ABSTRACT
On July 7 2017, the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) was adopted by 122 non-nuclear-weapon states (NNWS). Japan, a NNWS in an extended deterrence relationship with the United States, did not participate in the TPNW negotiations, and has not signed the TPNW. The Japanese government has been criticized in turn – both by its own civil society and internationally – and has jeopardized its long-held reputation for leadership in the nuclear disarmament community as the only country that has experienced atomic bomb attacks. This chapter outlines the principles of the recommendations, which are available on the website of the Japanese Foreign Ministry. Japan has a similar political rationale for justifying nuclear weapons, arguing that it needs the ‘nuclear umbrella’ provided by the USA because of the threats to its security in the North East Asia region, primarily those from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
