August 6, 2025

Japanese Communist Party Executive Committee Chair Tamura Tomoko on August 5 discussed the theme, “How Japan can take the lead in nuclear disarmament,” with A-bomb survivors (Hibakusha), representatives of eight political parties, and disarmament experts at a debate held in Hiroshima City by antinuclear NGOs.

The “Sanseito” party and the Conservative Party of Japan, both of which have Dietmembers who advocate Japan’s “nuclear sharing” and “nuclear armament,” were absent.

JCP Tamura stated that Japan, on the 80th anniversary of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, should sign and ratify the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) and work to overcome the “nuclear deterrence” doctrine. She said, “Hibakusha’s ‘humanitarian approach’ of continuing to denounce the horrors of the A-bomb attacks led to the creation of the TPNW. This approach will be a powerful force in overcoming the ‘nuclear deterrence’ logic.”

Tamura criticized the Japanese government’s pursuit of “extended nuclear deterrence” and a further military expansion for undermining the regional effort to achieve nuclear disarmament and ensure security in East Asia. She demanded that the government focus its diplomatic efforts on promoting disarmament by utilizing and developing the framework of the ASEAN-led East Asia Summit.

Tanaka Terumi of the Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations (Nihon Hidankyo) said, “We, Hibakusha, want the Japanese government to decide to participate in the TPNW.”

UN Under-Secretary-General/High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, Nakamitsu Izumi pointed out that the argument for “nuclear sharing” is gaining momentum and divisions are growing even in non-nuclear weapon states. She said she hopes that the Japanese government will consider participating as an observer in review conferences for the NPT and TPNW next year.

Alexander Kmentt, director for the Disarmament, Arms Control and Non-proliferation Department of Austria’s Ministry of European and International Affairs, pointed out that the “nuclear deterrence” concept is “nothing more than an assumption” because it must meet various conditions as a prerequisite. He strongly called for the world to abandon continued justification for the “nuclear deterrence” theory.

Melissa Parke, executive director of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), said, “Japan’s absence from the TPNW is disappointing to many people around the world. Reliance on the ‘nuclear umbrella’ is not sustainable.”