Every year, Japan submits a resolution on nuclear disarmament to the United Nations General Assembly. This year was no different; the 15th such resolution was submitted in October. As the only country in the world against which nuclear weapons have been used, Japan understands the horror and devastation that they can cause. Our strong stance on nonproliferation and the fact that we do not possess nuclear weapons have been powerful arguments in favor of Japan's bid for a permanent seat on the U.N. Security Council.
Quite rightly, for a country so committed to nonproliferation, Japan's Foreign Ministry did not mince words when it commented on last year's nuclear disarmament resolution: "The Government of Japan believes that there is need for further efforts to maintain and consolidate the international disarmament and nonproliferation regime based on the NPT. The submission of this draft resolution represents one of Japan's concrete efforts."
I am beginning to wonder, though, what exactly Japan's other "concrete efforts" are. I cannot imagine that the Japanese representatives who agreed to the U.S.-India Nuclear Cooperation Agreement at the August meeting of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) envisaged their yes vote as any sort of effort toward nuclear disarmament. The U.S.-India deal breaks every rule in the nonproliferation book, and Japan did nothing to stop it.