US President Log 3 / Obama meets Japanese students at science museum on April 24
Tokyo, April 24, 2014, 3:00 pm –
President Obama arrived at National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation (Miraikan) at 3 pm
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(Background information provided by the White House)
President Obama and Ambassador Caroline Kennedy will tour the National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation together with Dr. Mamoru Mohri, chief executive director of Miraikan.
The tour will begin with a pre-recorded message from the International Space Station highlighting U.S.-Japan cooperation in space.
Koichi Wakata, commander of the International Space Station, will be delivering the message together with Steve Swanson, an American flight engineer, and Rick Mastracchio, also an American flight engineer.
Following the message, Dr. Mohri will introduce President Obama to the Geo-Cosmos, Miraikan’s signature exhibit, where Japanese Astronaut Soichi Noguchi will be on hand to explain the latest NASA-JAXA collaboration: the Global Precipitation Measurement satellite (GPM).
GPM is an advanced earth-observation satellite that is capturing never-before-seen precipitation measurements. One student from Tokyo Institute of Technology and another from Tokyo University of Science will join this interaction.
Escorted by Dr. Mohri, President Obama and Ambassador Kennedy will view a demonstration of ASIMO, Honda’s humanoid robot. Speaking in English, ASIMO will welcome the President to Miraikan before running across the room and kicking a soccer ball.
A student from International Christian University and another from Tokyo Institute of Technology will join the robot demonstration.
The President and Ambassador Kennedy also will see the SCHAFT robot and meet its designers. SCHAFT is based on Japanese technology and received initial funding from Japanese investors.
The United States Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) later funded SCHAFT to participate in the DARPA Robotics Challenge, where it received first prize in the most recent trial in Florida in December 2013. A short video showcasing SCHAFT’s capabilities was also on display. SCHAFT was developed to assist with disaster response.
After the robot demonstration, President Obama and Ambassador Kennedy will also view a demonstration from four students from Tamagawa Academy’s robot club. In March 2014, the club’s robots won the RoboCup Junior Japan, a robot soccer competition.
Following the tour, President Obama will deliver remarks to an audience of 30 students highlighting U.S.-Japan science cooperation and the importance of studying abroad. Also joining the remarks will be Dr. Yasuharu Suematsu and Dr. C. David Allis, winners of this year’s Japan Prize.
(End of Background)
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After the recorded message from the astronauts, President Obama examined a vast globe strung from the ceiling on which was projected a computerized representation of the swirling precipitation patterns mentioned in the previous report.
In the highlight of the tour, President Obama interacted with a humanoid robot which was about the size of a 10 year old child and was dressed in an astronaut suit.
The robot’s movements were eerily realistic as it went through its paces for the president.
“It’s nice to meet you,” it said in a metallic voice. At one point the robot approached a soccer ball and told the president “I can kick a soccer ball too,”
“Ok come on,” said Obama.
The robot then took a couple of steps back as if to size up the kick then ran up to the ball and delivered a hefty punt.
President Obama trapped the ball with his foot and was clearly impressed and amused by the robot
“How about that, that was pretty impressive,” he said. Then the robot told the president it had learned to jump and started to demonstrate.
Below are details of the tour guides at each stop to match pictures:
Tour Stop 1:Shu Nagata, Tokyo University of Science, Male; Runa Koizuma, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Female
Tour Stop 2:Iida Satoru, International Christian University, Male; Nao Yamamoto, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Female
Tour Stop 3: (Closed Press)Kaito Oba, Yuki Iwasaki, Arata Sakamaki, Yuki Nomura–All attend Tamagawa Academy
Following the robot demos, President Obama stopped to make remarks to some students, lauding the “incredible cooperation” in science and technology between the US and Japan.
“I have to say that the robots were a little scary, they were too lifelike. They were amazing,” he said.
“All of those exhibits, I think show the incredible breakthroughs in technology and science that are happening every single day.”
“Historically Japan and the United States have been at the cutting edge of innovation.
“Japan and the United States have historically led the way in innovations that have changed our lives and improved our lives,” he said mentioning early calculators and smart phones.
