Japan to skip nuke ban treaty meeting again
Tokyo (Jiji Press) — Japan will not participate as an observer in the third meeting of signatories to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in New York in March, Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya said Tuesday.
The Asian country was also absent from the past two meetings, held in June 2022 and November 2023. Japan made the latest decision because it has to rely on extended deterrence, including the U.S. nuclear umbrella, amid the increasingly severe security environment surrounding the country.
The Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations, or Nihon Hidankyo, which won the 2024 Nobel Peace Prize, and Komeito, a ruling coalition member, had strongly requested Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba to realize Japan’s participation as an observer in the March 3-7 meeting.
The government’s decision against the attendance may draw criticism from many members of the public and Komeito, with both calling for the abolition of nuclear weapons, and have an impact on the Ishiba administration. Komeito allies with Ishiba’s Liberal Democratic Party.
“Qualitative and quantitative nuclear arms expansion is progressing around Japan,” Iwaya told a news conference, explaining why Tokyo will be absent.
Saying that nuclear deterrence is necessary to protect Japan’s independence and peace, he stressed, “Participating as an observer could send the wrong message about our country’s nuclear deterrence policy and put at risk our own peace and security.”
Iwaya also stated that nuclear disarmament is unlikely to progress under the treaty, whose signatories do not include the United States or any other nuclear powers. He said Tokyo will continue its nuclear disarmament efforts under the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.
Nihon Hidankyo and the government “share the same wish for a world without nuclear weapons,” Iwaya said, expressing his intention to explain the government’s latest decision to the group “carefully and sincerely.”
Ishiba had considered sending one or more parliamentary members of the LDP to the New York meeting. The party, however, decided not to do so.
“It’s truly regrettable. We’d like to ask the government to give a careful explanation,” Komeito leader Tetsuo Saito said in a statement Tuesday.
Toshiyuki Mimaki, 82, co-chair of Nihon Hidankyo, said he “feels frustrated.” Japan is missing this “perfect” opportunity just after the group won the Nobel Peace Prize last year while this year marks the 80th anniversary of the U.S. atomic bombings of Japan, he remarked.
“I can’t believe Japan won’t participate” after he and other Nihon Hidankyo members directly asked Ishiba last month to realize the participation, Mimaki added.
