Japan nuclear arms remark sparks outcry

Opposition mounted across Japan after a government official involved in formulating security policy under Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi stated that the country should possess nuclear weapons.

While the official has been urged to step down, experts said the call for Japan's nuclear armament runs counter to the country's long-standing Three Non-Nuclear Principles — not possessing, not producing and not permitting the introduction of nuclear weapons into Japanese territory — in line with its Peace Constitution.

They warned such remarks could heighten security risks and unsettle Japan's long-established security policy and international positioning.

On Tuesday, the Japan NGO Network for Nuclear Weapons Abolition, comprising atomic bomb survivors and civic groups, protested and submitted a written request to the Foreign Ministry, addressed to Takaichi and Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi, urging the government to clearly reaffirm its commitment to the principles. A similar request was also submitted to the Defense Ministry.

Yoshihiko Noda, leader of Japan's Constitutional Democratic Party, on Monday urged Takaichi to replace the official who advocated nuclear weapons, saying the appointment itself was flawed and that responsibility lay with those who made it.

The same day, the Hiroshima Prefectural Assembly unanimously adopted a statement expressing concern over any review of the Three Non-Nuclear Principles, Kyodo News reported. The statement said Japan, as the only country to have suffered atomic bombings, has a duty to continue striving for a world without nuclear weapons.

Kyodo said this marked the first written opinion by the Hiroshima or Nagasaki prefectural or city assemblies on reconsidering the principles.

Hiroshi Shiratori, a professor of political science at Hosei University in Tokyo, told China Daily that calls for Japan to acquire nuclear weapons are unlikely to gain broad acceptance, given the country's history as the only nation to have suffered atomic bomb attacks.

Such a move would raise serious moral and historical concerns, Shiratori said. Coming after the Nobel Peace Prize awarded last year to atomic bomb survivors' groups in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, any debate on nuclear armament would be widely seen as a fundamental departure from the Three Non-Nuclear Principles and from Japan's identity as a peace-oriented country.

It is essential for policymakers to heed the voices of communities affected by the atomic bombings, he said. A marked rise in nuclear-related remarks since the Takaichi administration took office in October suggests a "deeply concerning" shift in defense policy, he added.

If Japan were to set a precedent by moving closer to nuclear weapons, it could undermine the global nonproliferation system and encourage other countries to follow suit, he said.

Preemptive attack

Ukeru Magosaki, director of the East Asian Community Institute and a former senior Foreign Ministry official, said that while changes in the global security environment may prompt nonnuclear states to develop deterrent capabilities, Japan acquiring nuclear weapons would instead increase the risk of a preemptive attack.

Former prime minister Shigeru Ishiba said on a TV program on Saturday that acquiring nuclear weapons would force Japan to withdraw from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and the International Atomic Energy Agency, undermining its nuclear energy policy and bringing no benefit to Japan.