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Japan “needs to possess nuclear weapons,” Kyodo News reported Thursday, citing a source from the prime minister’s office who made the remarks during an unofficial exchange with journalists.
The comments were made by an official reportedly involved in devising security policy under Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi.
“I think we should possess nuclear weapons,” the official was quoted as saying. “In the end, we can only rely on ourselves.”
The official added that such a move would not be immediate, saying, “It isn’t something that can be done quickly, like just going to a convenience store to buy something.”
Kyodo News noted that the remarks could trigger backlash both in Japan and abroad, as the government has maintained that Japan, as the only country to have suffered atomic bombings, should lead global efforts to eliminate nuclear weapons.
Japan’s pacifist Constitution established an exclusively defense-oriented policy following its defeat at the end of World War II.
The United States dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima on Aug. 6, 1945, killing an estimated 140,000 people, followed by a second bombing of Nagasaki on Aug. 9 that killed about 70,000. Japan formally surrendered on Aug. 15, 1945.
The reported remarks come amid heightened tensions with China, which escalated after Nov. 7 when Takaichi said a Chinese attack on Taiwan could legally constitute a “survival-threatening situation,” potentially allowing Japan to exercise the right of collective self-defense.
China sharply criticized the remarks, urged Chinese tourists to avoid Japan, suspended seafood imports and postponed a trilateral culture ministers’ meeting with Japan and South Korea.
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