Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi attends a Nagasaki Peace Ceremony to commemorate the 81st anniversary of the atomic bombing at the Peace Park in Nagasaki City on August 9, 2026. Photo: VCG

Japanese officials and members of the public urged the government to uphold the Three Non-Nuclear principles and pursue a security policy that does not rely on nuclear weapons, as Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi maintained an ambiguous stance on the long-held policy during a speech on Sunday marking the 81st anniversary of the US atomic bombing of Nagasaki.

Chinese experts noted that, similar to her ambiguous remarks at the memorial ceremony in Hiroshima, Takaichi stopped short of making a clear commitment to maintaining the Three Non-Nuclear Principles in the future, as her government's stance on nuclear issues have sparked concern and anger among the Japanese public. They also warned that, given Japan's lack of thorough reflection on its wartime aggression, Tokyo's moves to dilute the Three Non-Nuclear Principles should raise alarm across the international community.

"Our country firmly upholds the three non-nuclear principles, and under the pledge that 'Nagasaki shall be the last city to suffer a nuclear attack,' we are promoting realistic and practical initiatives toward the realization of a world without nuclear weapons," Takaichi claimed, according to the Japan Times. 

But unlike previous prime ministers, many of whom had pledged that Japan would "continue to uphold" the principles, Takaichi merely described the government's current position without making an explicit commitment about the future, per the report.

As Hiroshima observed the 81st anniversary of the US atomic bombing of the city on Thursday, Takaichi also emphasized that Japan pledges to achieve a world free of nuclear weapons while upholding the Three Non-Nuclear Principles, despite Japanese media noting that she has left the door open for future revisions.

Takaichi's remarks in Hiroshima and Nagasaki that Japan upholds the three non-nuclear principles were largely seen as a reaffirmation of the country's existing policy position rather than a pledge to maintain the principles in the future, Liu Jiangyong, a professor at the Institute of International Studies at Tsinghua University, told the Global Times. 

Liu said that currently, some Japanese officials' dangerous remarks on nuclear have sparked criticism among Japanese society. He pointed out that Takaichi only referred to Japan's current adherence to the principles, without explicitly committing to preserving them going forward. Her subsequent focus on broader goals such as achieving a "world without nuclear weapons" has further fueled questions over her actual policy intentions.

Japanese Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi claimed in an online program released in July that discussions on nuclear weapons were necessary to strengthen Japan's defense capabilities, according to Kyodo News. While acknowledging that the issue was difficult to discuss in Japan, he claimed it was something that "could not be avoided." 

Opposition to the Takaichi administration's nuclear-related moves has emerged across Japan, including from local governments, media organizations and civil society groups.

According to statistics from the Japanese Diet, at least 128 local assemblies across the country had submitted written opinions to the central government or parliament between Takaichi's inauguration on October 21 last year and July 28 this year, calling for the country's Three Non-Nuclear Principles to be upheld, according to Xinhua News Agency.

In an interview with the AFP, 82-year-old Satoshi Tanaka, a campaigner who survived the 1945 attack on Hiroshima expressed frustration that current political leaders like Takaichi are focusing on military capacity at the expense of diplomacy.

"There is so much talk about national security. What about building peace through diplomacy?" he said.

Responding to a question concerning the Japanese authorities are rebuilding Japan's war machine, seeking to revise the Three Non-Nuclear Principles, and pursuing nuclear sharing with the US, even the possession of nuclear weapons, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said on Thursday that the devastation and tragedies brought by nuclear weapons should never repeat themselves. That said, the particular context of the nuclear explosions should all the more be remembered and the lessons of Japanese militarism's aggression and expansion must forever serve as an alarm.

The Tokyo's moves on nuclear policy have also raised concerns in the international community.

Russia considers the rhetoric of Japanese authorities regarding the need for Japan to revise its Three Non-Nuclear Principles provocative and unacceptable, Russian Ambassador to Japan Nikolai Nozdrev said in an interview with RIA Novosti, which was published on Saturday. 

Responding to Koizumi's remarks on nuclear discussion, Nozdrev said "This is the first time in Japan's history, as the only country to have suffered atomic bombings in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, that a sitting defense minister has publicly called for lifting the 'taboo' on discussions related to nuclear weapons. We consider such rhetoric from official Tokyo provocative and absolutely unacceptable."

Japan has yet to fully reckon with its wartime aggression, thus any attempt by Tokyo to move toward acquiring nuclear weapons could pose serious risks to regional peace and global security, Lü Chao, an expert on the Korean Peninsula issue at the Liaoning Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times.

Such concerns have become more pronounced as Japan increasingly portrays China as a major security challenge while highlighting perceived threats from other countries, against such a backdrop, any further steps to dilute the three non-nuclear principles are likely to heighten concerns internationally, particularly among countries that suffered from Japanese aggression during World War II, said Lü.