The Iwate Prefectural Assembly Members of the Liberal Democratic Party (Chair: Tsuto Chiba) visited the Reconstruction Agency, Ministry of Education, Sports, Culture, Science and Education (MEXT), and other government agencies on December 12th to urge the national government to support the reconstruction from the 2011 earthquake and tsunami as well as make a speedy decision on the ILC.

Ten members of the Iwate Prefectural Assembly, including Chair Chiba, Secretary-General Ichiro Saga, and Policy Research Chairman Tomokazu Iwasaki visited MEXT. Chair Chiba handed their petition to Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi, saying, “We must push forward the reconstruction of Iwate as quickly as we can. We also want Japan to say they will host the ILC in hopes of bringing it to fruition.”

Minister Hayashi said, “The Panel of Experts at MEXT will deliberate seriously on the ILC, taking into account the international scientific community’s decision to change the ILC to a shorter initial stage.”

The group also visited LDP party headquarters where they gave a petition to the party’s secretary-general, Toshihiro Nikai.