{"id":234736,"date":"2023-05-08T12:00:10","date_gmt":"2023-05-08T11:00:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=234736"},"modified":"2023-05-07T04:48:33","modified_gmt":"2023-05-07T03:48:33","slug":"japan-pm-kishidas-field-of-vision-on-nuclear-disarmament-is-out-of-focus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2023\/05\/japan-pm-kishidas-field-of-vision-on-nuclear-disarmament-is-out-of-focus\/","title":{"rendered":"Japan PM Kishida\u2019s Field of Vision on Nuclear Disarmament Is Out of Focus"},"content":{"rendered":"

3 May 2023 – <\/em>Japan\u2019s PM Fumio Kishida published a book entitled Toward Nuclear- Weapon-Free World: A Courageous Will of a Peaceful Nation<\/em> (Nikkei BP) in Oct 2022 just in time for the election of the president of the Liberal Democratic Party. In his policy speeches after taking office as Prime Minister, he repeatedly spoke on efforts toward abolition of nuclear weapons \u201cin order to move even one step closer to the world free of nuclear weapons.<\/em>\u201d (in Dec 2021), or \u201cto take advantage of the opportunity of the [19-21 May 2023] G7 Summit in Hiroshima.”\u00a0<\/em> (in Jan 2023).<\/p>\n

As a result of the invention of the man-made release of nuclear energy, a monumental scientific achievement in the 20th<\/sup> century, nuclear weapons were created and used to attack two Japanese cities, Hiroshima and Nagasaki in WWII, resulting in instantaneous massive civilian deaths and life-long radioactive suffering. Japanese citizens and their government, who underwent firsthand experiences that should remain in the memory of human history, have the obligation to strive toward the ban and total abolition of nuclear weapons.<\/p>\n

Nevertheless, I have long been unable to find any determined will in this respect in speeches and behaviors of the Japanese government. As such, the presence of Mr. Kishida, who has repeatedly identified himself as \u201celected from Hiroshima\u201d to characterize his political position and stated the need for efforts toward a nuclear-weapon-free world first as Minister of Foreign Affairs and now as Prime Minister, deserves special attention with optimistic expectations.<\/p>\n

But I cannot help wondering what in fact he stands for. I have been perplexed and even irritated many times by his inconsistency in words and deeds which challenge my understanding. It seems quite natural to me that Kishida\u2019s invitation of the G7 Summit to Hiroshima provokes criticism against him among citizens that it is a \u201cbad use of Hiroshima brand for the sake of his political performance.\u201d In order that his behavior based on his belief may contribute effectively to advancing the efforts to create a nuclear-weapons-free world, he will have to reflect deeply upon his field of vision and the context in which his words and deeds on nuclear disarmament have taken place.<\/p>\n

A recent well known episode about PM Kishida may offer a clue in this respect. I am referring to a Hiroshima-Shrine tourist souvenir, \u201cHissho Shamoji<\/em>,\u201d a big wooden spoon with a slogan \u201cSure Victory\u201d printed in Chinese characters which Kishida brought with him when he secretly visited Ukraine and presented it to President Zelensky. Considering the extremely severe situation in the war in Ukraine, with no apparent end in sight and countless Ukrainians and Russians being killed, the flippant message of the spoon was completely inappropriate and trivial. Kishida\u2019s out-of-focus vision is all the more serious considering that his visit to Ukraine was made with the Hiroshima G7 Summit in mind. To him, Hiroshima is not the atomic-bombed \u201cHiroshima of the World\u201d, but just a \u201cHiroshima of his Constituency\u201d.<\/p>\n

I noticed Kishida\u2019s same faulty vision when I read the book mentioned above. The author says that a \u201cnuclear-weapon-free world\u201d is an ideal, but many obstacles exist in the real world. So, he continues saying that<\/p>\n

\u201che wants to discuss in a straightforward manner (in this book) about many difficult problems that the present world faces, in other words, about \u2018Inconvenient Truths\u2019 that we cannot evade to achieve the abolition of nuclear weapons.<\/em>\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

However, he uses the term \u2018Inconvenient Truth\u2019 here in a misplaced context.<\/p>\n

The phrase \u2018Inconvenient Truth\u2019 has become well-known since the former US Vice President Al Gore first used it. The term is an expression of warning based on the factual evidence that our daily life in which we enjoy wealth and convenience threaten our own future because it causes global climate warming. The phrase \u2018Inconvenient Truth\u2019 is precisely the term that indicates the fact that we should confront climate change squarely even if the attempt brings us inconvenience or hardship. The phrase makes no sense without asking someone to act beyond one\u2019s own narrow vision of self-interest.<\/p>\n

