Minister Lawless completes mission in Japan
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From: Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science
- Published on: 29 July 2025
- Last updated on: 29 July 2025
Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science James Lawless today completed an intensive two-day programme in Japan visiting Tokyo, Kobe and Osaka. The focus of this visit was to promote Ireland's growing international reputation as a leading hub of research and innovation, open to partnerships between Ireland and Japan, both at a bilateral level and under the EU Framework Programme, Horizon Europe.
The Tokyo leg of the visit featured a meeting with Mr Minoru Kiuchi, Minister of State for Science and Technology Policy. The Ministers discussed their respective research and innovation systems and priorities as well as existing and potential Ireland-Japan research and innovation engagement.
Minister Lawless also met with Mr Kazuhito Hashimoto, President of the Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST) and also discussed the potential to deepen Ireland-Japan collaborations.
In Kobe, Minister Lawless visited RIKEN, Japan’s largest research centre for basic and applied science and a world leader in a diverse array of scientific disciplines. RIKEN is also the home of the world’s fastest supercomputer, FUGAKU.
Minister Lawless said:
“Japan is a country at the leading edge of technology and economic innovation and our mission there represented a unique opportunity to engage with their world-class researchers and innovators. Japan is also home to the fastest supercomputer in the world, an incredibly exciting machine which enables calculations at a scale the world has never seen before. Our aim is to emulate this type of infrastructure in Ireland to help ensure our competitiveness in research and development.”
Minister Lawless concluded his visit with an appearance at World EXPO 2025. He visited the Ireland Pavilion where he took part in an Ireland Japan Young Scientists Exchange event featuring the winning teams of the 2025 BT Young Scientist competition:
“I was delighted to meet with the Young Scientist winners here at World Expo 25 in Osaka, where the Ireland Pavilion is hosting an Ireland-Japan Young Scientists Exchange event. I have constantly referred to the importance of curiosity in our education system, and this is always apparent in the Young Scientist exhibition. I am hugely impressed by the ingenuity evident in the winning projects and the consistent high standard across a range of disciplines is contributing to Ireland’s reputation as a location of excellence for scientific research and innovation.”
Minister Lawless travels to Singapore tomorrow for further engagements there before arriving back in Ireland early Wednesday morning.