The Michinoku Associates Group (led by Keishi Miki, honorary chairman of Toyo Seikan Group Holdings) is a group of 134 companies that do business with the Michinoku Coca Cola Bottling company (Yahaba Town, president: Hirokazu Yamura). On November 9th, the group donated 100,000 yen (~$1,000 USD) to the Iwate Prefecture ILC Promotion Council (chair: Kunihisa Yamura).

At a ceremony in a hotel in Morioka, Chair Yamura was presented with the donation by Yasuhiko Kadokawa, head of the northern Japan sales department at Toyo Seikan Group.

The Michinoku Associates Group has been donating to the ILC Promotion Council since 2013. Mr. Kadokawa said, “This is the most important time for the ILC project, and an immense amount of cooperation is needed to realize the project. I hope to welcome a more advanced era with everyone.”

Chair Yamura said, “We will do all we can until the end to realize the project, without slowing down or stopping. We can’t be overly optimistic, but we remain hopeful.”

Atsuto Suzuki, president of the Iwate Prefectural University, gave a seminar on the significance of the ILC and current status of the project. The deadline for the national government’s decision on the project is by the end of the year, so he remarked, “The countdown has begun for the realization of the ILC.” He stressed how important it was to spread awareness and support for the ILC throughout Japan.