Japan’s New Leader Wants Nuclear Weapons | Opinion [Video]

Japan’s newly installed prime minister, Shigeru Ishiba, wants his country to have the world’s most destructive weapons. Ishiba shared his views with the Hudson Institute in September, before his election as president of the governing Liberal Democratic Party. He called for the formation of “an Asian version of NATO, which must ensure deterrence against the nuclear alliance of China, Russia, and North Korea.” He also proposed “America’s sharing of nuclear weapons or the introduction of nuclear weapons into the region.” Ishiba’s words signaled a reversal of decades-old Tokyo policy, and some believe Ishiba even wants Japan to build such weapons of its own.

Since becoming prime minister on October 1, he has softened his tone—reflecting the reality that few in Japan, the only nation ever attacked with nuclear weapons, want such fearsome devices in their arsenal.

Certainly, the Norwegian Nobel Committee hopes Japan does not acquire them. On the 11th of this month, it …