TOKYO - The governor of Hiroshima Prefecture and the mayor of Nagasaki City have voiced opposition to Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's attempt to revise the Three Non-Nuclear Principles, a day after the governors of Okinawa and Nagasaki prefectures expressed similar concerns.

Hiroshima Governor Hidehiko Yuzaki told a press conference on Tuesday that Hiroshima was the first city in human history to be hit by an atomic bomb, and the long-standing Three Non-Nuclear Principles should be upheld.

Yuzaki stated that relying on nuclear weapons for security is dangerous, and the government should strive to seek a way out of nuclear deterrence.

Nagasaki Mayor Shiro Suzuki also told the press on Tuesday that Takaichi's attempt to revise the Three Non-Nuclear Principles would intensify Japan's reliance on nuclear deterrence. The principles have long been regarded as a national policy, and it is imperative to strongly demand that the government adhere to them.

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The Three Non-Nuclear Principles, not possessing, not producing and not allowing the introduction of nuclear weapons into Japanese territory, were first declared in the Diet, Japan's parliament, by then Japanese Prime Minister Eisaku Sato in 1967 and viewed as a national credo.

The national security strategy, one of the three security documents approved by the Cabinet in 2022, states, "The basic policy of adhering to the Three Non-Nuclear Principles will remain unchanged in the future."

However, Japanese media recently quoted government sources as saying that as her government gears up to revise the country's key national security documents by the end of 2026, Takaichi was considering reviewing the third of The Three Non-Nuclear Principles, which prohibits nuclear weapons from entering Japan's territory, raising strong doubts and concerns at home.