July 24 & 28, 2026

Defense Minister Koizumi Shinjiro on July 22 stated that the topic of nuclear weapons is one that “we cannot avoid.”

When asked by reporters at the NATO headquarters in Brussels about future security policies, including nuclear deterrence, Koizumi stated, “Unless discussions are held without any taboos, no country can any longer ensure its security on its own,” adding that “I think this is only natural.”

He also stated on an online news program on July 17 that a topic that “we cannot avoid” is nuclear weapons.

Japanese Communist Party Executive Committee Chair Tamura Tomoko at a House of Representatives Budget Committee meeting on July 27 criticized Koizumi for calling for “discussions without taboos” regarding nuclear weapons under the pretext of strengthening Japan’s deterrence capability under the U.S. nuclear umbrella.

Tamura said, “Nuclear deterrence means threatening to use nuclear weapons if necessary. ‘A threat against a threat’ only heightens military tensions. When deterrence fails, it leads to nuclear war, and Japan could become a nuclear battlefield.”

She emphasized that as the only nation that has suffered from atomic bombings in war, Japan must not contribute to a nuclear arms race.