December 20, 2025

Japanese Communist Party Executive Committee Chair Tamura Tomoko, at a press conference in the Diet building on December 19, demanded the dismissal of a senior official at the Prime Minister’s Office who called for Japan to be a nuclear-armed power.

Reportedly, during an off-the-record interview at the Prime Minister’s Office on December 18, a senior official responsible for security policy in the Takaichi government told reporters, “I believe Japan should possess nuclear weapons.”

Tamura expressed grave concern that such an off-hand remark was made by a senior government official in the only nation to have suffered atomic bombings in war. She strongly criticized the statement as “absolutely unacceptable,” adding, “The official should be dismissed, and Prime Minister Takaichi should declare Japan’s commitment to upholding the Three Non-Nuclear Principles as a national policy.”

The JCP chair stated, “Unless Japan immediately declares its commitment to moving toward the elimination of nuclear weapons to the world, the international community may perceive a change in Japan’s stance.”

Tanaka Terumi, a representative director of the Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations (Nihon Hidankyo), in an Akahata interview said, “This official doesn’t comprehend the suffering and devastation caused by the atomic bombs. I think all elected lawmakers must visit Hiroshima and Nagasaki and listen to A-bomb survivors’ testimonies.”

He continued, “Nuclear weapons do not protect a country. Possessing nuclear weapons makes the country a target for military attack by another nuclear-armed state. That is precisely why the effort to prevent war is so important.”