Outside a small town in Gifu Prefecture is a little-known scientific research establishment engaged in a project to "create a sun on the Earth." If successful, this venture will profoundly affect the lives of most people in the world.
The National Institute for Fusion Science (NIFS) is a collection of buildings on the tree-covered hillsides surrounding the town of Toki.
It houses the Large Helical Device (LHD), which cost ¥50 billion to make and is the only one of its kind in the world. The machine is designed to replicate fusion, the nuclear reaction that powers the sun. Once this is achieved, it will herald the end of humanity's dependence on fossil fuels and begin an era of cheap and limitless energy.
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