Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi of the Ministry of Education, Sports, Culture, Science and Technology (MEXT) spoke to the press on September 1st when he visited Morioka City. Regarding the budget request for ILC-related items for the 2018 fiscal year, he stated, “This is a big step forward. I hope to work hard to ensure that the final budget reflects the request made.”

In a preceding speech, Minister Hayashi showed interest in the project, saying, “The local area is working very hard to bring about the ILC, and that is one large investment in the future.”

Moreover, “there are many problems, including what the other countries are going to do (regarding ILC funding),” he said. However, he also talked about the significance of challenging ourselves in new fields: “When no one thought that humans could fly, many different people tried many different things, and that’s why we have airplanes.”

Minister Hayashi came to Iwate to give a speech at a political fundraising event for Hon. Hinako Takahashi, a member of the House of Representatives from the Liberal Democratic Party (Tohoku proportional representative).