While Japan’s KEK laboratory was celebrating the achievements of its B-factory, just 70 km away in Tokai, the official inauguration of the Japan Proton Accelerator Research Complex (J-PARC; formerly called the Japan Hadron Facility) was taking place. This is a joint project between KEK and the Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute.
An inaugural lecture on the scope of science in the 21st century was given by former University of Tokyo president Akito Arima, who was also Japanese Minister of Education, Science, Sports and Culture. J-PARC project director Shoji Nagamiya described the status of the project. Funding for J-PARC was secured in 2001, and construction began in June 2002.
