Art of the Samurai on view at the Metropolitan Museum of Art Through January 2010

The Metropolitan Museum of Art's ambitious major loan exhibition Art of the Samurai: Japanese Arms and Armor, 1156-1868 brings together 214 masterpieces, including 34 National Treasures, 64 Important Cultural Properties, and six Important Art objects, a number of which have never traveled outside Japan. Featuring the finest examples of armor, swords, sword fittings and mountings, archery and equestrian equipment, banners, surcoats, and related accessories of rank, as well as painted screens and scrolls depicting samurai warriors, the exhibition explores the greatest achievements of this unique facet of Japanese art. Masterpieces on view will include an exceptional 12th-century blade called kanehira that is known as the greatest of all Japanese swords, and a striking armor with helmetadorned by a crescent more than 30 inches longworn by Date Masamune, one of Japan's legendary warriors. Drawn exclusively from more than 60 public and private collections in Japan, this is the most comprehensive exhibition of Japanese arms and armor ever to take place in the world. Approximately 60 objects will be rotated into the exhibition during the first week of December.

Morihiro Ogawa, the exhibition's curator, and Special Consultant for Japanese Arms and Armor in the Metropolitan Museum's Department of Arms and Armor, stated: "Art of the Samurai: Japanese Arms and Armor, 1156-1868 has been more than 10...

Grassroots Rising Reveals the Eye-Opening Stories of Asian Immigrant Workers in Los Angeles and Their Fight for Justice

Grassroots Rising by director Robert Winn (Saigon U.S.A. ) airs on PBS this May as part of the Center for Asian Media's lineup of films for Asian Pacific American Heritage Month. (Check local listings.)

The media gives little press attention to working class America and even less to low-wage Asian immigrant workers. Grassroots Rising tells the powerful stories of these immigrants and the moving struggles they face in the fight to improve their working conditions. Far from the model minority stereotypes who dont rock the boat, these Asians are activists and refuse to be exploited. As mainstream unions have not made many inroads in organizing Asian immigrant workers in Los Angeles, grassroots worker centers have taken their place in educating workers about their rights and collaborating with them to fight for their rights. Grassroots Rising shows what organizations like the Korean Immigrant Worker Advocates (KIWA), the Pilipino Workers Center, the Garment Worker Center, and the Thai Community Development Center are doing in their respective communities.

In Grassroots Rising , we meet Jung Hee Lee, a Korean restaurant worker who worked 14-hour days for more than a year. She became an activist after she learned from KIWA that her boss was violating labor laws by paying her a monthly wage and not compensating her for overtime. We meet Rojana Cheunchijit, who...

Nobu Matsuhisa, Ming Tsai and Martin Yan are among the celebrity chefs featured in New Asian Cuisine; Fabulous Recipes from Celebrity Chefs , a new cookbook created by Savory Productions and published by the International Food, Wine & Travel Writers Association.

Travel on a virtual globe-spanning trip to the restaurants of the world's finest Asian chefs through the pages of New Asian Cuisine; Fabulous Recipes from Celebrity Chefs .

American food enthusiasts will recognize names such as Nobu Matsuhisa, Ming Tsai, Wolfgang Puck and Asian Connections very own Martin Yan, but unless you live in Mumbai, you may not know Sanjeev Kapoor, the Indian TV counterpart to Emeril Lagasse as well as Hsiu-Pao Tseng (Taiwan), Carol Selva Rajah (Sydney), Paul Rankin (Ireland), Pauline Loh (Singapore), Wai-Keung Kwong (Hong Kong), An Jung-Hyun (Korea), Didier Corlou (Vietnam), Mari Fujii (Japan), Susur Lee (Canada), members of the Asian Chefs Association among others.

With recipes adapted for the home cook, you can virtually visit all the countries represented by these renowned chefs and taste their culinary creations. Chapters include small plates & salads, soups, fish & seafood, meat & poultry, rice & noodles, vegetables, desserts and Asian cocktails.

Created by Savory Productions and published by the International Food, Wine & Travel Writers Association, New Asian Cuisine offers innovative approaches and a fresh perspective to preparing Asian cuisine by following...

Sokha is one of nine girls featured in GIRL RISING. She was a Cambodian child of the dump, orphaned and forced to pick through garbage to survive. Through a series of miracles she finds her way to a school and has risen to become a star student with a promising future. Photo credit: GIRL RISING

April 19-26, 2013 GIRL RISING is screening nationwide in selected Regal Cinemas.

“No one is more vulnerable than an uneducated girl, and this film is a wake-up call to the world that it’s time to educate girls,” actress Freida Pinto said in a statement to India-Times.com. “Right now, 66 million girls are not in school, and 14 million girls under 18 will be married this year — that’s 38,000 girls married today, and 13 girls married in the last 30 seconds."

Sometimes it only takes a single person to start a revolution. This time, its a documentary film. GIRL RISING is the centerpiece of a campaign for girls' education. The film's message: "Educate Girls and you will change the world." A simple notion, yes, but in reality - not so simple.

Millions of girls in developing countries face barriers to education that boys do not encounter.

The film's campaign reports that 66 million school-age girls are...

Hollywood Chinese Opens in Los Angeles, Pasadena and New York.

Today, Arthur Dong's Hollywood Chinese opens at Laemmle's Music Hall in L.A, at Laemmle's One Colorado in Pasadena and at The ImaginAsian Theater in New York. Meet the filmmaker at tonight's 7:40 pm screening at Laemmle's Music Hall in L.A or tomorrow at the 7:40pm screening at Laemmle's One Colorado in Pasadena.

Hot off its month-long extended San Francisco run and international film festival tour, including Toronto and a Best Documentary win at Taipei's Golden Horse Awards, the Chinese equivalent to the Oscars, Hollywood Chinese is a "delightfully entertaining" (FilmFestivals.com) look at the Chinese in American movies. Featuring a virtual who's who of top Chinese and Chinese American film artists, including Ang Lee, Joan Chen, Wayne Wang, Nancy Kwan, James Hong, Lisa Lu, B.D. Wong, Tsai Chin and writers Amy Tan and David Henry Hwang. Also featuring Luise Rainer, Turhan Bey and Christopher Lee. Directed by triple Sundance winner and Oscar nominee Arthur Dong (Forbidden City, U.S.A., Licensed to Kill, Coming Out Under Fire).

The ImaginAsian Theater
239 East 59th St.
New York
Screens Daily. Check for schedule: 212/371-6682
http://www.theImaginAsian.com

Laemmle's Music Hall
9036 Wilshire Blvd.
Beverly Hills
310/274-6869
* Q & A with Filmmaker: May 30, 7:40 pm show only

Laemmles One Colorado *
42 Miller Alley
Old Town Pasadena
626/744-1224
* Q & A with Filmmaker: May 31, 7:40 pm show only

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