ABSTRACT
Japan is the one country in the world that is legally committed to the non-use of military power as a means of resolving international disputes. Article IX of the Japanese constitution states this principle, and Japanese dedication to it remains high after 16 years under the constitution. Because of the experiences of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the Japanese public is very sensitive to anything pertaining to nuclear power. During the UN-sponsored Conference of Non-Nuclear Weapon States many of the general debates referred to the problem of national security ‘in view of the recent event in Central Europe’. Of these, one delivered by the West German Foreign Minister was by far the most eloquent. During NPT negotiations, there were several attempts to define ‘nuclear explosive devices’. These efforts were not successful. One outstanding example of this phenomenon is uranium enrichment.
