1
Recent Progress Towards the Realization of the ILC in Japan:
Cooperative Efforts by Academia, Industry, and Local Region
December 13, 2019
Toshinori MORI
Chair, High Energy Physics Committee

Introduction
1.

The International Linear Collider (ILC) is a next-generation large-scale international project in particle
physics. Efforts aiming to realize the ILC in Japan have been ongoing for over 15 years. At present,
many people from various sectors, including scientists, politicians, industry members, businesscircles, and local communities, are proactively working together towards the realization of the ILC.

2.

This document summarizes the recent progress towards the realization of the ILC in various sectorsof Japan in order to inform the international strategy discussions, such as the European Strategy for
Particle Physics Update.

3.

On March 7, 2019, at the Linear Collider Board meeting held in Tokyo, the Ministry of Education,
Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) announced the position of the Japanese
government regarding the ILC project. Refer to another document for details of the actions by theJapanese government subsequent to this event.

Political Activities Towards the Realization of the ILC and International Cooperation
4.

The Federation of Diet Members for the ILC (“Federation”), formed in 2006, is a non-partisan groupof parliamentarians aiming to realize the ILC in Japan as an international project. The group consistsof about 130 Members of the Japanese Diet, out of a total of 707 Members. The Chairperson of theFederation is Hon. Takeo Kawamura, former Chief Cabinet Secretary. Federation members meetfrequently at an average of once per month to discuss the strategies to push for the ILC. The
Federation is continuously urging the Japanese government to make a favorable decision on the ILC
project. With regard to the international discussions, Federation members have interacted closelywith legislative and executive members of potential partner countries to discuss the ILC project.
These political efforts are closely coordinated with government ministries and agencies, academia,
industries, and local regions.
Key Members of the Federation of Diet Members for the ILC
Position within
Name
Other positions
Federation
Former Chief Cabinet Secretary;
Hon. Takeo KAWAMURA
Chair
Former MEXT Minister
Chairperson of General Affairs (LDP);
Former Minister for the Tokyo Olympic andHon. Shunichi SUZUKI
Vice Chair
Paralympic Games;
Former Minister of the Environment
Hon. Ryu SHIONOYA
Director General
Former MEXT Minister5.

In 2018, the Liaison Committee for Realizing the ILC (“Committee”) was formed within the Liberal
Democratic Party (of the ruling coalition), chaired by Hon. Takeo Kawamura. The Committee aims torealize the ILC by elevating the project as a national priority across various important policies.

6.

In February 2019, the Federation and the Committee have jointly approved a resolution urging theJapanese government to host the ILC in Japan. The resolution was presented in person to the MEXT
Minister and the Minister of State for Science and Technology Policy. (For other recent political2
activities, refer to the LCWS2019 keynote speech by Hon. Ryu Shionoya.1)
7.

Federation members visited the United States (2013~) and Europe (2016~) numerous times in order
to discuss the ILC with high-level government officials and parliamentary members. Discussions
have also been held on the occasion of their visits to Japan. Recent visits from the US include twohigh-level officials from the Department of Energy (DOE). From Europe, parliamentary members
from Germany and France have visited Japan to discuss the ILC project; they have also toured the
ILC candidate site and its neighboring areas in the Tohoku region.
Dignitaries who recently visited Japan to discuss the ILC project
Name
Date
Paul Dabbar, DOE Under Secretary for Science October 2018
US
Chris Fall, DOE Office of Science Director
October 2019
Germany Stefan Kaufmann, Member of the Bundestag
October 2018, etc.
Olivier Becht, Member of the National AssemblyFranceNovember 2018, etc.
and others (3 National Assembly members total)Country

Key Organizations Promoting the ILC
8.

Within the academic community, the High Energy Accelerator Research Organization (KEK) andmembers of various universities are actively promoting the ILC, in cooperation with the international
scientific community via the Linear Collider Board and the Linear Collider Collaboration. (See Figure
1 for the relations among various organizations promoting the ILC.)

9.

