This year Japan appears to be greeting the 64th anniversary of the end of World War II without much political commotion. But a speech nine days earlier should not be dismissed as an insignificant event.

On the night of Aug. 6, the 64th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, Mr. Toshio Tamogami, a former Air Self-Defense Force chief of staff — speaking at the very place where the world's first nuclear attack brought unprecedented devastation — called upon Japan to arm itself with nuclear weapons to avoid a "third nuclear attack." This is a despicable suggestion both morally and politically. If Japan develops nuclear weapons it would not only trigger a nuclear arms race in Northeast Asia but also turn our nation into a pariah state.

Mr. Tamogami was sacked on Oct. 31, 2008, from his ASDF post over an essay he wrote stating that it is "false" to accuse Japan of being an aggressor nation before and during World War II. Mr. Tamogami, a former general, makes frequent appearances in the media and at gatherings — a sign that a segment of Japanese society supports a revisionist view of Japan's 20th-century wars.