Japan May Consider Review of 3 Nonnuclear Principles

Tokyo, Jan. 4 (Jiji Press)–Japan’s government and ruling coalition may consider a possible review of the country’s three nonnuclear principles during work to update its three key national security-related documents within this year. The principles prevent Japan from possessing, producing or letting in nuclear weapons. As Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, who has been negative about the rule of not permitting the entry of nuclear arms into the country, is eager for the review, the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and its coalition partner, the Japan Innovation Party, have also shown readiness to consider a possible revision. Heated discussions are expected, however, with some in the government opposing changing the nonnuclear principles, which Japan, the only country in the world to have been attacked with nuclear weapons, has firmly maintained as a key national policy. At a parliamentary debate among political party leaders last November, Tetsuo Saito, chief of Komeito, the LDP’s former ruling coalition partner and now in the opposition camp, urged Takaichi to withdraw her intention to review the nonnuclear principles. In response, Takaichi, also LDP president, only explained the current situation, saying that “we are firmly maintaining the principles” and that “I have never clearly ordered a review of them,” while refraining from stating that the government “will continue to maintain” or “will not review” the nonnuclear principles. Saito has been elected to the House of Representatives, the lower chamber of the Diet, Japan’s parliament, from a constituency covering part of the western city of Hiroshima, which was flattened by a U.S. atomic bomb in August 1945 in the closing days of World War II. The three nonnuclear principles were announced in 1967 by then Prime Minister Eisaku Sato at a parliamentary session and effectively adopted as a national policy partly through a Lower House resolution in 1971. Later administrations have maintained the nonnuclear principles. The government’s National Security Strategy, which was adopted by the cabinet in 2022, also stipulates that “Japan will adhere to the basic policy of…observing the three nonnuclear principles.” Meanwhile, Takaichi has been skeptical about the principle of not letting in nuclear weapons since before her inauguration as prime minister last October. In her book published in 2024, Takaichi wrote that the principle of not letting in nuclear weapons is not realistic. Takaichi also revealed in the book that during the work to compile the National Security Strategy, she, as a cabinet minister at the time, requested that the phrase calling for the adherence to the nonnuclear principles should not be included in the strategy but that the request was not accepted because the matter fell outside of her jurisdiction. The prime minister’s intention has been unofficially conveyed to the government and the ruling parties. Itsunori Onodera, chairman of the LDP’s Research Commission on Security, who is in charge of the update work for the three national security documents, including the National Security Strategy, has said that the three nonnuclear principles are “one of the issues that need to be discussed.” Seiji Maehara, head of the JIP’s national security research commission, expressed understanding, saying, “It is important to conduct a thorough examination.” A senior government official even said, “Japan should possess nuclear weapons,” a comment that provoked a fierce backlash from groups of hibakusha atomic bomb survivors. The Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations, or Nihon Hidankyo, the winner of the 2024 Nobel Peace Prize, said, “Nuclear weapons should never be allowed.” Against the background, opposition parties are increasingly cautious about the calls seeking a review of the nonnuclear principles, with Yoshihiko Noda, leader of the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, saying, “The principles should be maintained.” The Democratic Party for the People has called for level-headed discussions. When the now-defunct Democratic Party of Japan, a predecessor of the CDP, was in power, then Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada, now a member of the CDP, indicated the possibility of tolerating the entry of nuclear weapons into Japan as an exceptional case, saying, “If a situation occurs in which the country’s safety cannot be protected unless a port call of (a vessel carrying) nuclear weapons is permitted, the administration at the time will make a decision by staking its fate.” As Sino-Japanese relations have rapidly deteriorated due to Takaichi’s parliamentary remark last November regarding a possible Taiwan contingency, China is starting to criticize Japan over the possibility of reviewing the nonnuclear principles. The bilateral relationship could worsen further if Japan launches discussions on a review of the nonnuclear principles. Under the circumstances, some LDP lawmakers are skeptical about the wisdom of talking about the matter. A party member who previously served as a cabinet minister said, “Is it meaningful to hold such discussions?” END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]