Japan Faces Burden: Its Own Defense (nuclear weapons!) | NY Times

[Ediacara]

Japan Faces Burden: Its Own Defense
By HOWARD W. FRENCH


TOKYO, July 21 Not long ago, Nisohachi Hyodo, the author of a four-year plan for nuclear armament of Japan, was part of the lunatic fringe, his ideas so far from the pacifist mainstream that he was published only in obscure journals.

These days, though, he has his own program on a major Tokyo radio station and is a popular speaker on college campuses. With everyone from the academic establishment to Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi advocating that Japan become more assertive militarily, Mr. Hyodo scarcely stands out.

More than a half-century after two atomic blasts forced Japan's surrender in World War II, talk of acquiring nuclear weapons long one of the country's most sacred taboos is but one illustration of how Japan is grappling openly with the challenge of becoming what is known here as a "normal nation," one armed and able to fight wars.

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Wow, this is just fantastic..... Better than a nuclear armed Myanmar, but Christ...isn't the idea to reduce the number of nuke-nations, not increase them?

[tlb]

1. I've felt for a while now Japan had already produced nukes.

A year or so ago Japan admitted a sustantial amount of nuclear material was unaccounted for. I never saw any follow up on the story.

Assuming the components are not assembled together the Japanese could contiue to truthfully say they have no nuclear weapons.

[Zech Marquis]

2. and another quote I saw last year

some Jietai offcial--maybe theMinister of the JSDF or someone high up close to Koizumi--said that Japan could easily produce a nuclear weapon within 30 days. That, and with some more coozying up to * in regards to "dealing with " North Korea.


oh shit... :nuke:

[ze_dscherman]

4. Lost Plutonium

The amount of plutonium lost (in about 25 years of processing) is about 206 kg (of about 7.1 tons processed) - enough to build about 20 huge atomic bombs. The loss of plutonium was explained away - calculatian errors on the amount of plutonium "naturally" lost in the reprocessing (e.g. remaining in solvents and other liquid nuclear waste).

Japan stockpiles HUGE amounts (several tons) of fissible plutonium (much of that from Europe) and should have the technological sophistication to produce atomic weapons based on this plutonium.

Just alone this vast accumulation of weapons material, sufficient for many hundred atomic bombs, is a major reason to oppose nuclear power.

Some interesting read in Japanese nuclear technology and proliferation: http://cns.miis.edu/pubs/npr/vol03/32/kitamu32.pdf

[Julien Sorel]

3. Sheer alarmism.

Everyone needs to relax. The real danger here is Iran, which is a subversive, warlike nation. In fact, all Islamic nations are warlike, by definiton. It isn't as if Japan has started two wars in the past century, and has a history of racist attitudes, even against other peoples with the same skin color or anything. It isn't as if the Koreans have any historical reasons to fear Japan, and so this would encourage North Korea to continue down the nuclear path.

Everything is fine, as long as those Iranians with their violent history don't get nuclear weapons. I'm still looking, by the way, for the wars the Iranians have started that have earned them such a bad reputation. I haven't found one yet, but there must be something there. Bush and Sharon and Powell keep telling me Iran is a threat to peace, while ignoring other countries. Iran must have done something to warrant that kind of attention.

[htuttle]

5. Iran has a history of aggression

King Xerces conquered much of the surrounding area around 400-500 BC.

We must not let Persian aggression threaten the region as it did in the past.

[Art_from_Ark]

6. A few words about Mr. Hyodo

According to his "fan club" web site, he was in the Self-Defense Forces for a couple of years. He really has some sort of obsession with the military, having written extensively on the subject and worked, for brief periods, for a company that created war game software and for the publisher of "Sensha (=army tank) Magazine". As for his supposed radio show on a major Tokyo station, I have my doubts, since there was nothing in his profile about this. However, there was mention of a one-hour, once-a-week TV program of his on Channel 400 of the cable network "SKY PARFECT TV TAR" (no misspellings) called "Salon 28" which is broadcast live from 11:00 p.m. to midnight on Saturdays and rebroadcast at 7:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. on Sundays.

http://sorceress.raindrop.jp/osigoto/osigoto.html (in Japanese)

At any rate, while the politicians have been talking about remilitarizing, I don't believe there is a public outcry for such action. For example, today's Asahi Shimbun newspaper carried the banner headline "55% of Japanese against sending Self-Defense Forces to Iraq", an increase of 12% over the last survey that was conducted in June. At the same time, support for this action fell from 46% in June to 33% today. What's more, Koizumi's approval rating has fallen to a very tepid 42%.

[Rose Siding]

7. Our very own Jr has unleashed these dogs

New American Century of War in which we have forgotten everything we have ever learned about anything.