Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is considering reviewing the country’s long-standing Three Non-Nuclear Principles, which is certain to draw backlash. An editorial published in the Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun pointed out that, as a country that suffered atomic bombings, Japan has positioned the Three Non-Nuclear Principles as a national policy, which has long received widespread support from the Japanese people.

 

 

In updating Japan’s National Security Strategy, Takaichi was considering revising the third principle, which prohibits nuclear weapons from entering Japan’s territory. If the principle is changed, it will represent a significant shift in the country’s security policy and is certain to draw domestic and international backlash, the report said. While Takaichi has no intention of revising Japan’s stance on not possessing or producing nuclear weapons, she believes that not permitting the introduction of nuclear arms could hinder port calls by US nuclear-armed vessels, therefore weakening US nuclear deterrence, the report said.

 

 

The Three Non-Nuclear Principles, not possessing, not producing and not allowing introduction of nuclear weapons into Japanese territory, were first declared in the Diet, Japan’s parliament, by then Japanese Prime Minister Eisaku Sato in 1967 and viewed as a national credo. The national security strategy, one of the three documents approved by the Cabinet in 2022, states that the basic policy of adhering to the Three Non-Nuclear Principles will remain unchanged in the future.