New Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi appears to be pushing Japan rapidly in the direction of a new militarism, and has even hinted at a possible shift in the country’s decades-old non-nuclear principles, which put a ban on the entry of such weapons into its territory. Speaking in the Parliament on Nov. 10, Takaichi said she could not say whether those three principles—not to possess, produce, or introduce nuclear weapons into its territory—adopted as national policy in 1967, would be maintained in an upcoming revision of Japan’s security strategy. “I cannot make a definitive statement or say that it will be written in such a manner,” she said, responding to an opposition lawmaker’s question, reported Reuters. She added that, for now, the government still adheres to them as a policy guideline.
According to Reuters, Takaichi has a history in questioning Japan’s non-nuclear policy, especially the third principle, which prohibits nuclear weapons entering Japan’s territory. In a 2024 book, before she took office, she described that principle as not realistic, because the United States may need to bring nuclear weapons into Japan to deter rivals. Anti-nuclear groups in Japan fiercely oppose such moves, saying Tokyo is morally bound to oppose nuclear weapons, including their presence on Japanese soil, due to the horrors of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the end of World War II.
On Nov. 13, Kyodo News reported that the Takaichi’s Liberal Democratic Party plans to begin talks as early as next week to revise Japan’s three key security documents, government and ruling party sources said. The sources also claim that the LDP is likely to discuss revising the three nuclear principles, while boosting the country’s defense-related spending.