The industry-academia collaboration is spearheaded by the Advanced Accelerator Association
Promoting Science and Technology (AAA)2, whose members include over 100 companies and over40 academic institutes. The Chairperson is Takashi Nishioka, former CEO of Mitsubishi Heavy
Industries. AAA has supported the delegation of Federation members to the United States andEurope by providing financial and logistical support. AAA is also actively engaging in technological
R&D, developing clean technologies for ILC (“Green ILC”) from the viewpoint of sustainable
development goals, such as heat recovery technology, wood utilization, and solar energy use.
Industries/Businessesin Tohoku (200+)
Tohoku Economic Federation

Cities/Towns:• Sendai• Morioka• Ichinoseki• Oshu• Ofunato• Kesennuma• Tome• Kurihara• Hiraizumi• Kanegasaki

Industries (100+)

coordinationies
rsit 0)iv e k u ( 1
n
U ho
o
in T

Tohoku ILC
PromotionCouncil• core members meetbimonthly• annual meeting
attended bygovernors, mayors

rep

res
e

nta
t

iv e
s

Academia
KEK
Universities

40
inst
itut
es

core
members

Local
Governmentsof Tohoku (17)Prefectures:• Iwate• Miyagi• Akita• Aomori• Fukushima• Niigata• Yamagata

ICFA/LCB/LCC

Tokyo
LiaisonMeeting

re p

es
t iv
nt a
e
re s

(coordination)• biweekly meetings

Advanced
Accelerator
Association(industry/academia
cooperation)(political sector)
Input viadelegates

Federation ofDiet Members
for ILC

Figure 1: Organizations promoting the ILC.
12

http://epx.phys.tohoku.ac.jp/LCWS2019/documents/LCWS2019_Hon.Shionoya_Ryu_EN.pdf
http://aaa-sentan.org/en/

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10. Efforts in the Tohoku Region are coordinated by the Tohoku ILC Promotion Council,3 which consistsof members from academia (10), industries and business (202), and local governments (17). The
Co-chairs are Hideo Ohno, President of Tohoku University, and Hiroaki Takahashi, Honorary
Chairperson of the Tohoku Economic Federation. Its Annual Meetings are attended by Prefectural
Governors (2) and Mayors (6). Executive members meet bimonthly; the latest meetings were heldon June 11, July 24, Oct. 17, and Dec. 6.
Tohoku Region and Activities Promoting the ILC
11. The Tohoku Region consists of 6 prefectures including Iwate and Miyagi. The total land area andpopulation of the region are roughly the same level as those of Switzerland. The Tohoku Region
possesses an abundance of natural scenery with its own Japanese culture specific to the Tohoku
Region. At the same time, there is deep understanding and love for science and technology among
the Tohoku people. Currently, there are two accelerator projects under construction in the Tohoku
Region: (1) Next Generation 3GeV Synchrotron Radiation Facility in Miyagi Prefecture, and (2) East
Japan Heavy Ion Center, at the Faculty of Medicine in Yamagata University. The Tohoku Region has
suffered great damages from the Great East Japan Earthquake of 2011. Reconstruction efforts are
currently in full swing to build a better Tohoku Region with an eye to the future (“Build Back a Better
Tohoku”).

Land area
Population

Tohoku Region(6 Prefectures)
66,950 km2
8.682 mil

Switzerland(for reference)
41,280 km2
8.556 mil

12. The Iwate Prefectural Government upgraded its main organization for ILC promotion in June 2019from the “ILC Promotion Office” to the “ILC Promotion Bureau”, with a total of 48 people assigned. It
has a Planning and Management Division and Project Development Division. Activities include
promoting the ILC, increasing public awareness, preparing for environmental impact assessment,
and assessing the readiness of transport and living conditions for international researchers.
13. The ILC Liaison Council of Southern Iwate and Northern Miyagi has started in July 2019. (See Figure
2 for the area map.) The members are the ILC promoting bodies of the neighboring area, including
the local governments. Members of the council include Mayors. The latest meetings were held on
July 17, Oct. 23, and Dec. 25 (planned).
14. Resolutions urging for the realization of the ILC have passed at many levels of local governments:3



The Hokkaido/Tohoku Prefectural Governors’ Association (8 Prefectures) passed a resolution
on Oct. 2018 urging the Japanese government to realize the ILC, from the viewpoint of creating
an international center for science, technology, and innovation and regional revitalization.



The Tohoku Mayors’ Association has passed a special resolution in May 2018 urging Japan torealize the ILC.



The Hokkaido/Tohoku Prefectural Assembly Chairpersons’ Association and the Prefectural
Assembly of each of the 6 Prefectures in the Tohoku Region have all separately passed
resolutions supporting the ILC.

