Top general: Japan needs US nuclear weapons for defence

Without Washington’s “nuclear umbrella,” Tokyo cannot defend itself, a senior military official claimed.

Tokyo now relies on American nuclear weapons for “deterrence” against regional rivals, according to a top Japanese general, who claims that Tokyo must grow its domestic arms sector if it is to provide for its own security.

General Yoshihide Yoshida, the head of the Joint Staff for Japan’s Self-Defense Forces, discussed Tokyo’s defence requirements in an interview with Nikkei Asia on Monday. He emphasised Tokyo’s tight military collaboration with Washington.

The general declared, “We cannot preserve Japan’s security with our current capabilities,” adding, “First, we must radically boost our defence capabilities so that we are not overlooked. Second, we must take all necessary steps to maintain long-term deterrence, including using nuclear weapons.

Yoshida continued by stating that Japan and the US have been in “deep dialogue” for more than 10 years regarding “extending the US nuclear umbrella over Japan,” and that an agreement was reached in June for increased information sharing, joint training, and combined missile reaction.

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Japan is the only country in history to have received an atomic attack. On August 6, 1945, a US Army Air Force aircraft exploded a nuclear bomb over Hiroshima, killing up to 126,000 people, the majority of whom were civilians. On August 9, a second atomic bomb exploded over Nagasaki, killing up to 80,000 people, almost all of them were civilians.

After the nuclear strikes, US forces invaded Japan and helped write its “pacifist” constitution. As a result, Japan joined the US as an ally. The nation continues to house the greatest number of US bases and troops in the whole world and has long been covered by the US nuclear umbrella, which provides non-nuclear governments with a number of security guarantees. Similar agreements are also in place with South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, and a number of NATO nations.

In support of his claim that Japan is “on the front lines” in the Indo-Pacific, General Yoshida said that Tokyo and its allies would try to “maintain an international order based on the rule of law” while admonishing against “provocations by North Korea and China.” He continued by saying that the “strategic environment facing Japan” is encouraging the public to embrace more military spending and improved “counterstrike capabilities.”