Recently, KEK (which is promoting the ILC project) and the U.S. Department of Energy (D.O.E.) signed a “Project Agreement Concerning High Energy Physics.” This agreement will promote further cooperation between Japan and the US on research and development on next generation accelerators including the ILC and detectors.

KEK Director-General Yamauchi and DOE Associate Director of the Office of High Energy Physics Jim Siegriest signed the agreement, as then Minister of MEXT Mr. Shimomura and United States Ambassador Kennedy looked on.

According to KEK the agreement is based on the US-Japan Implementation Agreement on Research and Development in Energy and Related Fields (concluded on April 13, 2013).

The aim of the agreement is to move forward with Japan-US cooperation for development of detectors and next-generation accelerators which are indispensable for particle physics research.

Specifically, the agreement will further cooperation between the countries on issues including high energy physics experiments, beam technology, development of particle detectors, and experiment data processing. KEK emphasized that “This agreement is a comprehensive one for high energy research as a whole, not just for the ILC,” while researchers and others involved in the ILC welcomed the agreement as “clearly a good thing for the ILC” and expressed hope for formation of an international cooperative framework.

KEK’s website shows Ambassador Kennedy’s comments at the signing ceremony: “I am happy that cooperation between Japan and the United States on high energy physics has continued for so long. Cooperation between the US and Japan on science and technology is extremely important. I definitely want to continue this legacy for future generations.”