Japan Ponders Building Nuclear Arsenal

[arnadstephen]

_) Hell, I bet Japan already has the ability
to put togethor nuclear weapons in 1-3 days.

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August 8,2003 (Eastern Standard Time USA)

Japan Ponders Building Nuclear Arsenal

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Filed at 4:02 p.m. ET

TOKYO (AP) -- Just a few years ago, talk about possessing nuclear weapons would have been the pinnacle of taboo in Japan, the only nation to suffer atomic attacks.

But the nuclear ambitions of neighboring North Korea now have this nation thinking the unthinkable, even as it marks the anniversaries this week of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings -- should Japan have its own atomic arsenal.

``People are clearly waking up to the idea,'' lawmaker Shingo Nishimura says of the new willingness to debate the issue. ``They feel something is wrong with Japan.''

Nishimura was forced to resign as a vice minister for defense back in 1999 just for suggesting Japan should consider going nuclear.

Now he's a popular opposition lawmaker who gets to air his nuclear views on prime-time TV talk shows.

Yasuo Fukuda and Shintaro Abe, two prominent ruling party politicians and top advisers to the prime minister, are among other leaders who have broached the once-shunned issue within the last year, asserting that Japan has the right to bear nuclear arms.

``Japan must start saying right now that it might go nuclear,'' said Tadae Takubo, professor of policy at Kyorin University. ``For a nation to entirely forsake nuclear weapons is like taking part in a boxing match and promising not to throw hooks.''

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[jbm1x]

``For a nation to entirely forsake nuclear weapons is like taking part in a boxing match and promising not to throw hooks.''

That's a terrible quote, more like promising not to bring a gun to a boxing match.

I don't think japan should go nuclear the world doesn't need any more nukes, U.S. should just remind North Korea about what happened to Iraq....except we did that basicly all by ourselves, and if North Korea ever did anything to japan they would have to face the U.S., Britain, Japan, South Korea, and maybe China and other UN nations.

[noyhauser]

I actually believe that Japan already possess nuclear weapons. Since 1987, the Tokai Spent Fuel Reprocessing plant has lost (steady yourself) 200 KILOGRAMS, of high grade plutonium. According to some websites, thats equal to 25 nuclear bombs (but I suspect it is lower because it isnt weapons grade plutonium). Japan easily has the technical ability to produce nuclear weapons, and Im sure that they could of found a few nationalistic scientists to carry out the production. The current debate is only a cover for the production they have already carried out. This is about as far as I get on conspiracy theories, not that I believe they are always true, but it wouldn't suprise me if the Japanese did have nukes.

[Zanza]

Noooo! Not more bombs!!

Peace?

[budd]

o-woaaahhh

[Dream Time]

Asian arms race

this really makes me worry about the situation of my home country China.

Japan is now clearing waking up the idea of militarism.
as I've read somewhere about the world's annual defense budget Japan actually ranks second in the world.


China has been putting more and more money into defense budget every year,although they have been trying to cut down the number of soldiers,and instead put money onto buying and making new weapons.

[noyhauser]

Japan is not even close.

Russia is number 2 with 69 billion dollars defence outlay (not including provisional funds that may be allotted) , China spends 49 billion. Japan spends 39 billion. And the United States; 3.22 trillion dollars. Furthermore, the large size of the Japanese self defence budget is largely due to its economy, since it spends less per capita on defence than most European nations, 1.0% of its GDP on defence, and 310 Dollars per capita. Most European nations rank around 1.5, with the exception of France Greece and UK which spend upwards of 2.0% (the UK spends 510 $ per person on defence)

On top of all of this, is that the JApanese military is structurally unable to carry out any sort of offensive capabilities, since they have limited themselves to what could be called defensive armaments. It would take them decades and billions to restructure their forces to be able to become a true power in the real sense of the word. I think the claims of japanese "remiliterization" are completely overblown.

[noyhauser]

Oh, I just want to say that I don't personally believe that they don't have a atomic weapon, but its a interesting conspiracy story that I thought up (but don't believe)

[Dream Time]

still I think Japan's actions are adding tension in Asia

I think the reasons why Japan now wants to go nuclear,are due to the actions of North Korea during these recent years,like NK have shot a couple of missiles towards Japan,one of them flew over the Japanese mainland.

and China keeps putting more money into defense budget,and China do that because the government feel the threats from Japan and USA.

it is like a cycle

[Dream Time]

Originally posted by noyhauser
Japan is not even close.

Russia is number 2 with 69 billion dollars defence outlay (not including provisional funds that may be allotted) , China spends 49 billion. Japan spends 39 billion. And the United States; 3.22 trillion dollars.

actually I don't really believe those statistics,
I mean those countries are not going to give you the real number of $ they've spent on defence budget

[Dream Time]

although there are many Americans in this board,
I still have to say,
I believe the US is somehow helping Japan to somehow 'remilitarization',that would help US to gain its control in Asia area.

