George and Sakaye Aratani

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.

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

George and Sakaye Aratani

Entrepreneur and philanthropists

George and Sakaye Aratani are philanthropists who focus in supporting organizations that work with Japanese and Japanese American causes.

Their generous contributions to the UCLA Terasaki Center for Japanese Studies have created the George and Sakaye Aratani Fellowship and the George and Sakaye Aratani Field Experience Fellowship.

The Aratani Foundation has supported dozens of Japanese American organizations and programs, mostly based in Southern California, but also some nationally-based ones.

A number of physical spaces within Los Angeles's Little Tokyo have been named after the couple, reflecting their monetary support. Notable ones are the Japanese American Cultural and Community Center's Aratani Japan America Theatre; the Japanese American National Museum's George and Sakaye Central Hall; and the Union Center for the Arts's Aratani Courtyard.

In 1983 Sakaye received the Order of the Sacred Treasure, Fourth Order from the Japanese government. Five years later, George would get his own kunsho medal, Order of the Sacred Treasure, Gold Rays with Rosette.

The couple resided in Hollywood Hills, in the same home custom built for them by Sakaye's brother-in-law in 1958. Aratani passed away on February 19, 2013 at the age of 95.