Governor of Iwate, Takuya Tasso, and other officials from Iwate government, industry, and academia, visited with national government representatives and Diet politicians to petition them to make the International Linear Collider a reality.

On the Iwate side were Governor Tasso, Hon. Shunichi Suzuki (Olympics Minister), Prof. Atsuto Suzuki (Iwate Prefectural University President), Kunihisa Yamura (Iwate ILC Promotion Council Chair) and others. They visited with Hon. Tadamori Oshima (Speaker of the House of Representatives), Hon. Ryu Shionoya (Secretary-general of the Federation of Diet Members for the ILC), and Hon. Hideki Niizuma (Parliamentary Secretary of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology), and gave each their written petition.

Within the petition, they asked that the national government soon make clear its schedule for making its decision on the ILC, and how it proposes to share the costs of the investment and of human resources with the other participating countries. The petitions were made behind closed doors, but according to those in attendance, Hon. Shionoya spoke about the results of his recent trip to Europe, and once again showed his willingness to push the national government to host the ILC.

Governor Tasso stated, “I felt like each representative we visited with had the same amount of passion for the ILC as those in the candidate site area. I hope to move forward in specific ways, as we look forward to the realization of the ILC.” The Iwate ILC Promotion Council will soon release a report on the economic effects of the ILC, to which Hon. Shionoya said, “I hope to get this used as a reference as deliberations continue on the ILC, and that this will encourage the national government to make a decision.”