Japan would not have the guts to do it alone,
this kind of action would provoke other Asian countries,especially China and Korea

this is my personal view,sorry if anybody is being offended by this.

[kaz]

I see no merit of Japan possessing nukes because the ally, the US, already has a lot of them stockpiled. That should be enough of a threat against North Korea.

[jspecdan]

I heard on some news report that Japan doesn't actually have any nukes, nor did they plan on making any. Two big reasons are because of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. They don't want other cities/countries to experience that.

[maji]

would be a step back for japan if they would take nuclear weapons in their arsenal. even if nuclear weapons are mostly political weapons.

U.S. should just remind North Korea about what happened to Iraq....

what has iraq to do with mass destruction weapons? everyone knows us government faked the reports to create a reason to attack a country where is none.

[Zanza]

If they really must have weapons.. why not build anti missile weapons?

[maji]

because its technically easier and in matters of finances far cheaper to build stuff that destroys then stuff that stops those weapons?

[Zanza]

Damn

[noyhauser]

Originally posted by Dream Time
actually I don't really believe those statistics,
I mean those countries are not going to give you the real number of $ they've spent on defence budget

and I guess you are an expert in strategic studies?
Those numbers came from The Military Balance, a publication of the International Institute of Strategic Studies in London. They get the numbers from the governments themselves, and then do the estimate on what it should cost, given the amount of resources that the military has. If a governemt has a procurement program it is very difficult to hide it. Lets say government X develops and procures a new Surface to Air Missile. Pretty quickly other nations will find out about it when they test and deploy it and subsequently it will be reported. But that is very very rare. Even the US says where most of its money goes, and the rest puts it into "black Budgets" (you know they are defence expenditures, but not where they will ultimately end up). Most nations are honest about their defence activities because they have to be budgetarily accountable to their consitutents. You can't have 10 billion dollars secretly going to defence budgets because someone in the ministry of finance is going to blow the whisle on you. Granted that the Chinese are less inclined to tell where their money is going, but they to have to report their budgetary activities for trade purposes. If that was not the case corporations would be less enthusiasitic to invest in that nation.

Furthermore it is the presence of the United States that prevents Japan from remiliterizing. As I said before and in other threads, the Japanese cannot effectively fight a war by themselves. They have no long range anti ship capability, no Effective long range ground strike capability (apart from short range missiles) , no effective marine capability, not one supression of air defence weapons, they do not have the ability to carry out true "fleet deployments".... ect ect. Effectively the Japanese military can do nothing without the Americans backing them up. and these structural inadequacies will take billions to remedy.

[jspecdan]

Furthermore it is the presence of the United States that prevents Japan from remiliterizing. As I said before and in other threads, the Japanese cannot effectively fight a war by themselves. They have no long range anti ship capability, no Effective long range ground strike capability (apart from short range missiles) , no effective marine capability, not one supression of air defence weapons, they do not have the ability to carry out true "fleet deployments".... ect ect. Effectively the Japanese military can do nothing without the Americans backing them up. and these structural inadequacies will take billions to remedy.

sonotouri

[Dream Time]

Originally posted by noyhauser
and I guess you are an expert in strategic studies?

no I am not an expert of strategic studies,
I am not even interested in military stuffs.

I just wanted to speak out my own opinions,I am not here to argue with anyone.

remember my country China was invaded by Japanese and they seem to have no sign of regretting what they did,
so everytime when the Japanese military and government do something like this,it would really make Chinese people worry.

[noyhauser]

Originally posted by Dream Time
no I am not an expert of strategic studies,
I am not even interested in military stuffs.

I just wanted to speak out my own opinions,I am not here to argue with anyone.

remember my country China was invaded by Japanese and they seem to have no sign of regretting what they did,
so everytime when the Japanese military and government do something like this,it would really make Chinese people worry.

You may be expressing your opinion, but you did so by saying what I quoted was incorrect. I only replied by refuting that statement. more or less you questioned the statistics that were put together by a team of strategic analysts, a few of which I know personally.

I think Japan is entitled to its own defence as well. Screaming against the Japanese for each and every defence decision they make on the grounds of "remiliterization" is a form of Moral Reparations, much like the economic form of it after 1919. I think Japan should be treated as true nation rather than having to purposely weaken itself because of the sins of its far pass. The Peace movement in Japan is very strong and I can never see the Japanese people accepting the use of coercive military force to achieve its foreign policy aims. You speak of China, which has the ability to fully arm itself every which way it pleases, well should the japanese not arm themselves to defend against that threat? I think that Japan defence policy has been even handed and is not "threatening" to anybody in Asia (not compared to the agressive tactics that China has utilized)

And that is my opinion

[alexi32]

Well! they need somthing to stop Godzilla!

but like the japanese building A-bombs is like the US developing suicide passenger craft.

the irony!

[alexi32]

But lets be honest! If you arm yourselves with these foul weapons arent you sealing your own fate?
and that of your future generations?

But like trying telling that to the North Koreans!

They so crazy in North Korea, even China gets embarressed!