Hiroaki Aihara, vice-president of the University of Tokyo and others involved with the ILC in Japan held a press session in Tokyo on January 23rd to talk about the Federation of Diet Members for the ILC’s visit to Europe. Mr. Aihara called on the national government, saying, “It is crucial that a decision is made in the next 1-2 years.”

The Advanced Accelerator Association Promoting Science and Technology (AAA) held the session, with was attended by Mr. Aihara as well as his colleague, specially-appointed Professor Satoru Yamashita of the International Center for Elementary Particle Physics of the University of Tokyo.

Mr. Aihara explained, “The European side has been publically supporting the ILC for a while now, but they feel that Japan has done nothing. If we don’t show our intentions within the next 1-2 years, then the European side won’t get involved any more. They will not be able to sustain the organization that has been promoting the project.”

The costs of the project, which had been an impediment to its realization, will likely be greatly reduced thanks to the shrinking of the ILC’s initial length. Mr. Aihara stressed that, “construction costs for the accelerator will be about 500 billion yen, and the national government must make a decision.”

The Japanese national government is currently deliberating on whether to bring the ILC to the country, but Mr Aihara said, “Politicians must share their vision that the ILC is worth investing in. There has never been a project that has been this supported by the federation of Diet members. It all comes down to whether they can convey their vision to the top of government and get them to share their point of view.”