Japan will not participate as an observer in the third meeting of signatories to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in New York in March, Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya said Tuesday.
The Asian country was also absent from the past two meetings, held in June 2022 and November 2023. Japan made the latest decision because it has to rely on extended deterrence, including the U.S. nuclear umbrella, amid the increasingly severe security environment surrounding the country.
The Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations, or Nihon Hidankyo, which won the 2024 Nobel Peace Prize, and Komeito, a ruling coalition member, had pressed Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba to realize Japan's participation as an observer in the meeting that will be held between March 3 and 7.
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