Official’s comments decried; Tokyo urged to reaffirm peace doctrine 

Opposition mounted across Japan after a government official involved in formulating security policy under Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi reportedly said on Dec 18 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 that such remarks could heighten security risks and unsettle Japan’s long-established security policy and international positioning.

On Dec 23, the Japan non-governmental organization 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 Dec 22 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.

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.

Such a move would raise serious moral and historical concerns, Shiratori said. Coming after the Nobel Peace Prize awarded in 2024 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.

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 lead non-nuclear states to develop deterrent capabilities, Japan’s acquisition of nuclear weapons would instead increase the risk of a preemptive attack.

Meanwhile, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea denounced Japan’s reported review of the Three Non-Nuclear Principles.

State newspaper Rodong Sinmun said on Dec 18 that Japan, under Takaichi’s government, has significantly adjusted its military and security policies by increasing defense spending, strengthening preemptive strike capabilities, loosening restrictions on arms exports and even attempting to revise the Three Non-Nuclear Principles.

“This vividly demonstrates that Japan’s decades-long remilitarization efforts since its defeat in World War II have now entered a critical and dangerous stage,” it said.

Japan’s Kyodo News reported that the government is expected to revise its National Security Strategy and two other documents by the end of next year, with Takaichi considering reviewing the third of the Three Non-Nuclear Principles, which prohibits nuclear weapons from entering Japan’s territory.

The National Security Strategy, one of the three 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.” Analysts said any revision would represent a significant change in Japan’s security policy.

Contact the writers at houjunjie@chinadaily.com.cn