Hi there! Nathan Hill from Australia here. I’ve been working as the Internationalization Coordinator for Ichinoseki City since April, as part of the city’s ILC Promotion Division. I’m looking forward to sharing with you some of what Ichinoseki is doing to bring the ILC to fruition. In this first piece, I’m going to talk about the “Ichinoseki Science Cafes.”

The “Ichinoseki Science Cafes” are a series of casual ILC seminars presented by researchers. Hosted by Ichinoseki City and its Board of Education, they began last year and are held four times a year at the city library.

Last fiscal year (April to March in Japan), they were presented by Ms. Rika Takahashi, Communicator at KEK’s Planning Office for the ILC; Associate Professor Tomoyuki Sanuki of the Department of Physics, Graduate School of Science at Tohoku University; Mr. Takuya Uruno of Uruno Creative Office; and Dr. Masakazu Yoshioka, Visiting Professor at Tohoku University and Iwate University and Professor Emeritus at KEK.

Ms. Yuki Akimoto with a few of the students

The first session for 2015 was held recently on August 2nd, and was presented by Ms. Yuki Akimoto, Research Fellow at the University of Tokyo’s Graduate School of Science. Titled “Elementary particles and the universe seen through the ILC,” Ms. Akimoto spoke about particle science and the significance of the ILC in front of some 20 people, including elementary, junior high and high school students.

A news article about the seminar was on the front page the next day of one of the leading papers in Iwate Prefecture, the “Iwate Nichinichi,” and an article was also in the prefecture’s biggest newspaper, the “Iwate Nippo”. Staff from Ichinoseki’s local cable TV network ICN were also at the seminar, as was a writer from the city’s Public Relations and Communications Division.

Flyers for the seminars have been sent to all schools in the city, and there is also notice of them in a publication which is sent to all schools. The first issue of this new monthly publication, issued by the Board of Education, features introductions of the Assistant Language Teachers (ALTs) who teach English at the city’s schools, and can be seen here.

A poster in the window of a convenience store

Posters of the seminars are also around town in various places, including convenience stores, the city gym, the tourist information office outside the main train station and so on, all of which are helping out with spreading the word about the seminars and raising the profile of the ILC generally.

The second, third and fourth Science Cafes for fiscal 2015 will be held as follows:

Saturday, September 12th

Using the ILC to unravel the mysteries of the beginning of the universe
Speaker: Associate Professor Junpei Fujimoto, Institute of Particle and Nuclear Studies at KEK

Sunday, November 15th

The ILC and the Kitakami Site
Speaker: Associate Professor Tomoyuki Sanuki, Department of Physics, Graduate School of Science, Tohoku University

Saturday, January 16th

Town Planning and the ILC
Speaker: Ms. Tokiko Onuki, Campus Designer, Campus Planning Office, Tohoku University

Article about the café in the Iwate Nichinichi

Don’t forget to check out Ichinoseki City’s ILC website. In addition to general information about the ILC, there are mini-English lessons for Japanese residents based on ILC topics and everyday situations, and photos of the city’s international residents enjoying various festivals and other events in the city.