http://www.international.ucla.edu/japan Facilitate cutting-edge research about Japan at UCLA en-us Terasaki Chair Thomas Rimer discusses the beginnings of Western classical music in Japan and the life of Japan's first well-known composer.http://www.international.ucla.edu/japan/news/article.asp?parentid=91938Japanese politics expert Megumi Naoi explains the relationship between Japanese politicians and interest groups.http://www.international.ucla.edu/japan/news/article.asp?parentid=90692Kimono stylist Nobuaki Tomita explains the kimono-making process, while showcasing his work and discussing the traditional Japanese costume's history.http://www.international.ucla.edu/japan/news/article.asp?parentid=89934Northern Illinois University's John R. Bentley pokes holes in the view that 'Sendai Kuji Hongi' ('Kujiki') is a derivative historical text.http://www.international.ucla.edu/japan/news/article.asp?parentid=89412Brandeis University's Matthew Fraleigh explains how the 'shishi' passed on Chinese poetic traditions by reinventing the poem "The Song of the Righteous Spirit."http://www.international.ucla.edu/japan/news/article.asp?parentid=87670Art historian Kendall Brown explains how the Ryoanji stone garden in Kyoto, Japan, became a commercialized symbol of Zen Buddhism.http://www.international.ucla.edu/japan/news/article.asp?parentid=85936Miriam R. Silverberg joined the UCLA faculty in 1990 and retired in 2005. Her scholarship on modern Japanese history is influencing the work of historians today.http://www.international.ucla.edu/japan/news/article.asp?parentid=84401U of Arizona's Timothy Vance examines the life of the American mining engineer and accidental linguist Benjamin Smith Lyman.http://www.international.ucla.edu/japan/news/article.asp?parentid=84387U of Tokyo's Tadashi Uchino discusses the birth of Butoh dance and the performance of "children's" bodies in postmodern Japanese dance.http://www.international.ucla.edu/japan/news/article.asp?parentid=83811Durham University's Gina Barnes challenges prevailing views on mounded-tomb culture and the development of the Japanese state in the earliest historical period.http://www.international.ucla.edu/japan/news/article.asp?parentid=83055