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Japan says it’s time for ‘taboo-free’ discussions about acquiring nuclear weapons

Defence minister says non-nuclear principles should be revisited given the current global security ‘crisis’

Maroosha Muzaffar, Independent UK, Wednesday 30 September 2026

Japan’s defence minister renewed calls for opening a debate on acquiring nuclear weapons, saying Tokyo could not afford to rule out security options as tensions with China, Russia and North Korea continued to intensify.

“The idea that we aren’t even allowed to have a discussion on this matter is a bit at odds with my sense of crisis,” Shinjiro Koizumi said in a TV interview on Monday.

He argued that Japan should discuss its nuclear policy “without taboos”, including the possibility of revisiting its long-standing non-nuclear principles and of acquiring nuclear-powered submarines.

The principles, adopted in 1967, commit Japan to not possessing or producing nuclear weapons, or permitting their introduction to its territory.

Mr Koizumi said the government wasn’t currently committing to any policy, but that options shouldn’t be excluded before they were properly debated. At a press conference on Tuesday, he stressed the need to explain the changing security environment to the public, particularly as Japan was the only nation ever to suffer nuclear attacks in wartime. Japan was attacked with atomic bombs by the US towards the end of World War II, causing unprecedented death and destruction in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Mr Koizumi argued that Japan should “carefully explain” changes in the global security situation as well as the actions of neighbouring countries so that the public could share his government’s assessment of the risks.

“I believe it’s safe to say that there are absolutely no grounds for

optimism regarding the security environment surrounding Japan,” he said.

Pointing to the nuclear capabilities of China and Russia and the expanding nuclear arsenal of North Korea, he asked whether Japan could ensure peace by simply avoiding discussion of topics it found difficult…………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Nagasaki mayor Suzuki Shiro, in contrast, described nuclear weapons as an “absolute evil” at the same commemoration, warning against relying on nuclear deterrence and calling on the federal government to uphold the non-nuclear principles.

The issue of nuclear-powered submarines is also moving closer to the mainstream of Japan’s defence debate.

Mr Koizumi said earlier this month that Tokyo wasn’t ruling out acquiring such vessels, shortly after a US navy official expressed support for the idea.
https://www.independent.co.uk/asia/japan/japan-nuclear-weapons-shinjiro-koizumi-takaichi-b3058770.html

October 5, 2026 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | Japan, weapons and war