This time, I would like tentatively to share some of what was reportedly discussed between Professor Toshio Nishi of Stanford University's Hoover Institution and American scholars, on the subject of "Japan's nuclear weapons".
Does Japan need nuclear weapons?
Nishi and his fellow scholars at the Hoover had lunch and exchanged views on Japan's foreign policy.
What begins as a gentle lunch gradually turns into an emotional and heated debate.
The reason for the emotional argument is a fundamental difference in stance.
Regarding the strong pressure being exerted by the United States on Japan's rearmament, Professor Nishi said as follows.
"I am well aware that the Japanese people cannot remain indebted to the United States forever. The problem is that the Japanese people have not yet agreed on how to maintain Japan's self-defense and security in the future, and they have not yet agreed on the means by which they will do so. If Japan decides to rearm, it will eventually need nuclear weapons for self-defense."
To this statement by Professor Nishi, scholars at the Hoover countered as follows.
"No. The expansion of nuclear weapons is dangerous to the maintenance of world peace, and at the same time, if synchronized with the US military strategy, Japanese rearmament should not be promoted to such an extent."
However, reality is not so easy.
