Lecture by the President of the Republic of Chile

A Lecture by the President of the Republic of Chile was held at the University of Tokyo, Yayoi Auditorium, Ichijo Hall on March 28th, 2012.

At the end of March, the Chilean President Sebastián Piňera Echenique visited Japan for the summit meeting and gave a lecture at the University of Tokyo. About three hundred people including ambassadors of fifteen South American countries and staffs and students of the University of Tokyo participated in the lecture.
Before the lecture, the President hold talks with Jun-ichi Hamada (the president of the University of Tokyo), Yoichiro Matsumoto (the vice-president and board member), Masako Egawa (board member), and Fumio Isoda (board member) at the conference room of the Yayoi Auditorium.

Bulletin of the lecture by the President of the Republic of Chile and information exchange party

Lecture by the Chilean President

The main topic of the lecture was economics which is a speciality of the President. Especially, he emphasized a strong presence of Chile in South America and also in the world and importance of close cooperation with Japan for Chilean economics, mutual cooperation between Chile and Japan, and its development in future. He also mentioned the TAO project is playing a prominent role for science and education in Chile and Japan.

▲The Chilean President Sebastáin Piňera Echenique	▲The lecture of the President Piňera

Following the lecture by the President, a question-and-answer session was held. After the President walked out, three lectures closely related to Chile were given. These studies are expected to develop in a closer cooperation.

"Big Earthquakes and Tsunamis in Chile" Prof. Kenji Satake (Earthquake Research Institute, The University of Tokyo) In 1960 and 2010, tsunamis by big earthquakes in Chile caused damages to Japan through the Pacific Ocean. According to historical records, big earthquakes occurred about every 120 years in the southern part of Chile. Recently especially big earthquakes among those earthquakes were found to occur about every 300 years by examining old earthquake records. M9-class earthquakes such as Great East Japan Earthquake have a long interval and it is important to investigate historical records all over the world, including Chile and Japan.

"Introduction of Industry of Non-Ferrous Metal in Chile" Prof. Toru Okabe (Institute of Industrial Science, The University of Tokyo) Non-ferrous metal resources are rich in the Republic of Chile and Japan imports a lot of mineral resources from Chile. In this talk, I introduce the current status of the world-largest mine, Chuquicamata, and copper (and molybdenum) smelter, Atacama salt lake (Lithum), and Chilean niter based on experience of the speaker.

"The Tokyo Atacama Observatory Project" Prof. Yuzuru Yoshii (School of Science, The University of Tokyo) 5640-meter Cerro Chajnantor in the Atacama desert in Northern Chile is a special place equipped with the world-best conditions for infrared astronomical observation. We started the site analysis in 2002 and have proceeded the TAO (The University of Tokyo Atacama Observatory) project which will construct a new 6.5-meter telescope at the summit of the Cerro Chajnantor and reveal the latest astronomical mysteries such as the nature of dark energy and the origin of galaxies and planets. In 2009, we built the 1-meter mini-TAO infrared telescope as a pathfinder and opened the world-highest observatory. On behalf of the TAO project, I will describe the road taken to get here, the latest observational results with the miniTAO telescope, the concept of the future 6.5-meter telescope, and interchanges with Chilean people over 10 years.

Information exchange party

Following the lecture, the information exchange party was held at the Yayoi Auditorium, Annex. Many university staffs and students including the board members Masako Egawa and Fumio Isoda participated in the party. Three lectures over different topics were done and active information exchange and discussion about Chile-related issues were also done. This party gave valuable and important opportunity to communicate among people with various backgrounds including people outside the university and continuous holding this kind of party would provide further development of researches.

▲Information exchange party	▲Associate Professor Jun-ichi Shimoyama
▲Professor Ken Furuya	▲Assistant Professor Yoichi Tamura

The lecture was introduced at the website of President's Office of the Republic of Chile.

• President gave a master class at the University of Tokyo

FYI: You can see more details about the lecture and party on the websites below.

• The University of Tokyo ARCHIVE 2012: Visit of Chilean President Piňera
• School of Science, The University of Tokyo: Lecture by the President of the Republic of Chile