The content of the course consisted of a comprehensive lecture giving a bird’s-eye view of a society that utilizes hydrogen energy‚ and lectures covering the respective fields of “producing‚” “storing and transporting‚” and “utilizing” hydrogen. The lecturers were drawn from universities‚ government offices (state‚ prefectural‚ and municipal)‚ and businesses. The participants seem to have gained even more than they had hoped from the course thanks to lectures which covered global trends in the use of hydrogen energy and the latest technological trends in Japan‚ and field trips to many R&D and demonstration facilities. Even before they came to Japan‚ many of the participants were looking forward to visiting the demonstration facility in Namie-machi‚ Fukushima Prefecture. In addition‚ at the Great East Japan Earthquake and Nuclear Disaster Memorial Museum in Futaba Town‚ they learned about the reality of a serious disaster and were reminded of the importance of disaster prevention in energy facilities. Many of the participants are in charge of formulating their country’s hydrogen strategies‚ and they had a very strong desire to learn. There was an endless flow of questions at the lectures and field trip briefings‚ and we often saw participants following the lecturer afterwards to ask additional questions. The lecturers told me how fulfilling they had found it to teach such a responsive group.

The participants seem to have gained a great deal of information and insights concerning the characteristics and potential of a society that utilizes hydrogen energy‚ and about the challenges that must be overcome. Based on the results of their training‚ at the end of the course each participant compiled an action plan on topics such as export of green hydrogen that takes advantage of the country's renewable energy potential and the characteristics of its industrial structure‚ and administrative measures (education‚ support‚ and guidance) aimed at realizing a hydrogen energy society.

Many of the participants were positive and cheerful‚ and by the end of the training course they were like one big family. I have high hopes of their activities going forward aimed at creating a society which utilizes hydrogen energy.