The Iwate Prefectural Assembly and the Miyagi Prefectural Assembly are working together tourge the national government to realize the ILC, which is a first time feat that two assembly
bodies from different prefectures have worked for a common goal.

http://www.tohoku-ilc.jp/en/

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Figure 2: Tohoku Region of Japan. The ILC candidate site in the Kitakami Mountains is indicated by a
red line. The neighboring municipalities are shown. (Figure by courtesy of Ichinoseki City.)
15. In June 2019, many representatives from the Tohoku Region jointly urged the national government
to realize the ILC. The representatives included the Tohoku ILC Promotion Council (Chairperson
Hiroaki Takahashi, Executive Member Kunihisa Yamura, Executive Member Atsuto Suzuki), the
Hokkaido/Tohoku Governors’ Association (Iwate Governor Takuya Tasso), the Hokkaido/Tohoku
Prefectural Assembly Chairpersons’ Association (Iwate Assembly Chairperson Junichi Sasaki), theTohoku Mayor’s Association (Morioka City Mayor Hiroaki Tanifuji, etc.) and others. They visited thePrime Minister’s Office, the Ministry of Education, Sports, Science and Technology, the Ministry ofLand, Infrastructure, Transport and Transportation, and the Reconstruction Agency. They submitted
their request in person urging for the realization of the ILC to the Chief Cabinet Officer and theMinisters.
Support from Economic Organizations Promoting the ILC
16. The three major economic organizations in Japan (Japan Business Federation, Japan Chamber ofCommerce and Industry, and Japan Association of Corporate Executives) released a joint statement
in February 2019 supporting the realization of the ILC. The statement describes the ILC as “Asia’s
first large international facility in science and technology, which will attract a few thousand top-grade
researchers and accumulate the state-of-the-art technology from around the world.” It urges theJapanese government to “ask the relevant countries to start the international negotiations.” Theeconomic organizations continue to support the ILC.
Support from the General Public

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17. The “Committee of 100 for the ILC” was formed in June 2018, consisting of influential business andcultural people, supporting the realization of the ILC. The leading founding member is Hiroya Masuda,
former Governor of Iwate Prefecture and former Minister for Internal Affairs and Communications.
Members from the organization are making policy proposals that include the ILC as a centralcomponent. Other members are evaluating the economic significance of the ILC. One member,
Kenshi Hirokane, is a prominent manga artist, whose hit serial comic “Chairman Kosaku Shima”
recently portrayed the contemporary ILC activities surrounding the March 7 event in 9 biweekly
episodes.
18. The “ILC Supporters”, formed in April 2018, is a group of ILC enthusiasts consisting of 61 well-known
creators from various industries such as animation, video games, publishing, and entertainment
industries, and over 320,000 supporters from the general public. The founder of the organization is
Mamoru Oshii, who is renowned worldwide as the director for the “Ghost in the Shell” animated films.
The group sees the ILC as a beacon of hope that will help restore Japan’s prominence in scienceand technology.
Preparation for Environmental Assessment
19. KEK is organizing the preparation for the Environmental Assessment in the Preparation Phase andthe Implementation Phase, assisted by professionals in environmental assessment.
Evaluation of ILC’s Value from the Economic Viewpoint
20. KEK is inviting economists to evaluate from the economic effect of the ILC taking into account thesocial infrastructures and innovation effects.
Regional Revitalization and “Global Village Vision”
21. The National Land Planning Association, an auxiliary organization of the Ministry of Land,
Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, is working to formulate a vision for regional revitalization,
which takes into account the current world affairs and global challenges. The “Global Village Vision”
is a policy proposal which is built around the ILC, taking advantage of its characteristics as anaggregator of researchers regardless of their country, race, or religion, which will tackle a wide range
of issues in society that go beyond particle physics.
Regional Survey, Environmental Assessment, Site-Specific Design
22. Various surveys for the ILC have been carried out for over 10 years. Surveys in the Tohoku Region
began in earnest in 2007. During the site selection process in 2013, more surveys were performed.
Through the site selection process, the international community of scientists has selected the
Kitakami Mountains in the Tohoku Region as the most suitable candidate site for the ILC. Moredetailed surveys have been performed from 2014 onwards which provided inputs for the site-specificdesign of the ILC.
23. The Tohoku ILC Promotion Council and KEK jointly produced a site-specific design for the ILC thatsatisfies the international design of the ILC. A third-party review is currently being conducted by theJapan Society of Civil Engineers in the Committee for Rock Mechanics. The Subcommittee for the
Evaluation of the ILC Technology was set up in July 2019, which is scheduled to conclude by theend of 2019.
24. For the site-specific design of the ILC, the following items were considered.


Cost evaluation was performed for the access tunnels, accelerator tunnels, experimental hall,and drainage tunnels. Studies were performed such as the field survey and conceptual designof the interaction point, the relation between tunnel depth and seismic motion, the inclination ofaccess tunnels, vertical access shafts for experiments, and streamlining of facility structures.

