Japan's Takaichi signals openness to easing nuclear weapons ban

Japanese Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae signaled Wednesday that she is open to making exceptions to the ban on introducing nuclear weapons into Japan — one of the three pillars of the country's long-standing non-nuclear principles. Asked about past remarks by a former government minister suggesting that US nuclear-armed vessels could be allowed to port in Japan during a crisis, Takaichi said the comments "leave room for consideration," raising questions about whether Japan's non-nuclear policy may be shifting.

The remarks leave open the possibility of revising Japan's three non-nuclear principles — the policy of not possessing, not producing and not introducing nuclear weapons — which have been upheld as a national tenet. Responding to questions at a budget committee session of the House of Representatives on Wednesday, Takaichi said there was room to consider remarks made in 2010 by then-Foreign Minister Okada Katsuya, who served during a Democratic Party administration.

Okada had told the National Assembly at the time that if a situation arose in which Japan's security could not be protected without allowing US nuclear-armed vessels to port, the government would "stake its political fate on making that decision and explaining it to the public."

The statement was widely understood to mean that in a wartime or other emergency, the government should make a decisive call to allow US nuclear-armed vessels into Japanese ports for national security reasons — a position that runs counter to the principle prohibiting the introduction of foreign-made nuclear weapons into Japan.

Takaichi had been critical of the ban on introducing nuclear weapons even before taking office.

In a book titled "Kokuryoku Kenkyu" (National Power Research), published just before last year's Liberal Democratic Party leadership election, she argued that while the bans on possessing and producing nuclear weapons should be maintained, the prohibition on introduction "is not realistic if Japan expects the United States to provide extended deterrence."

Foreign Minister Motegi Toshimitsu backed Takaichi's position in the National Assembly on Wednesday, saying that "the severity of the situation has grown overwhelmingly compared to when former Foreign Minister Okada gave his answer, and various forms of threat are also expanding."

"While we maintain the three non-nuclear principles, there is a need to conduct a review based on the dramatically changed security environment and threat perceptions within that framework," Motegi said.

However, Takaichi declined to elaborate on what specific language related to the three non-nuclear principles might be included in the three key security documents her cabinet is working to revise by year's end, with the revisions centered on bolstering Japan's defense capabilities. "I would refrain from prejudging that," she said.

Takaichi also repeated her position from remarks she made to the National Assembly on Oct. 7, saying that "nuclear sharing" — the deployment and joint operation of US nuclear weapons in Japan — "is not something Japan is currently considering, nor is it appropriate."

Nippon Ishin no Kai, which forms a coalition with the LDP and has positioned itself as an "accelerator" of defense buildup policies, has called for discussions on revisiting the ban on introducing nuclear weapons and on acquiring nuclear-powered submarines.

The Asahi Shimbun has reported that a proposal is gaining traction within the Japanese government to maintain the three non-nuclear principles in the three key security documents while additionally citing Okada's 2010 remarks.

The paper also reported that US nuclear-powered submarines carrying the sea-launched nuclear cruise missile, known as the SLCM-N — whose development the Donald Trump administration approved in 2018 during its first term — could potentially port in Japan from the 2030s onward.

However, the United States is said to hold the view that porting of nuclear-armed vessels does not constitute the introduction of nuclear weapons, a position that differs from that of the Japanese government.