Japan's Hiroshima on Thursday marked the 81st anniversary of the U.S. atomic bombing of the city. On the day and the day before, local residents held rallies to protest dangerous nuclear-related moves by the government of Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and call for upholding pacifist principles.
Analysts point out that Japan has always cast itself as the world's "only country to have suffered atomic bombings," and cultivated an "anti-nuclear" image. In reality, however, the country's right-wing forces have long harbored nuclear ambitions.
Today, Japan is increasingly testing red lines, seeking to acquire nuclear capabilities, either directly or by other means, which poses serious risks to regional peace and stability and warrants heightened vigilance from the international community.
TAKAICHI ADMINISTRATION'S HYPOCRISY ON NUCLEAR ISSUES
Every year, Japan's Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the very cities that suffered atomic devastation at the end of World War II, hold memorial ceremonies to mourn the victims.
At such events, Japanese officials often highlight the country's own tragic sufferings and express deep abhorrence of nuclear weapons, while rarely acknowledging Japan's wartime aggression or the reasons the atomic bombs were dropped.
Takaichi employed the same rhetoric at the Hiroshima ceremony on Thursday. In her address, she said the tragedies "must never be repeated" and "Japan upholds the Three Non-Nuclear Principles." She also claimed that "as the only country to have experienced the horror of nuclear devastation in war," Japan has "a mission to persevere in its efforts to realize a world free of nuclear weapons."
Ironically, since Takaichi took office in October last year, her government has repeatedly tested the boundaries on the issue of nuclear armament, seeking to revise the Three Non-Nuclear Principles and even possess nuclear weapons.
In November last year, Japanese media reported that the Takaichi administration was considering revising the Three Non-Nuclear Principles of not possessing, not producing and not permitting the introduction of nuclear weapons into Japanese territory when it revises the country's three key national security documents by the end of this year.
The following month, a senior official who advises Takaichi on security policy declared that "Japan should possess nuclear weapons."
In June this year, the Japan Innovation Party (JIP), the junior coalition partner of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), submitted a proposal to the government on revising the country's three security documents.
The proposal called for making a "realistic review" of the principle of "not permitting the introduction of nuclear weapons into Japan," including possible revisions, and urged the government to begin discussions on nuclear sharing.
In July, Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi publicly said Japan should discuss nuclear-related policies "without taboo."
The Takaichi government has also been testing the waters on nuclear-powered submarines.
In October last year, Koizumi said Japan would "not rule out any options" for the propulsion systems of its next-generation submarines, signaling a possible introduction of nuclear-powered submarines.
The JIP also urged the government in its June recommendations to quickly introduce such vessels.
Analysts say the Takaichi administration has exposed its hypocrisy: while casting Japan as a victim of the atomic bombings, it continues to challenge the Three Non-Nuclear Principles and push the boundaries toward acquiring nuclear capabilities.
PERSISTENT NUCLEAR AMBITIONS
Japan's nuclear ambitions are nothing new. Among successive LDP administrations, there has been no shortage of leaders who supported nuclear armament, with Nobusuke Kishi, Eisaku Sato and Shinzo Abe being typical examples.
In 1957, Kishi, then prime minister, said in response to questions in the Diet, Japan's parliament, that the view that Japan would be in breach of the constitution as long as it possessed so-called nuclear weapons amounted to an "overinterpretation" of the country's pacifist constitution. His remarks were seen as advocating Japan's right to possess small-scale nuclear weapons for "self-defense."
In 1967, Sato, then prime minister, stated the Three Non-Nuclear Principles, for which he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1974. Yet as early as 1960, Japan and the United States had reached a secret agreement allowing U.S. nuclear-armed warships to call at Japanese ports.
During Sato's tenure, Japan also made another secret agreement with the United States in 1969, under which Washington could continue to bring nuclear weapons into Okinawa even after returning the islands to Japanese administration.
This meant that Sato violated the Three Non-Nuclear Principles not long after he himself had proposed them, rendering his Nobel Peace Prize wholly undeserved.
During its time in power, the LDP had consistently denied the existence of such secret pacts. It was not until the government of former Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama of the Democratic Party of Japan released the findings of an investigation in 2010 that the LDP was forced to acknowledge them.
In 2002, Kishi's grandson Abe, then deputy chief cabinet secretary, told the Diet that as long as it did not exceed the minimum necessary level of self-defense, the possession of weapons -- whether nuclear or conventional -- would not be unconstitutional. His argument was strikingly similar to Kishi's position decades earlier.
After the outbreak of the Ukraine crisis in 2022, Abe, who had already stepped down as prime minister, again argued that "nuclear sharing" should no longer be regarded as taboo and that Japan should discuss the matter with the United States.
As Abe's longtime ally and a staunch adherent to his political agenda, Takaichi has long openly advocated revising the Three Non-Nuclear Principles.
Analysts say the Takaichi administration's series of moves on nuclear-related issues is a manifestation of the long-standing nuclear ambitions of Japan's right-wing forces.
VIGILANCE NEEDED AS NUCLEAR TABOO ERODES
Since Takaichi took office, Japan has accelerated its push toward remilitarization. It has deployed missiles with "enemy base strike capabilities," conducted overseas tests of offensive missiles, accelerated the development of hypersonic weapons and lifted restrictions on exports of lethal weapons.
Taken together, these moves represent a steady departure from Japan's long-standing principle of "exclusively defense-oriented policy."
The growing calls for Japan to consider nuclear options should not be viewed in isolation. Rather, they are part of the same trajectory of military expansion pursued by the Takaichi administration, analysts said.
Sun Zhenggang, a Chinese scholar based in Japan, believes that major shifts in Japan's security policy typically follow a pattern in which politicians first raise an issue, experts conduct studies, the ruling party builds consensus, and the government eventually incorporates the policy into official documents.
Takaichi's step-by-step testing of the boundaries on nuclear issues indicates an intention to break through traditional taboos in Japan's security policy, Sun said.
Japan is widely regarded as a nuclear-threshold state. It has accumulated a substantial stockpile of plutonium far exceeding what is needed for civilian purposes, while possessing the technological capability to develop nuclear weapons.
Should Japan acquire nuclear weapons or develop nuclear capabilities by other means, it would have a profound impact on peace and security in the region.
Opposition to the Takaichi administration's nuclear-related moves has emerged across Japan, including from local governments, media organizations and civil society groups.
According to statistics from the Japanese Diet, at least 128 local assemblies across the country had submitted written opinions to the central government or parliament between Takaichi's inauguration on Oct. 21 last year and July 28 this year, calling for the country's Three Non-Nuclear Principles to be upheld.
Japanese media outlets have also voiced strong concerns. The Asahi Shimbun has published multiple editorials warning about the dangers of the Takaichi administration's nuclear-related rhetoric and actions, arguing that any revision of the non-nuclear principles would send a dangerous signal to neighboring countries.
The Tokyo Shimbun recently said in an editorial that revising the Three Non-Nuclear Principles would only exacerbate regional tensions.
In Nagasaki, 32 civil society organizations issued a joint statement on Tuesday calling for the Three Non-Nuclear Principles to remain unchanged, stressing that breaking the nuclear taboo would only make Japan more dangerous.
The voices of ordinary Japanese people are equally revealing.
On Thursday, in Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park, a Japanese citizen named Nishimoto expressed dissatisfaction with Takaichi to Xinhua. "She says one thing in public, but what she really thinks and what she actually does are completely different. I don't trust her at all."
