Japan breaks its taboo on nuclear weapons

The anti-nuclear consensus that has defined Japan for almost six decades has begun to crack. A senior cabinet official Prime Minister Sanae TakaichiAn advisor on national security policy stated to several local media outlets that the country "should possess nuclear weapons." This personal opinion, despite being labeled "unrealistic" in the short term, has reopened an extremely sensitive debate in the only country in the world to have been the victim of atomic attacks during wartime. The statements come at a time of heightened geopolitical tension in East Asia and coincide with the ongoing review of the national security strategy promoted by the Takaichi administration, known for its hardline defense stances and its close ties to the most hardline sectors of US security policy. Although the government officially insists that it remains committed to the three anti-nuclear principles—not possessing, not producing, and not allowing the entry of nuclear weapons—the ambiguity of the rhetoric and the internal debate have triggered political, social, and diplomatic alarm bells.

The debate touches a deep and very sensitive nerve in Japanese society: Hiroshima and Nagasaki caused more than 200,000 deaths and left a lasting mark on several generations. That traumatic experience crystallized in the postwar period into a broad consensus against atomic weapons, intimately linked to the pacifist Constitution of 1947 and the desire to project Japan as a civilian power committed to peace and disarmament.

This consensus was institutionalized in 1967, when Prime Minister Eisaku Sato proclaimed in Parliament "the three non-nuclear principles," which over the years became a true national creed. Sato, awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1974, defended them at the height of the Cold War, while Japan relied on the United States' nuclear deterrence for its security. However, today the hardening strategic environment—with China bolstering its arsenal, North Korea advancing its nuclear program, and Russia increasing military pressure—is once again putting that balance under strain, pitting historical memory against new security doctrines.

Should nuclear weapons be allowed into Japan?

As early as mid-November, government sources asserted that Takaichi had no intention of revising the principles of not producing or possessing nuclear weapons. However, these same sources admitted the executive branch's concern regarding the third principle, which prohibits the entry of nuclear weapons into the country. According to this view, strictly adhering to it could hinder the entry of nuclear-capable US ships into Japanese ports and, in a regional crisis, weaken the credibility of the alliance's deterrence with Washington. This approach has provoked an immediate reaction from the survivors of the atomic bombings, organized in Nihon Hidankyo, who will be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2024. In a statement, the group "strongly protested" against any attempt to revise a policy they consider... hibakusha They warn that allowing the entry of nuclear weapons would turn the country into a potential base for nuclear war and, at the same time, a direct target of an attack, breaking decades of commitment to disarmament and the memory of the victims of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Two former prime ministers have also joined the criticism, warning of the political and symbolic risk of the shift hinted at by the current government. Fumio Kishida, from the same Liberal Democratic Party as Takaichi, recalled that the three anti-nuclear principles constitute a state policy, upheld by governments of different political stripes, and that he himself defended them unequivocally during his term.

Along the same lines, Yoshihiko Noda of the center-left Constitutional Democratic Party called for the advisor's resignation and denounced the growing unease among citizens regarding the direction of the current head of government's cabinet, asserting that he will continue to demand that the government respect a national consensus that cannot be...

At stake is not only a military doctrine, but also the moral narrative upon which Japan has built its postwar identity.