. The Sake Brewers Association of North America (SBANA) is the oldest, largest sake trade association outside of Japan, bringing together sake breweries, distributors, rice farmers, and enthusiasts to promote and expand the enjoyment of this storied beverage.
Weston will guide attendees through an overview of the history of breweries and specialty rice growers in North America, its fascinating production process, and explore tasting and pairing options.
Join the JASP for this free evening on February 5, 2026. Light hors d’oeuvres and beverages will be provided.
Weston Konishi is President of the Sake Brewers Association of North America. He has over 25 years of experience in the field of U.S.-Japan relations, with a focus on the political and diplomatic ties between the two nations. As Director of Partnerships and Development at the U.S.-Japan Council, Wes worked closely with a broad range of Japanese and U.S.-based companies on development strategies and expanding the organization’s corporate membership base. His appreciation for sake evolved during his eight years living in Tokyo, Japan as a graduate student and researcher. In 2014, he completed the Sake Professional Course with John Gauntner. He has subsequently written about sake and the challenges and opportunities for the industry in the United States. He is a member of the Japan Commerce Association of Washington, DC and the Mansfield Foundation’s U.S.-Japan Network for the Future. A Native New Yorker, he lives in Baltimore, MD with his wife and three cats.
This competition is designed for high school students from Western Pennsylvania and the tristate area studying Japanese language. Japanese language students of all levels and students who are involved in Japan-related cultural activities, are able to compete against other area students in speech or poster activities. Non-language students are eligible to compete in the poster contest. Each year over 80 students participate. There will be lots of fun Japan-related activities for participating students and parents.
Students who compete in speech levels are required to write and memorize a speech on the chosen topic for the contest. Winners receive prizes and trophies! Please visit the contest page for more information.
2026 Themes:
Beginner Level: Self-Introduction All Other Levels: 祭り (Festivals)
Japanese language teachers or students studying Japanese in high school should contact the JASP office at 412-856-8608 or email Katsuko Shellhammer to learn more about the competition. The contest is held in partnership with the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Museum of Art.
Just a few short years after the Meiji Restoration, American tourists began to arrive in Japan on steamer ships from San Francisco to Yokohama. Andrew Carnegie and his party were among them, arriving in Yokohama on November 16 and departing Nagasaki for China on December 3, 1878.
Hear more about his visit from JASP member Sam Kidder, editor of Our First Glimpse of Japan: Prominent American Visitors to Japan in the 1870s, and a local Carnegie expert at the first library he funded in the United States in Braddock, PA.
Join the JASP for this free evening at Carnegie One Braddock on March 12, 2026. Light hors d’oeuvres and beverages will be provided.
Samuel Kidder first arrived in East Asia as an undergraduate exchange student. After training and deployment in Korea as a U.S. Army linguist, he studied East Asian history at Harvard, the University of Washington, and as a Fulbright scholar at Yonsei University. After two years in New York City with Toyoda Tsusho Kaisha, he joined an Australian company, setting up their offices in Chicago and Seoul. He then entered the foreign service and was assigned tours in Seoul, Tokyo and New Delhi. The experience and knowledge he gained over a quarter of a century as a diplomat were invaluable preparation for his service as executive director of the American Chamber of Commerce in Japan. Kidder’s first book, Of One Blood All Nations, examined the 12 years Ohio Congressman and Reconstruction leader John Bingham spent as America’s senior diplomat in Japan. Serving four presidents, Bingham’s tenure remains the longest of any American ambassador to Japan.
Copyright © 2025
The Japan-America Society of Pennsylvania is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.
PHONE: 412-856-8608
EMAIL: jasp@japansocietypa.org
