Arfakhashad Munaim

Terasaki Center For Japanese Studies

Established in 1991, the UCLA Terasaki Center has been a platform for research on Japan. Our distinguished faculty, students, postdoctoral fellows, visiting scholars, and the board of advisors have been contributing to the field of Japanese studies for over 20 years.

Faculty Board of Advisors Chair in US-Japan Relations Postdoctoral Fellows Alumni

Students Visitors Staff Supporters Dr. Paul I. Terasaki

The Terasaki Center sponsors a vast array of events throughout the year. With its colloquium series, the Center brings academics from diverse fields to UCLA each year. Special workshops and annual conferences bring leading scholars to discuss topics relating to Japan.

Center News Annual Newsletter

Center Events Community Events Past Events

The Center is proud to support our faculty, current and prospective students, and the local community through a variety of grants and fellowships.

Internal Funding
Learn more and apply for Center funding here.

External Funding
Funding sources in this section are not administered by the Center.

Center programs were established with strong support from the local community to promote research and instruction in Japanese studies, with a recent focus on the profound transformations unfolding in contemporary Japanese society.

UCLA Japanese Studies
Programs by Faculty and Students

Global Japan Initiative
Understanding Japan/Japanese culture within a global context.

The Terasaki Center is actively expanding support for faculty and graduate students, building relationships with other universities as well as Japan and Japanese Studies related organizations, and enhancing its role in the community.

Mission & History
Digital Archive

Global Hub
The Center is dedicated to connecting Japanese communities around the world with those engaged in the study of Japan and the Japanese.

DONATE Your gift can make a difference to Japanese studies at UCLA!

global japan initiative Understanding Japan/Japanese
culture within a global context

Arfakhashad Munaim

Urban Planning and Design

Arfakhashad (AK) Munaim is a graduate student of the Urban and Regional Planning department at the Luskin School of Public Affairs. An advocate for sustainable design in revitalizing urban neighborhoods, Arfakhashad integrates the principles of New Urbanism and Smart Growth to create complete, connected, and diverse neighborhoods. As a practicing urban designer and planner, Arfakhashad works on engaging communities through ‘place-making’ principles and creating sustainable approaches towards community design. He has been involved in award-winning form-based codes, community charrettes, and design competitions while working with the City of Ventura and Moule & Polyzoides, Architects and Urbanists. Arfakhashad approaches his design and research interests using a comprehensive agenda that explores the way communities engage, negotiate and embrace the extant planning and policy regimes of their respective cities. Given this, his research explores the cultural and socio-political navigation of diaspora communities in contemporary urban environments and several long-range planning and research projects in Los Angeles, Egypt, Japan and Kenya.