A senior government official who advises Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi on security has expressed a personal opinion that Japan should have nuclear weapons, according to local media reports.
The official added that there was no discussion within the government on that possibility and acknowledged that it would be realistically difficult to achieve, the reports said. Media outlets including Kyodo News, NHK and the Asahi Shimbun reported the remark as a comment made by an unnamed government official to reporters on Thursday.
The comments come at a sensitive time for Japan amid a tense security environment in East Asia. Tokyo and Beijing are currently locked in a simmering dispute over comments Takaichi made about Taiwan and the theoretical possibility of Japan aiding other countries in a contingency.
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