Moving ahead with new ideas and a new framework

　In April 2013, we will hold the CHIKYU +10 International Workshop relating to the CHIKYU planning for the next ten years. With around 300 researchers attending, we will discuss the future research, and specifically research using the riser drilling system, to be carried out with the CHIKYU.

　Themes for the CHIKYU+10 workshop include Active Faults, Earth's Mantle, Deep Life, Continent Formation, Sediment Secrets, as well as blue sky areas. These are all large and important themes, and researchers will surely all contribute optimum candidate drilling sites for the advancement of the research into these areas. The CHIKYU engineers will also participate in this workshop, and they will confirm what kind of equipment and technologies will be required from the ship to achieve the tasks contributed by the researchers. This exchange between researchers and engineers will also lead to the mutual sharing of information.

　I expect young researchers especially to gather at the CHIKYU+10 workshop. New worlds should open up by having a cross-cutting approach and not limiting ourselves to the traditional specialist fields. I think that the gathering of researchers from a variety of fields relating to the CHIKYU will enable us to have flexible discussions and interchanges.

　The CHIKYU aims at science that so far hasn’t been part of the framework, and is a ship where that is possible. Research and technology that lead to breakthroughs are essential to progress in science, and that is truly where CHIKYU’s role lies.

　What we aim for is top research. It is to that end that we want to move our activities forward further still.