Joint action with the Japan Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, visiting the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Defense
Statements
No to Nuclear Possession: We Condemn Senior Government Official's Remarks and Call on Japan to Join the Nuclear Ban Treaty
On December 18, a senior official at the Prime Minister's Office was reported to have stated to reporters that "Japan should possess nuclear weapons." It is unacceptable for a senior government official in charge of security policy to express a policy that violates both the Japanese Constitution and the Three Non-Nuclear Principles, which are a national policy, even if expressing a personal opinion. We strongly demand that the government immediately disclose the name of the official who made these remarks and dismiss them.
Nihon Hidankyo, the national organization of atomic bomb survivors (Hibakusha), issued a statement in response to this remark saying, "This ignores the existence of Hibakusha and condones nuclear war, and is absolutely unforgivable." Last year, the Norwegian Nobel Committee awarded the Nobel Peace Prize to Nihon Hidankyo, citing the testimonies of the Hibakusha of Hiroshima and Nagasaki as having established the "nuclear taboo." In this year as we mark 80 years since the atomic bombings, Japan should be making efforts to further strengthen this "nuclear taboo," rather than accepting nuclear weapons in any form.
Peace Boat has worked together with the Hibakusha to convey the horrors of nuclear weapons and the reality of the humanitarian consequences of these weapons to people around the world, including through the "Global Voyage for a Nuclear-Free World: Peace Boat Hibakusha Project," in which 180 atomic survivors have participated to date. This initiative has been advanced together in partnership with communities impacted by nuclear violence around the world, including nuclear test survivors and Indigenous peoples affected by uranium mining.
Furthermore, starting this year, our ship has been travelling the world with an outreach edition of the Nobel Peace Prize Exhibition “A Message to Humanity" onboard, through collaboration with the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo. Through this, we have witnessed that the cornerstone for eliminating nuclear weapons is for politicians and citizens in each country to learn the reality of the atomic bombings and realize the grave threat that nuclear weapons pose to the very existence of humanity.
The Japanese government has submitted an annual resolution to the United Nations General Assembly for the total elimination of nuclear weapons for over 30 years. Instead of discussing nuclear possession due to supposed threats from other nations, Japan should promote the peaceful resolution of conflicts through international law and the promotion of human security, based on "justice and faith of the peace-loving peoples of the world" stated in the Preamble to the Japanese Constitution. The government should reverse the large-scale military buildup policy it is currently pursuing, and instead steer towards disarmament and nuclear abolition.
We call on Prime Minister Takaichi to declare that the Three Non-Nuclear Principles - “not possessing, not producing and not permitting the introduction of nuclear weapons" - will be upheld in the future. As the only country to have ever suffered atomic bombing of its cities during wartime, we demand Japan to as soon as possible sign and ratify the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, which will soon mark five years since its entry into force, and lead the world toward the abolition of nuclear weapons.
December 22, 2025
Peace Boat