TOKYO, Aug. 6 (Xinhua) -- Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi on Thursday attended a memorial ceremony in Hiroshima marking the 81st anniversary of the U.S. atomic bombing of the western Japanese city.
In her address at the event, Takaichi was notably vague on Japan's long-held Three Non-Nuclear Principles, stopping short of explicitly pledging that the country will uphold them.
Japan's Mainichi Shimbun reported that although Takaichi said Japan upholds the Three Non-Nuclear Principles, her wording differed subtly from that of previous prime ministers, as she did not clearly state that the country will continue to maintain them in the future.
The report cited a source close to the prime minister as saying that if the government were to consider revising the Three Non-Nuclear Principles, its position would "maintain the status quo" until any formal revision is made, suggesting that Takaichi's wording, which merely described the situation as it currently stands, was intentional.
Kyodo News quoted Junya Ogawa, leader of the opposition Centrist Reform Alliance, as saying that although Takaichi mentioned the Three Non-Nuclear Principles, her remarks were merely an explanation of the current situation and lacked a firm commitment to maintain the non-nuclear principles.
Yuichiro Tamaki, leader of the opposition Democratic Party for the People, said Takaichi had simply reiterated the government's long-standing position.
At a press conference after the ceremony, Takaichi declined to clearly state whether the Three Non-Nuclear Principles would be upheld in the revision of the country's three key security documents.
She only said that it's premature to comment on the final form of the wording as work is underway to revise the documents before year-end.
Ayumu Takeshita, a Japanese resident from Kobe City, told Xinhua after the ceremony that he believes it is unacceptable for Japan to possess nuclear weapons, and that Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi's call for putting nuclear-related issues on the table for discussion is also completely unacceptable.
Japan's Three Non-Nuclear Principles, which prohibit possessing, producing or permitting the introduction of nuclear weapons into Japanese territory, were formally adopted by the Japanese parliament in 1971 and have since become the cornerstone of the country's nuclear policy.
Japanese media previously reported that the Takaichi administration was considering revising the principle of not permitting the introduction of nuclear weapons into Japan as part of the planned revision of the country's three key security documents later this year.
In July, Koizumi publicly said at an online program that Japan should discuss nuclear-related policies without taboo. These developments have fueled continued concern across the Japanese society. ■