Regarding the Aug. 3 AP article "Nuclear arms advocates get bolder amid energy debate": The specter of a Japan with nuclear weapons is no more threatening than is a litany of other countries with them.
The problem is not Japan's having the capacity to develop nuclear weapons, but rather Japan's legally being able to do it, and politicians using that "legal right" as a basis for some clandestine development. Japan's politicians have in the past showed scant regard for what the people want.
The threat of legal consequences is the only real recourse the people have.
If the majority doesn't want nuclear weapons capability, it otherwise becomes a moot point, because any constraint can be rescinded when financial provisions for weapons development are made. Japan remains a collectivist country.
Given its economic stagnation, there is good reason to expect a nationalist/populist leader to arise who could make nuclear armament an appealing option. He need only redirect Japan's fear of nuclear ambitions into a fear of nuclear attack.
So long as Japanese people think the Pacific War was the result of a few ambitious generals, then the threat remains.
The opinions expressed in this letter to the editor are the writer's own and do not necessarily reflect the policies of The Japan Times.