At his press conference on March 8th, Hon. Masahiko Shibayama, Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Education (MEXT) spoke about his ministry’s response on the ILC. “Taking into account the position of the national government that we stated (to ICFA) on March 7th, I expect that deliberations will continue among scientists both domestically and abroad.” He said their decision on hosting the ILC would take into account a new master plan created by the Science Council of Japan in the future, and the deliberations taking place in Europe for their next particle physics strategy.

Hon. Shibayama talked about the government’s position that they have an “interest” in the ILC: “I heard that the international scientific community understood what we were saying. I would like to continue international talks at the government level.”

The SCJ’s master plan is slated to be finalized in February 2020, and the European strategy for particle physics (2020-2024) will be finalized in May 2020. “The decision will happen after taking into account the deliberations happening by scientists both domestically and abroad.”

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga also spoke about the ILC in his March 8th press conference. “It is necessary for the ILC to be deliberated within an official academic process, including figuring out whether understanding and support can be gained by the domestic scientific community. In any case, we will watch over the deliberations happening by scientists domestically and abroad.”