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JAPAN: Activists Plan to Nip Nuclear Ambitions
By Suvendrini Kakuchi
TOKYO, Oct 30 (IPS) - Recent remarks by top level politicians and military strategists while discussing the once taboo topic of Japan becoming a nuclear weapons power has raised bitter memories for Shoji Kihara, 57, a peace activist living in Hiroshima.
''The spectacle of Japan even considering nuclear weapons is a terrible prospect for peace activists after all the hardship we underwent and still face after the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima,'' Kihara told IPS in an interview.
Kihara was born after Japan was defeated, ending World War II in 1945. Japan surrendered after the United States dropped the world's first atomic bomb on Hiroshima on Aug. 6, killing more than 140,000 people, followed by another one that destroyed Nagasaki city two days later.
Among those who died in Hiroshima, says Kihara, were his two sisters. His father passed away when Kihara was four years old from an exhausting illness related to the radiation that lingered in the city and continues to account for civilian deaths.
''After such horrific experiences, we shiver with fright and anger when Japanese politicians even refer to the prospect of our country having nuclear weapons. I will fight against this to my death to stop a nuclear arms race in this region,'' said Kihara who represents the citizens' 'Group for No-Nukes'.
Japan, the only country in the world to suffer nuclear bombing, has in the postwar era becoming a leading advocate of pacifism and thrown its support behind the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
But that stance, supported by the public, seems to be waning these days, say activists and military experts.
They point to the recent signs of this change of heart, the latest being remarks by foreign minister Taro Aso who suggested that Japan should openly discuss acquiring nuclear weapons following North Korea's nuclear weapons test in October.
''At a time when the country next to us comes to have nuclear weapons, it is time for various discussions on the issue,'' Aso, a conservative, told a foreign policy committee.
The comments followed earlier remarks made by another influential minister, Shoichi Nakagawa, who stated that ''countries with nuclear weapons do not get attacked'' and caused a stir in Japan.
While the conservative 'Yomiuri' newspaper, Japan's leading daily, called for a public debate in support of Aso, the liberal 'Asahi' newspaper was critical saying, in an editorial on Oct. 22 that the foreign minister has sent out an ''erroneous message to the world.''
To defuse the issue, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe acted quickly by stating that Japan will never turn away from its anti-nuke policy despite North Korea's possession of nuclear bombs.
Defence writer Shunji Taoka, who is a close observer of East Asian security, agrees with Abe though pointing out that this is not necessarily for pacifist reasons.
''Indeed, the growing nuclear nightmare in East Asia has turned the spotlight on the military vulnerability of Japan that is surrounded by countries with nuclear weapons - China and Russia - and cannot protect itself from a nuclear attack,'' he explained.
But, according to Taoka, the biggest deterrent to a nuclear Japan is opposition from the United States. ''An attempt by Japan to review its anti-nuclear stance even for the sake of self-protection is a highly risky venture. Tokyo will face economic collapse in the wake of anger in Washington and that could also trigger a global breakdown given the globalised trade system,'' he recently told the media.
Still, according to experts, Japan's vulnerability, in case of a nuclear attack by North Korea, is turning into an opportunity to take a second look at what was till recently a taboo topic.
Hideaki Ban, a respected anti-nuclear activist, pointed out that there is less opposition now to the prospect of developing nuclear weapons compared to a few decades ago and the change of public heart is gaining strength as the media focuses on Japan's weak defence capabilities in the event of a nuclear attack.
''While the government is acutely aware of not pursuing nuclear weapons, comments by Aso and other politicians are geared at putting the prospect on the table, a move that can influence the public as the North Korean threat begins to grow,'' he explained to IPS.
Ban also holds Japan's postwar education that focused on economic growth rather than war, responsible for softening public opposition to nuclear weapons.
''The young generation has not been educated about the horrors of nuclear weapons and therefore do not have strong feelings like the older people against war,'' he said.
Taoka, on the other hand, contends that Japan will have to make do, for the moment, with boosting its defence capabilities along with the U.S. to meet the North Korean threat.
(END/2006)
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