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Security Studies Program

Policy Recommendation: "Japan's Contribution to Global Nuclear Disarmament and Nonproliferation”

Working Group on New Initiatives for Nuclear Energy and Nuclear Non-Proliferation

By Satoko Takahara, Communications Officer / Editor


July 29, 2022
6 Min. Read
Cover image of the policy proposal

Click here to download the PDF

On June 17, 2020, the International Peace and Security Department of the Sasakawa Peace Foundation (SPF) held an online briefing to present a new policy recommendation entitled “Japan’s Contribution to Global Nuclear Disarmament and Non-Proliferation: Toward a Policy for Fulfilling the Responsibilities of Japan as the Only Country to Have Suffered From Atomic Bombs.” The recommendation was prepared by the Working Group on New Initiatives for Nuclear Energy and Nuclear Non-Proliferation, which was established by the International Peace and Security Department. Media representatives and researchers specializing in nuclear nonproliferation and disarmament participated in the briefing remotely.
 
This is the third installment of policy recommendations produced by the working group. To begin the presentations, SPF President and current advisor Nobuo Tanaka gave an overview of the working group's activities, saying, "we have been conducting various studies on nuclear energy in order to reflect on the Fukushima nuclear accident and consider what exactly we should be thinking about.” He explained that Japan possesses a large amount of plutonium in Aomori Prefecture and has commissioned reprocessing to store it overseas, but that there might be doubts overseas on the peaceful use of nuclear energy. Given this backdrop, he continued by introducing the previous policy recommendations created by the working group: “International Management of Plutonium: Aiming for Reduction in Plutonium Stocks and Adoption of New International Norms” and “Proposals to the Japanese Government Concerning Denuclearization of North Korea: With a View to Reduction of Nuclear Threat and Establishment of New Security Framework in Northeast Asia,” which focuses on how Japan can become involved in the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula as the United States and North Korea began direct dialogue beginning in 2018.
 
He also stated that the working group created the "Japan's Contribution to Global Nuclear Disarmament and Nuclear Non-Proliferation" proposal to clarify Japan’s stance on the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), given that Japan is a country that has actually experienced atomic bombings with the attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Next, Professor Tatsujiro Suzuki of Nagasaki University (chairman of the working group) and Tsuneo Nishida, former Ambassador of Japan to the United Nations (secretary of the working group) explained the content of the recommendation and the current global situation regarding nuclear nonproliferation.
 
Professor Suzuki explained that the policy recommendation consists of two major components, the main point being that "while both the U.S. and Russia are pursuing the development of small nuclear weapons and have adopted policies that include the use of nuclear weapons, Japan should take measures to reduce nuclear risk by supporting the ‘No First Use’ and ‘Sole Purpose’ policies, which limit the use of nuclear weapons to retaliation for use of nuclear weapons by an adversary. The Japanese government has not explicitly endorsed these policies, and we have included it as a new recommendation," he said.
 
The policy recommendation also urges the Japanese government to join the Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) as an observer state until official participating conditions are met, and to make efforts to support the treaty. "Japan should fundamentally review its passive attitude and begin now to work toward signing and ratifying the treaty. We also recommend the establishment of an independent advisory council to study the impact of signing the treaty, its compatibility with the Japan-U.S. Security Treaty, and other issues. Ultimately, it is important to build a security environment that does not depend on nuclear deterrence,” Professor Suzuki pointed out.
 
Regarding the international situation informing these recommendations, Professor Suzuki noted that the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) between the U.S. and Russia, which has supported nuclear disarmament, will expire in February 2021. In addition, the number of countries that have ratified the TPNW has increased, and the prospect of ratification by the 50 countries required for the treaty to enter into force appears attainable. “The question is how Japan should face it,” he emphasized.
 
Ambassador Nishida then explained that "the global situation surrounding nuclear nonproliferation has stagnated. In fact, the situation is likely to regress back to nuclear proliferation. The pillar of Japan's postwar diplomacy was the country’s experience in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and Japan should encourage the world to promote disarmament. In the global community today, a rift has developed between nuclear-weapon states, which are protected by deterrence, and non-nuclear-weapon states, which do not depend on deterrence. This situation has the potential to divide international public opinion."

(The original Japanese article was published on June 25, 2020.) 

Terminology

(1) No First Use (NFU)
No First Use is a policy of not using nuclear weapons before another country in an armed conflict. However, it leaves open the option of retaliating with nuclear weapons in the event that the other country uses nuclear weapons first. The concept of NFU encourages nuclear disarmament, and if all nuclear-weapon states, including the nuclear-weapon states under the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) (the United States, Russia, China, the United Kingdom, and France) agree to it and establish a global NFU regime, the role of nuclear weapons would be limited to deterring other nuclear-weapon states from using them as well. China has declared an unconditional NFU since its successful nuclear test in October 1964 that it will not use nuclear weapons first under any circumstances.
 
(2) Sole Purpose
Sole Purpose limits the purpose of nuclear weapons to deterrence. It has received attention from the perspective of diminishing the role of nuclear weapons, especially when used by the U.S. Obama administration, but there is no strict definition. Some believe that it is an independent nuclear strategy, but others view it as practically synonymous with NFU (see above).

Reference materials

(1) To learn more about this policy proposal, please see the following links:

Japan's Contribution to Global Nuclear Disarmament and Non-Proliferation: Toward a Policy for Fulfilling the Responsibilities of Japan as the Only Country to Have Suffered From Atomic Bombs
 
(2) Refer to the following links for previous proposals in this series:
 
Proposals to the Japanese Government concerning International Management of Plutonium: Aiming for reduction in plutonium stocks and adoption of new international norms
 
Proposals to the Japanese Government Concerning Denuclearization of North Korea: With a view to reduction of nuclear threat and establishment of new security framework in Northeast Asia

Security Studies Program Northeast Asia
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