What are the \u2018Inconvenient Truths\u2019 that Mr. Kishida refers to in the book? For him \u201cthe most troublesome inconvenient truth\u201d is nuclear development in the DPRK, and \u201cthe second inconvenient truth\u201d is the increasing nuclear arsenals in China. The third point in his argument, while he doesn\u2019t say \u2018third\u2019 explicitly, is Russian nuclear policy that emphasizes \u201ctactical nuclear weapons\u201d and \u201cthe first use\u201d of such weapons. He points out that these truths define the nuclear strategy of the US on which Japan relies. But these are by no means \u2018Inconvenient Truths\u2019. These \u201ctruths\u201d are nothing but the same old conventional reference to \u201cevildoers\u201d that serves the Prime Minister\u2019s convenient political viewpoint.<\/p>\n

Mr. Kishida must have encountered \u2018Inconvenient Truths\u2019 again and again in relation to the dilemma between \u2018severe security environment\u2019 and \u2018nuclear abolition\u2019 that he has often mentioned.<\/p>\n

He himself participated as Foreign Minister of Japan in the 9th<\/sup> NPT Review Conference that started at United Nations Headquarters on 27 Apr 2015 and made a speech expressing his determination to increase efforts towards a nuclear-weapon-free world. But on the same day, in New York, the Japan-US Security Consultative Committee (2+2), including Mr. Kishida, agreed to and announced the New Guidelines for Japan-US Defense Cooperation that involve Japan\u2019s exercise of the right of collective self-defense that used to be banned under the Peace Constitution and were to be discussed in relation to new legislation at the following Diet session. The legislation was eventually adopted by means of the forced passage by the governing party in September that year. The new joint-defense guideline has rapidly made the Peace Constitution a dead letter, and surely has caused deterioration of the security environment in Asia.<\/p>\n

Last year, Prime Minister Kishida again participated in the 10th<\/sup> NPT Review Conference that took place amidst the challenging situation of Russian aggression against Ukraine. There, he made a speech on the Hiroshima Action Plan for nuclear disarmament. However, at home, he announced a new security policy to acquire military capabilities to attack bases located on enemy territory, which used to be banned by the Peace Constitution, and to double Japan\u2019s defense expenditure in five years in terms of its GDP ratio. This message of the enormous military expansion of Japan has weakened the security environment in Asia and undermines efforts towards nuclear abolition.<\/p>\n

His words and deeds are highly inconsistent. In such circumstances, real \u201cInconvenient Truths\u201d for nuclear abolition will not enter his field of vision.<\/p>\n

I agree with Mr. Kishida\u2019s emphasis on realism. At the G7 Summit in Hiroshima, he should propose an approach to nuclear disarmament through improving the security environment in Asia, making full use of this highly significant occasion. More concretely, this is a rare opportunity to propose a ten-year plan of establishing a Northeast Asia Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone. It has already been proposed by academics and NGO researchers including from Japan, the ROK and the US. Why not also invite the ROK President Yoon Suk Yeol to the Summit to discuss this issue? It will also help G7 NATO leaders to plan peaceful resolution of the war in Ukraine.<\/p>\n

___________________________________________<\/p>\n

Published in Japanese on 1 Apr 2023. Translated to English by Akifumi Fujita from TRANSCEND Japan and edited by Patti Willis.<\/em><\/p>\n

Hiromichi Umebayashi, Ph.D. (Applied Physics) is a visiting professor at Nagasaki University. He was the inaugural director of <\/em>RECNA (2012-15), and founder\/special advisor of <\/em>Peace Depot, a nonprofit NGO for peace research and education.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What are the \u2018Inconvenient Truths\u2019 that Mr. Kishida refers to? For him, \u201cthe most troublesome inconvenient truth\u201d is nuclear development in the DPRK, and \u201cthe second inconvenient truth\u201d is the increasing nuclear arsenals in China. His words and deeds are highly inconsistent. In such circumstances, real \u201cInconvenient Truths\u201d for nuclear abolition will not enter his field of vision.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":202666,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[56],"tags":[244,1347,179,411,450,2199,512,70,875,581],"class_list":["post-234736","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-asia-pacific","tag-china","tag-hiroshima-and-nagasaki","tag-japan","tag-north-korea","tag-nuclear-weapons","tag-peace-culture","tag-south-korea","tag-usa","tag-wmd","tag-wwii"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/234736","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=234736"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/234736\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":234937,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/234736\/revisions\/234937"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/202666"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=234736"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=234736"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=234736"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}