Japan To Be Absent From Meeting on N-Weapon Ban Treaty; Nuclear Deterrent ‘Essential to Nation’s Independence’ (Update 1)

The Yomiuri Shimbun

21:04 JST, February 18, 2025 (updated at 13:43 JST)

Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya officially said Tuesday that the government will not attend a meeting of signatories to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in March.

“It can not be said to be appropriate for Japan to participate in the meeting as an observer country [and as a non-signatory nation]. Doing so would send the wrong message about the policy of nuclear deterrence and would be an obstacle for securing peace and security,” Iwaya said about the meeting, which is to be held in the United States.

“The quantitative and qualitative buildup of nuclear weapons is progressing around Japan,” Iwaya said, an apparent reference to China, Russia and North Korea.

“To protect Japan’s independence and peace, extended deterrence by nuclear weapons is essential,” he said. “It is more desirable that progress be made for nuclear disarmament under the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, in which both nuclear powers and nations without nuclear weapons widely participate.”

Iwaya said there was the option of Japan attending the prohibition treaty meeting as an observer, stressing the importance of deterrence through nuclear weapons and then refusing to signing the treaty.

However, he said that route had ultimately not been chosen because “it might cloud Japan’s position of nuclear disarmament through diplomatic activities and reduce the weight of Japan’s assertions and efforts.”

Komeito and the Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations (Nihon Hidankyo), which is a national federation of atomic bombing survivor organizations, have asked the government to attend the nuclear weapon ban treaty meeting as an observer nation.

The government had examined precedents of countries that attended past treaty meetings as observers and considered possible responses by Japan.

But countries protected under the U.S. nuclear umbrella like Japan have not been enthusiastic. For example, NATO member countries such as Germany have attended as observers, but later said they would not join the treaty’s signatories or expressed skeptical views about participating as observer nations.