The best candidates were chosen for the following three items: the accelerator tunnel’s position,

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azimuth, and altitude; site for the central interaction region; and accelerator access tunnel
positions. The optimal placement of the access tunnels and surface facilities were studied taking
into account the constraints from terrain and public roads so that the length of the access tunnels
becomes minimum.
Concrete designs were made for electricity, air conditioning and ventilation, water supply anddrainage, cooling water facilities, and the placement of relevant surface and undergroundfacilities. Conceptual designs and cost estimation were performed for the power distribution
systems and the energy flow of the underground tunnels, including backends such as cooling
towers, which contributed to the revised ILC design (2017) by providing data via KEK and LCC.



Concerning cryomodules and related components, the processes of receiving, testing, storing,and installing into the tunnels were studied taking into account the actual quantities andschedule of domestic and overseas production for the ILC. Potential issues and measures werestudied concerning non-accelerator components, detectors, and computing, in terms of thescale of preparation needed in the inland and seaport areas around the candidate site.

25. The geological conditions of the candidate ILC construction area were studied using electromagnetic
survey (for rock fractures) and elastic-wave survey (for rock hardness) along the entire length of 20
km. The results showed that hard bedrock spans in the underground area. Hydrological surveys
were also performed in order to collect basic information such as the underground waterflow at rivercrossing points.
26. In the Tohoku Region, basic surveys were performed during 2013-2014 in preparation for theenvironmental impact assessment. The impact of the ILC construction on the natural environment
was evaluated taking into account the necessary electric power, excavation volume, and safety ofthe beam dumps.
27. The locations for the ILC central campus and the base camp for preparing the construction are being
studied in the Tohoku Region by request from the LCC. The Tohoku side has proposed an ex-factory
site, previously owned by NEC Corporation, located next to the Ichinoseki Station for the Shinkansenbullet train, to be used as the site for the base camp. Other facilities including the division of the
facility functions are currently being studied.
Various surveys and preparations performed in the Tohoku Region
Facility placement plan (surface access points; interaction point)
Facilities
Site-specific civil engineering design and cost evaluation
Site-specific facility design and cost evaluation
Seismic survey; electromagnetic survey; boring survey; aerial laser
survey; lineament survey; rock tests; chemical analysis
Hydrological survey
Construction
Microtremor survey
Road traffic vibration survey; fluvial vibration survey
Transport survey (seaport; roads)
Infrastructure
Electric power survey
Clean water and industrial water survey
Land utilization survey
Land ownership survey
Environmental
Natural environment survey
Assessment
Social infrastructure survey
Synergy with local governments’ policymaking
RegionCentral campus and base camp for construction preparation
28. The necessary regional initiatives have been studied and identified, such as social infrastructures,
regional characteristics, and readiness in accepting newcomers. It is assumed that their

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implementation will be shared by the ILC Laboratory, the local governments, and the private sector.
Necessary initiatives in the local region for the ILC
Residence andAccommodation booking; assistance for residence finding andaccommodationleasing contracts; etc.
Childcare andDaycare centers with international support; building new
educationinternational schools; etc.
Healthcare and
Healthcare services with international support; assistance for
insuranceenrolling in medical insurance; etc.
Daily support
Creating one-stop service centers with international support; etc.
Finance and payment
Ease of opening a bank account for non-Japanese; increase
convenience; etc.
Daily transportation
Commuting buses to the ILC Laboratory; assistance in obtaining
driver’s license; etc.
Shopping and dining
Local supermarket with international support; etc.
Culture andExpanding recreational facilities; etc.
entertainment
Visa and residency
Simplifying procedures for residence status; etc.
statusEmployment andAssistance for finding jobs for family members of researchers; etc.
participation
Increasing Public Awareness29. In Tohoku Region, promotional activities aimed at increasing the awareness of the project are actively
being held targeting elementary and middle school students and adults. The attendance of public
lectures and other events amounts to a total of over 10,000 people every year. Concerning informing
the public about potential risks, lectures and briefings are held and information handouts are
distributed on this subject. Nationwide events are held and promotions at overseas conferences arecarried out to increase the awareness both in and out of the country.
30. Some oppositions to the project exist. A civilian group wrote letters to the Science Council of Japan’s
ILC Evaluation Committee, citing concerns about the risk of tritium produced in the beam dumps.
Efforts to increase the understanding of risk management have since been further strengthened, withbriefings specializing in risk management being held on a bimonthly basis.
31. Organizations promoting the ILC have recently produced a joint promotional video to increase thepublic awareness of the project. A nationwide distribution is coordinated through handing out media
discs and via websites and social networking sites.
Acknowledgments
32. The preparation of this document was supported in part by material contributed by Iwate Prefectural
Government, Ichinoseki City Municipal Office, and Tohoku ILC Promotion Council.