Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga (Center) received a request letter from Iwate Governor Takuya Tasso (Right)
Delegation at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism
On 12 June, representatives from the following four organizations submitted a letter of request asking the Japanese government to explicitly express an intention to host the International Linear Collider (ILC): the Tohoku ILC Promotion Council, the Hokkaido/Tohoku Governors’ Association, the Hokkaido/Tohoku Prefectural Assembly Chairpersons’ Association, and the Tohoku Mayors’ Association.
Since the national government gave a statement of interest on the ILC on 7 March, this was a good chance for all of the leaders from Tohoku, the northeast region of Japan, to directly call upon the national government to realise the ILC.
In the morning, they met with members of the Federation of Diet Members for the ILC. The group included Hiroaki Takahashi (Joint-chairperson of the Tohoku ILC Promotion Council), Takuya Tasso (Governor of Iwate), Junichi Sasaki (Chairperson of the Hokkaido/Tohoku Prefectural Assembly Chairpersons’ Association), and Osamu Katsube (Mayor of Ichinoseki City). They handed their letter of request to Hon. Takeo Kawamura, Chair of the Federation.
“It is clear that Japan has contributed to the advancement of science and technology, but it has never taken the lead on a large-scale project. We must do our best in order to make Japan a true nation of science and technology, and become an international leader,” said Hon. Kawamura. “I’ve accepted the letter as the consensus of Tohoku. I will keep working on the realization of the ILC.”
The delegation then toured Nagatacho, which is an area of Tokyo that serves as the center of national politics. They visited the Reconstruction Agency, Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT), and the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT), meeting senior officials at each agency. They also visited the Prime Minister’s office, and met with Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga.
According to the attendees, Secretary-General Suga said, “I’d like to firmly accept your request.”
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