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One-Fifth of Japan’s Lower House Support Consideration of Going Nuclear
Nearly 20 percent of Japan’s lower house of parliament believe that Tokyo should consider becoming a nuclear weapons state if international developments push the country in that direction, the Associated Press reported today (see GSN, Aug. 22). Japan is the only country to have been struck with nuclear weapons and the subject has traditionally been taboo. As North Korea has developed its nuclear weapons and long-range missiles, however, Japanese lawmakers have become more open to the idea of possessing a nuclear capability, according to AP. The Mainichi newspaper conducted the poll before Sunday’s elections, and 83 out of 480 lawmakers said they were in favor of considering the idea. Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi does not favor considering nuclear weapons and has said that he has no intention of altering Tokyo’s long-standing opposition to the idea. Of the 83 lawmakers, however, 63 were from Koizumi’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party. “I don’t think the percentage is worrisome,” said Takashi Inoguchi, a professor of international relations at Tokyo University. “It is a normal response considering the situation surrounding the country,” Inoguchi added. Some Japanese, however, have said that the country is forgetting the lessons of World War II. “As more young people become lawmakers, fewer have experienced war, and they don’t know the suffering nuclear weapons cause,” said Terumi Tanaka, who survived the nuclear attack on Nagasaki and heads a survivors’ support group (Chisaki Watanabe, Associated Press, Nov. 11).
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