Japan should allow port calls by U.S. nuclear-armed vessels: Yamasaki

Friday 10th July, 04:22 AM JST

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kanadamanada at 12:06 PM JST - 10th July

This looks lika a laying of the groundwork toward softening Japanese society's anti-nuclear arms stance. A move toward something more convenient for the military and the LDP nutbags pulling the strings. Bit by bit, soften them up, all the while making them forget that the economy is collapsing around them. It's ironic that Aso still plays the anti-nuclear niceguy in international circles.
terebiko at 12:45 PM JST - 10th July

They should, and they probably already are, they just don't realize it. Or they know, and they're not informing the public. We can not confirm or deny that there are nuclear weapons onboard our ship....
stirfry at 01:12 PM JST - 10th July

it probably does already and doesn't know it
teck at 02:51 PM JST - 10th July

Agree, I think ships with nuclear weapons onboard have already been calling at Japanese ports, just that they have never declared (nor denied) carrying them.
grl2grlz at 02:55 PM JST - 10th July

teck

Of they they have! New Zealand sure did put a stop to that fiction! They kicked the yanks out. Such a small country, such guts!
grl2grlz at 03:02 PM JST - 10th July

oops, spilled coffee all over my keyboard.

Of course they have, I should've said.
notimpressed at 03:32 PM JST - 10th July

correct grl2grlz. Its one of the things I am most proud of about my counrty, that we did not sacrifice our position against nukes in deference to the 'greatest' country in the world. Perhaps when referring to USA in such a manner, should use the Japanese ERAI with its dual meaning of great/terrible. I find it deeply hypocritical, and insulting to victims of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, that a country can claim to be anti-nuclear yet allow a nuclear armed warships to stop by for a visit. The excuse? Nth.Korea. Ohhh right...Nukes are bad, because they got used on us, but if someone else uses it on our enemies, or waves them around at our mortal foes on our behalf, we can turn a blind eye. Sometimes I feel that Japan is as much protected by the US as it is muzzled by its presence. That could be one positive to the whole American presence, is that they are kind of protecting the rest of the world from Japan. Im sure Japan would not be anti-nuclear if they had been allowed to rebuild the army as an attack force without a chaperon. Instead, we have Japan, Americas pit bull on a tight leash, it may have the potential to maul you, but all the other dogs want a go because of it reputation, and the Owner is carrying the big gun to protect it in turn. Ridiculous.

WHy must we have nukes in this world anyway? what has happened to the dignity of fighting forces the world over, that rather than fight, they prefer to just murder from a distance? There have always been wars in human society, but we used to actually fight them. Now its like that Itchy and Scrathy scene from the simpsons, where they just keep grabbing a bigger gun untill the guns are bigger than the earth itself. In fact guns at all, they are why a small, cowardly thug can mug, extort, and/or kill a strong an honerable one. Any country with WMD is a thug - any that has used one is a monster. I dont blame American people, but don't try to justify mass murder. If i was a pilot that dropped an bomb killing hundreds of thousands, including women, children, babies, sick and elderly, I would want to top myself, if I wasnt worried about a hastened entry to hell that is. ahh well, screw nukes, either be anti-nuclear or not. If you want nuclear weapons to remain in the world, and are happy with them swinging into port, to protect you from the big bad Kim, then stop crying about Hiroshima and Nagasaki. You can't have your cake and eat it too.

In other words, no nuclear weapon should be allowed within any kind of distance of these shores ever again. Any regime with a nuke , I hope you shoot yourself in the foot with it and remove your menace from all the rest of our lives.Or man up and get rid of it.

Was once a time when it was not worth winning if it was without honour...or maybe that was a fairytale.
notimpressed at 03:33 PM JST - 10th July

and then I went and spelt country incorrectly.
NeoJamal at 04:16 PM JST - 10th July

Of they they have! New Zealand sure did put a stop to that fiction! They kicked the yanks out. Such a small country, such guts!

But New Zealand's premise is sound because it also bans the peaceful use of nuclear energy. Furthermore New Zealand rests in a strategically insignificant part of the South Pacifc that severing ANZUS ties the US didn't mean much of an impact.
OneForAll at 10:39 PM JST - 10th July

notimpressed : nice post. I do not know if I agree with you, but it is a nice post. God Bless you sir/madam.
USNinJapan2 at 11:52 PM JST - 10th July

grl2grlz

New Zealand...They kicked the yanks out. Such a small country, such guts!

And such insignificance!
nipandtuck at 11:57 PM JST - 10th July

USNin Japan2

And such insignificance!

Wow, the US didn't think so at the time. They went ballistic (well not literally, but you get my drift). Pity a pesky think called democracy got in the way, and the people got to decide on the policy directly.

Can't see the same thing happening here, though. They don't have the ticker for it.
USNinJapan2 at 12:27 AM JST - 11th July

nipandtuck

Strategically the Kiwis' refusal meant squat, especially with Oz next door. The annoyance lasted all of a few months. We removed NZ from our ANZAS respnsibilities and were done with the issue. All it did was lighten our load in the region.

Moderator: Stay on topic please. New Zealand is not relevant to this discussion.
notimpressed at 01:58 PM JST - 13th July

Only a flag waving Amrican would cal it inignificant. If it was so insignificant why did American leadership react so badly to it? UNstrategic? Yeah, because Australia eats out of AMricas hand, and most Island nations look to us before America.
USNinJapan2 at 11:27 AM JST - 15th July

notimpressed

Then explain how NZ is strategically important to the US. I doubt that you can because it's not.