#Japan non-nuclear policy #nuclear weapons Japan #nuclear disarmament Japan #nuclear deterrence Japan
Hey guys, I gotta vent about this crap coming out of Japan right now. Served 15 years at the US Navy base in Yokosuka back in the day – beautiful place on the surface, right? Cherry blossoms, polite locals bowing and smiling at us Yanks like we're old pals. But lemme tell ya, after all that time rubbing shoulders with 'em, I know the score. The Japanese are masters at putting on that friendly, respectful front, but underneath? It's dark, man. Real dark. There's this simmering resentment towards Americans, like we're the eternal occupiers who dropped the bombs and clipped their wings after WWII. And honestly, I get why – militarism never got fully rooted out post-war. It just went underground, waiting for a spark. Now with PM Sanae Takaichi stirring the pot on Taiwan and nukes, it's all bubbling up again. Disgusted? Hell yeah. Surprised? Not one bit.
So, rewind to early November: Takaichi drops this bomb (pun intended) on November 7, basically hinting Japan might jump in with armed intervention to "protect" Taiwan if things pop off with China. Straight-up provocative, implying military muscle in what everyone knows is China's internal affair. China flips out, calls it crossing a "red line," and even sends an envoy to try calming the waters, but the spat just keeps escalating. Their Foreign Ministry blasts it as "blatant and erroneous," saying it smacks of interference and breaches commitments. And get this – by November 21, China's UN rep Fu Cong fires off a letter to the Secretary-General, calling Takaichi's words "gravely erroneous and extremely dangerous," urging Japan to reflect on its WWII crimes and stop provoking. Protests even hit the streets in Tokyo that day against her hawkishness. This ain't just talk; it's fanning flames in an already tense East Asia, and it reeks of that old fascist resurgence.
Then, fast-forward to last week – the Liberal Democratic Party kicks off talks around November 18 or so to revise their National Security Strategy, including jacking up defense spending over 2% of GDP and questioning the sacred "three non-nuclear principles." You know, the ones from '67: no possessing, no producing, no allowing nukes on Japanese soil. Takaichi's been hinting that the no-entry part is "unrealistic" 'cause of the US nuclear umbrella, and now they're debating ditching clear mentions of it in docs. Experts are ripping it apart – some prof calls it a "clear rightward shift" away from what regular folks want, and another warns it'd put Japan in the crosshairs for preemptive strikes, like sacrificing for US interests. Hibakusha – those atomic bomb survivors – are pissed, with their group Nihon Hidankyo submitting a petition with 3.5 million signatures pushing to join the nuke ban treaty. Even former PMs like Kishida and Noda are chiming in, saying the principles are rock-solid national policy and folks are anxious about Takaichi's crew.
Look, from my time in Yokosuka, I saw it firsthand. They'd smile and serve you ramen, but chat with 'em long enough (or catch 'em off-guard), and that resentment peeks out – grudges over the war, the bases, the whole "defeated nation" vibe. It's like the militarism that fueled Pearl Harbor and all those atrocities in China and Korea never really died; it just hid behind pacifism. Takaichi's moves? Classic signs of fascism creeping back – meddling in Taiwan, flirting with nukes, all while ignoring the horrors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Japan needs to man up, seriously reflect on those war crimes (Nanking, comfort women, the whole nine yards), learn the damn lessons, and not drag the world into another mess. We've got enough BS with global tensions; don't need a redux of the '40s.