- President's Blog
A signing ceremony was held for the full-scale investigation of the Machu Picchu ruins.
The contract was signed by the Vice Minister of Culture of Peru, the Director of JICA Peru, and our company, Futaba.
Afterwards, each person gave a speech of about five minutes.
The team will begin traveling to Peru in earnest from around February next year, and after various discussions and coordination, from around May they plan to use drones, lasers, high-resolution cameras, and terrestrial lasers to carry out detailed 3D measurements and analysis of the entire Machu Picchu ruins, develop applications for the site, demonstrate the excavation of undiscovered ruins in the surrounding forests, and make recommendations regarding disaster prevention functions for Machu Picchu Village.
The investigation will last approximately two years, and we hope to use the experience and skills we have gained through the recovery, reconstruction, and revitalization efforts following the Great East Japan Earthquake to contribute to the preservation of Peru's heritage sites, the development of tourism content, and disaster prevention planning.
The content of my speech today is as follows:
We at Futaba would have loved to visit your country, participate in the ceremony, and shake hands with you all, but we are very disappointed that this will not be possible. We have been planning our investigation of the Machu Picchu ruins since October 2015. The impetus for this was the signing of a friendship city agreement between Machu Picchu Village and Otama Village in Fukushima Prefecture. Following the Great East Japan Earthquake and nuclear accident on March 11, 2011, the entire population of Tomioka Town, where Futaba's headquarters is located, was evacuated. At that time, Otama Village was one of the first to accept many of its residents. Since then, we have been thinking about how to repay Otama Village's kindness. Upon seeing the signing of the friendship city agreement between the two towns on October 26, 2015, we felt that preserving the Machu Picchu ruins and improving the disaster prevention capabilities of the surrounding area and Machu Picchu Village would be a way to repay Otama Village's kindness. Nearly nine years have passed since then, and we are now able to hold today's ceremony.
Through this project, we will work together with the Peruvian Ministry of Culture and the JICA Peru Office to utilize the experience and technology we have cultivated in 3D measurement, analysis, and application development, which we have cultivated through the recovery, reconstruction, and revitalization efforts following the Great East Japan Earthquake, to contribute to the sustainable preservation and discovery of archaeological sites in Peru.
We hope that this project will become a lasting collaboration for us as we work together. In doing so, we will strive to ensure that this project is not only a way to give back to Otama Village, but also an opportunity to deepen the ties between Peru and Japan. We look forward to meeting you all next year, forming a great team, and making this project go smoothly.