He said he was so pleased the US and Japan were renewing a 10 year agreement that makes so much technological cooperation possible. He also mentioned the agreement mentioned at the presser to send more Japanese students to the US to study.
“Young people like you have more technology and more power than even the greatest innovators of previous generations so there is no limit to what you can achieve,” Obama said.
He said he was proud of the students and counterparts in the US and asked Japanese students to go to the US.
“Gambatte kudasai — you can do this thing if you apply yourselves.”
A Japanese journalist said the Japanese phrase can be translated as “Make an effort, please.”
Motorcade rolling again.
Reported by Stephen Collinson of AFP as the White House Pool.
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REMARKS BY PRESIDENT OBAMA
TO MIRAIKAN SCIENCE AND YOUTH EXPO
Miraikan Museum, Tokyo, Japan
3:27 P.M. JST
PRESIDENT OBAMA: Konnichiwa. Please sit down. Thank you so much. Well, I want to thank Dr. Mohri and everyone at The Miraikan for welcoming me here today. And it is wonderful to see all of these outstanding students. Dr. Mohri is a veteran of two space shuttle missions, embodies the spirit that brings us here together —- the incredible cooperation in science and technology between Japan and the United States.
I want to thank all the students that I had a chance to meet with as we went around the various exhibits. We heard a message from the international space station. We saw some truly amazing robots — although I have to say the robots were a little scary. They were too lifelike. They were amazing. And these students showed me some of their experiments, including some soccer-playing robots that we just saw. And all of the exhibits I think showed the incredible breakthroughs in technology and science that are happening every single day.
And historically, Japan and the United States have been at the cutting-edge of innovation. From some of the first modern calculators decades ago to the devices that we hold in our hands today — the smartphones that I’m sure every young person here uses — Japan and the United States have often led the way in the innovations that change our lives and improve our lives.
And that’s why I’m so pleased that the United States and Japan are renewing the 10-year agreement that makes so much of our science and technology cooperation possible. Both of our societies celebrate innovation, celebrate science, celebrate technology. We’re close partners in the industries of tomorrow. And it reminds us why it’s so important for us to continue to invest in science, technology, math, engineering. These are the schools — these are the skills that students like all of you are going to need for the global economy, and that includes our talented young women.
Historically, sometimes young women have been less represented in the sciences, and one of the things that I’ve really been pushing for is to make sure that young women, just like young men, are getting trained in these fields, because we need all the talent and brainpower to solve some of the challenges that we’re going to face in the future.
Earlier today, Prime Minister Abe and I announced a new initiative to increase student exchanges, including bringing more Japanese students to the United States. So I hope you’ll come. Welcome. And it’s part of our effort to double students exchanges in the coming years. As we saw today, young people like you have at your fingertips more technology and more power than even the greatest innovators in previous generations. So there’s no limit to what you can achieve, and the United States of America wants to be your partner.
So I’m very proud to have been here today. I was so excited by what I saw. The young people here were incredibly impressive. And as one of our outstanding astronauts described, as we just are a few days after Earth Day, it’s important when we look at this globe and we think about how technology has allowed us to understand the planet that we share, and to understand not only the great possibilities but also the challenges and dangers from things like climate change — that your generation is going to help us to find answers to some of the questions that we have to answer. Whether it’s: How do we feed more people in an environment in which it’s getting warmer? How do we make sure that we’re coming up with new energy sources that are less polluting and can save our environment? How do we find new medicines that can cure diseases that take so many lives around the globe? To the robots that we saw that can save people’s lives after a disaster because they can go into places like Fukushima that it may be very dangerous for live human beings to enter into. These are all applications, but it starts with the imaginations and the vision of young people like you.
So I’m very proud of all of you and glad to see that you’re doing such great work. You have counterparts in the United States who share your excitement about technology and science. I hope you get a chance to meet them. I hope you get a chance to visit the United States. As far as I know, we don’t have one of those cool globes, but we have some other pretty neat things in the United States as well. And I hope we can share those with you if and when you come.
Thank you very much. And I just want you to know in closing that I really believe that each of you can make a difference. Gambatte kudasai. You can do this thing if you apply yourselves. Thank you. (Applause.)
END 3:33 P.M. JST
