Kathrine Frich
Japan’s most prominent survivors’ organisation has issued a stark warning to the government.
Debate is growing over plans to revise the country’s long-standing non-nuclear policy.
Hibakusha groups fear Tokyo may ease restrictions on hosting nuclear weapons.
They argue that the only nation to suffer wartime atomic bombings must not reopen the door to nuclear deployments.
Renewed alarm
According to PAP reporting, the Nihon Hidankyo association, which represents survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, sent a formal appeal to Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi.
They urged her to preserve Japan’s Three Non-Nuclear Principles.
Those rules prohibit the possession, production and introduction of nuclear weapons on Japanese soil.
The organisation warned:
“We cannot allow nuclear weapons to be brought to Japan, nor can we allow the country to become a base for nuclear war or the target of nuclear attacks.”
Nihon Hidankyo, awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2024 for its advocacy, demanded that existing bans be protected through legal guarantees.
Policy shift debated
Kyodo news agency reported that the prime minister is considering revising the third principle, arguing that restrictions on bringing nuclear weapons into Japan may undermine the credibility of the US deterrent.
Takaichi, who assumed office in October, has made strengthening national defence a central priority.
Such a revision would mark a significant change in post-war security policy.
Since 1945, Japan has remained under the US nuclear umbrella while promoting global non-proliferation and presenting itself as a champion of a nuclear-free world.
Historical weight
The debate carries deep emotional resonance.
When the United States dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945, more than 200,000 people died.
The survivors, known as hibakusha, have spent decades campaigning against the return of nuclear weapons to Japanese territory.
Memorials in the two cities now list over 457,000 names of those who perished in the attacks and those who later died from radiation-related illnesses.
For hibakusha groups, any weakening of Japan’s non-nuclear stance represents a betrayal of that legacy.
Sources: WP, PAP, Kyodo News
