Takaichi Sidesteps Pledge on Japan's 3 Nonnuclear Principles at Hiroshima as Security Review Looms
Updated
Updated · Kyodo News Plus · Aug 6
Takaichi Sidesteps Pledge on Japan's 3 Nonnuclear Principles at Hiroshima as Security Review Looms
3 articles · Updated · Kyodo News Plus · Aug 6
Summary
At Hiroshima's 81st atomic bombing anniversary, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi stopped short of explicitly promising to maintain Japan's three nonnuclear principles, saying only that the government is "upholding" them.
Takaichi said it was premature to discuss final wording because Tokyo is revising key national security documents by year-end, while repeating her call for "realistic and practical" steps toward a world without nuclear weapons.
Opposition leaders and atomic bomb survivors said her remarks lacked a firm commitment, warning that debate over revising the principles or pursuing U.S. nuclear-sharing runs against Hiroshima's message.
Japan has not joined the 2021 Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, arguing a total ban conflicts with its reliance on U.S. nuclear deterrence and favoring the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty framework instead.