Takaichi Stays Away from Pledging Non-nuclear Principles

On August 6th, Hiroshima memorized 81st anniversary of devastation brought by an atomic bombing in 1945. While local leaders accused current threatening and illegal activities of major nuclear powers in the world, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi did not directly pledge maintenance of three non-nuclear principles for the future. Hibakushas in Hiroshima found Takaichi’s weakness as the leader of only one country in the world that suffered from nuclear war. 

Mayor of Hiroshima delivers a declaration in peace memorial ceremony on August 6th every year. In 2026 Peace Declaration, Mayor Kazumi Matsui referred to “military invasion using nuclear weapons as tools of intimidation as well as other imperious actions by major powers in violation of international law.” It was obvious that Matsui implied Russia’s invasion in Ukraine and military operation in Venezuela, or possibly in Iran, by the United States. He regretted that the review conference of Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty was closed without an agreed document in May.

 

Matsui accused world political leaders of taking nuclear deterrence as a realistic approach, pushing a world without nuclear weapons in the distance. “How much longer do you intend to disappoint us?” Matsui asked to policymakers of the world with a sense of anger. To the government of Japan, Matsui urged to participate in Review Conference of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons as an observer. The conference will be held in Hiroshima in November.

 

Invited as a guest for the ceremony, Takaichi insisted on Japan’s standpoint upholding three non-nuclear principles -- no possession, no production and no introduction – and making relentless effort to achieve the world without nuclear weapons. Remarkably enough, Takaichi referred to the three non-nuclear principle in present tense, making a contrast with former prime ministers who pledged Japan’s non-nuclear policy for the future.

 

Takaichi has been one of the skeptics in the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) on the three non-nuclear principles, advocating reconsideration of the third principle: no introduction of nuclear weapons. There have been discussions on possibility in a contingency for U.S. nuclear vessels to enter a port in Japan. Former Minister for Foreign Affairs, Katsuya Okada, told in 2010 that the administration would make “a fateful decision” if an entry of nuclear vessel is definitely needed. Takaichi, as the prime minister, has been following that position.

 

Takaichi administration is reviewing three security documents, including National Security Strategy, by the end of this year. Asked about possibility of revising three non-nuclear principles in press conference after the ceremony in Hiroshima, Takaichi refrained from talking about the details. Minister of Defense, Shinjiro Koizumi, expected unlimited discussion over nuclear weapons. LDP’s coalition partner, Japan Innovation Party proposed “realistic discussion” on no introduction of nuclear weapons.

 

Takaichi had a meeting with hibakushas in Hiroshima. One hibakusha asked Takaichi whether she would revise the three non-nuclear principles. Takaichi replied that Japan maintained the principles. Mayor Matsui urged political leaders to confront Hiroshima’s tragedies directly and heed hibakusha’s aspirations for peace. Takaichi did not directly faced hibakusha’s aspiration for keeping the three non-nuclear principles to the future.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

LDP Kickoffs Presidential Election

The Liberal Democratic Party (LDP)   kicked off  its presidential election campaign on September 22 and five lawmakers officially submitted their candidacy to the party. Having lost majority in both Houses of the Diet under the leadership of Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, the presidential election should be about how to regain power through reform of the party. Nevertheless, the candidates do not talk much about the reform, rather focusing on economic policies for the people or maneuvers to attract the opposition parties.   Those five candidates are former Minister on Economic Security Takayuki Kobayashi, former LDP Secretary General Toshimitsu Motegi, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi, former Minister on Economic Security Sanae Takaichi and Miniser of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Shinjiro Koizumi.   Kobayashi insists on temporary income tax cut with a fixed rate, which return is bigger for high-income taxpayers than them with low-income. Identifying h...
Read more

BOJ Begins to Sell ETF

The Bank of Japan (BOJ) decided to keep its short-term rate at 0.5 percent in its Monetary Policy Meeting on September 19 th . While it had been expected that the bank would not change the policy rate in the meeting, the meeting unanimously agreed on beginning to sell exchange-traded funds (ETF). Although the policy reflected the bank’s determination for normalizing its monetary policy, the Governor of JOB, Kazuo Ueda, predicted that it would take a hundred years to release all the ETF it possesses. While the BOJ started buying ETF, a financial product which is equivalent to investment trust, in 2010, the bank abruptly increased its quantity of purchase in 2013, under the leadership of then governor, Haruhiko Kuroda, who exchanged an accord with Shinzo Abe administration to cooperate to get rid of deflation and to achieve stable economic growth. The amount of ETF bought by the BOJ has reached 37 trillion yen.   Purchase of ETF by a central bank has been recognized as a prohibited m...
Read more

Defense Ministers Meet in Seoul

Minister of Defense Gen Nakatani visited Republic of Korea and had a meeting with ROK Minister of National Defense Ahn Gyu-back. It was the first time for Japanese defense minister to have a bilateral ministerial meeting in these ten years. Both ministers reconfirmed importance of trilateral security cooperation including the United States to deal with another trilateral cooperation by China, Russia and North Korea.   In the  press conference  after the meeting, Nakatani stressed importance of maintaining bilateral relationship between Japan and ROK, or Japan-ROK-U.S. relationship in a volatile security environment. Both ministers agreed on promoting discussion by both defense authorities and exchange of personnel. They also agreed on further cooperation in cutting edge technologies including artificial intelligence, unmanned system or the space. They will maintain joint exercise called “Freedom Edge,” in which multiple countries participate.   Their bilateral relati...
Read more