On October 4th, the Tohoku Economic Federation (Tokeiren) held its “Tokeiren Forum in Iwate” in a Morioka hotel. There, former Governor of Iwate Hiroya Masuda (currently a visiting professor at the Graduate School of Public Policy at the University of Tokyo) gave a speech on the ILC.

Around 150 officials and businessmen from around the prefecture attended. As the International Committee for Future Accelerators (ICFA) deliberates on shortening the initial length of the ILC, Mr. Masuda predicted that, “At ICFA’s meeting in the beginning of November, they will reduce the 1 trillion yen construction costs to a number easier for the Japanese national government to make a decision on.”

Should the ILC be realized, Mr. Masuda stressed that, “it will be the greatest tool to develop and revitalize this region,” but that there was also a possibility that foreign researchers would shift their interests to the large circular collider being planned by China. “By next summer, Japan must show the EU our intentions regarding the ILC – for example the national government adding around 1 billion yen in ILC-related costs in their budget.”