A survey of the Democratic Party of Japan's Lower House members has found that about 61 percent of respondents want Japan to leave the U.S. nuclear umbrella.

While 58.3 percent said Japan should try to end its reliance on the United States' nuclear arsenal in the future, 2.8 percent said they wanted Tokyo to do so immediately.

In contrast, 28.4 percent said Japan should remain under U.S. nuclear protection.