Takashi Tachibana, a political expert whose work led to the resignation of the late Prime Minister Kakuei Tanaka in the 1970s, is concerned that Japan could get nuclear weapons under Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
He said during a recent speech at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan that although Abe may not want to go nuclear, people like Kyoto University professor Terumasa Nakanishi, whom Abe relies on heavily for advice on foreign policy, wants U.S. nuclear weapons in Japan on condition that Tokyo has the right to order a nuclear strike, Tachibana said.
While this position is not widely accepted, the professor said chances are high that it could catch on with the recent deterioration of the public's feelings about nuclear-armed China and North Korea, which also is believed to have atomic weapons.