In the efforts to invite and realize the next generation particle accelerator, the International Linear Collider (ILC), Ichinoseki City held an ILC seminar on the ILC’s latest news on the 21st of June at Bellino Hotel (sponsored by the city and jointly organized by the Ichinoseki Chamber of Commerce).

As the government’s judgement on the ILC draws near, citizens were informed on the current situation by three experts. The Tohoku ILC Promotion Council had set up the ILC Preparation Office in 2016 in anticipation of the ILC’s realization while also preparing industry, academic and public officials in Tohoku to closely work together. The seminar aimed to announce ILC preparation activities in offices both at home and abroad.

The lectures were given by Dr. Suzuki Atsuto, the head of the Tohoku ILC Preparation Office and President of Iwate Prefectural University, Executive Director Jun Sasaki of Iwate Prefecture’s Office of Science and ILC Promotion and Honorary Professor Masakazu Yoshioka of the High Energy Accelerator Research Organization (KEK).

Mr. Suzuki lectured on the theme ‘The Countdown to the ILC’ and spoke in detail about the activities of the preparation office. He stated that if the ILC is realized, in order for a symbiotic multicultural society, “family members of researchers will not all be able to speak English, so they will study Japanese. The kindest way is for whole city to be a Japanese class. Through exchanges we can also learn about their countries and deepen relationships.” As the countdown begins to attract the ILC, “researchers around the world feel that Japan is the only place that the ILC can be built and they are cheering us on. As Tohoku expands its effort to all of Japan, we urge that the government decides in favor of the project.”

Mr. Sasaki explained the outline of the Tohoku Master Plan formulated by the preparation office and about the role of the region anticipating the ILC. In addition to the information regarding the time scale for the construction and about private investment in the plan, an important point was that “in the future we will have a platform to transmit information about Tohoku, the circulation of information from around the world is required. While discussions are currently progressing on international cooperation, the prefecture will summarize a direction on how to be ready, so please raise your voice of support.”

Director Sasaki

Prof. Yoshioka lectured on the theme of ‘Exploring the Possibilities of Industries in the Tohoku Region’ and spoke of entrepreneurs using the technology of the European Council for Nuclear Research (CERN) for things like state-of-the-art cancer treatment. “When the ILC locates, the same thing will happen. It will attract companies from all over the world.” Meanwhile, while showing the sense of crisis on China’s large-scale accelerator construction side “Japan cannot call itself a science and technology nation, now it is at a serious crossroads.” He said, “It is clear what we should do and what to do” and urged the government for its decision.

Professor Yoshioka