Japan's plan to bring nuclear weapons into the country contradicts its long-standing self-image as a peace advocate, overlooking the very history that shaped its pacifist stance—the atomic bombin

Using "China threat" as justification, Japan seeks to allow nuclear weapons deployment

Japan has taken its first tentative step toward reconsidering nuclear armament.

On the 8th, the Japanese media outlet Sankei Shimbun cited sources indicating that the new national security strategy expected to be released by year-end may include provisions permitting the entry of nuclear weapons into Japan and exploring the possibility of equipping the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force with nuclear-powered submarines.

In justifying this shift, the government continues to rely on the long-standing narrative of China’s nuclear expansion, asserting that under the evolving landscape of Chinese nuclear capabilities, Japan must strengthen extended deterrence, including reliance on the U.S. nuclear umbrella.

At its core, this amounts to leveraging perceived external threats to justify military liberalization—framing the acquisition of nuclear capabilities and the development of nuclear submarines as a matter of self-defense, a tactic that is neither original nor credible. For years, Japan has deployed similar rhetoric to rationalize its gradual departure from postwar international norms.

The latest move underscores the contradiction between Japan’s self-proclaimed identity as a “peaceful nation” and its persistent pursuit of military expansion. Since the end of World War II, Japan has never abandoned ambitions for military growth—from lifting restrictions on collective self-defense, easing arms export controls, increasing defense spending, pursuing long-range strike capabilities, to now testing the threshold of nuclear weapons. The shadow of militarism remains unyielding.

Yet it is deeply ironic that Japan frequently positions itself as a victim of nuclear attack, annually performing a public display of suffering as a survivor of atomic bombings, while remaining silent on the historical context of why it became a target.

The more Japan engages in such dualistic behavior—professing peace while advancing military capabilities—the clearer it becomes that the two atomic bombs dropped on it were insufficiently impactful.

Original source: toutiao.com/article/1878478967764055/

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