76% in Japan Back Non-Nuclear Principles: Poll
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- Kyodo News poll found 76% of Japanese support upholding the three non-nuclear principles of not producing, possessing, or allowing nuclear weapons on Japanese territory.
- 77% of respondents oppose nuclear sharing with the US, under which American nuclear weapons would be stationed in Japan for joint operation.
- Support for joining the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons stands at 55%, down 5 percentage points from a year earlier, ahead of the treaty's first review conference in November.
- 86% of Japanese view Japan as a peaceful nation, with 31% of those respondents saying strengthening peaceful diplomacy is necessary to keep Japan from waging war.
- 63% of respondents see a strong or moderate possibility that nuclear weapons will be used in war within the next 10 years, down 9 points from 2024.
- On the government's April decision to lift its ban on lethal weapons exports, 36% say exports should be limited to non-lethal equipment, while a combined 53% say the ban should be maintained or the policy reconsidered.
Why it matters: The poll reveals the Japanese public firmly opposed to nuclear armament even as Tokyo debates revising its non-nuclear principles, with 77% rejecting nuclear sharing — a constraint on how far the government can move toward collective defense without losing domestic legitimacy. The 5-point drop in support for the nuclear ban treaty signals soft erosion of anti-nuclear consensus that policymakers may need to address before the TPNW review conference in November.
