Nagata-cho News: Policies of five LDP leadership candidates, Part 1—All candidates hesitant about TPNW, agree on establishment of new disaster agency
Oct. 1, 2025
by Shinya Hori, Masaharu Nakagawa, and Masaya Akiyoshi, Staff Writers
The five lawmakers of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) who are vying for election as party leader responded to a joint interview organized by 11 regional newspaper companies throughout Japan, including the Chugoku Shimbun. Herein are introduced the candidates’ responses on such issues as nuclear policy and the future of local railways.
Nuclear policy
All five candidates exhibited a cautious stance regarding the signing, ratification, and participation as an observer in the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), which is scheduled to hold its first review conference in November next year. As a reason for their stance regarding this issue, the candidates all cited the seriousness of the national security environment and the reality that nuclear-armed nations such as the United States and Russia have not joined the treaty.
Yoshimasa Hayashi, current Chief Cabinet Secretary who is the only candidate from the Chugoku Region (representing Yamaguchi’s 3rd district), offered his assessment of the TPNW when he said, “It is an extremely important treaty for providing the world with an offramp for achieving a world without nuclear weapons,” referring to the same language as that used by the Kishida and Ishiba administrations. Moreover, Mr. Hayashi mentioned that nuclear disarmament under the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) framework provided “the best option,” given that the world’s nuclear powers had also joined the NPT.
As for the possibility of Japan’s participation in the TPNW as an observer, Mr. Hayashi was skeptical, saying of the treaty, “It is not desirable for promoting nuclear disarmament.” He mentioned the reason for his stance as being that the Japanese government had investigated past cases of member nations participating with observer status when considering whether it should participate and concluded that “the status did not necessarily result in consistent progress toward joining the treaty.”
Both the Kishida and Ishiba administrations have promoted a nuclear policy grounded in the NPT framework. Sanae Takaichi, former Minister of State for Economic Security, also asserted, “It is difficult to make progress on the treaty without the involvement of the nuclear nations. The NPT is the only universal framework that both the nuclear nations and non-nuclear nations have joined.”
The three other candidates also made mention of the deterrence provided by the U.S. “nuclear umbrella.” Shinjiro Koizumi, Minister of Agriculture, said, “Including the extended nuclear deterrence provided by the United States, the efforts to both ensure Japan’s national security and to realize a world without nuclear weapons are not inconsistent.” Takayuki Kobayashi, former Minister of State for Economic Security, said, “The foundation is the promotion of realistic and effective measures. In what manner the nuclear deterrence capability should be maintained and enhanced is extremely important.”
Toshimitsu Motegi, former LDP Secretary-General, insisted, “As the only nation in the world to have suffered atomic bombings in war, Japan has a mission to strive for a world without nuclear weapons.” On the other hand, Mr. Motegi added, “It is also true that Japan’s national security is maintained by nuclear deterrence. We should involve ourselves in the TPNW cautiously and seek a realistic path for nuclear disarmament.”
Proposal for establishing disaster management agency
Regarding Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s idea of establishing a disaster management agency in fiscal 2026, all five candidates expressed their idea to carry on the proposal. Mr. Hayashi spoke of the significance of the plan, saying, “Intangible know-how will also be accumulated to ensure that things can work efficiently from the beginning [of any disaster occurrence].” Mr. Koizumi said, “It is necessary to have a comprehensive command-and-control function that covers pre-disaster preparedness and disaster response through recovery and reconstruction.”
Mr. Motegi said, “Disaster-prevention measures will be implemented from the perspective of affected residents through close collaboration between the national government and local municipalities.” Mr. Kobayashi was opposed to the idea of establishing such an agency last year when the idea was first proposed, but in the interview he said, “The points of concern have been addressed. I think the initiative to establish the agency should be continued.”
Ms. Takaichi offered her critique of issues concerning such an agency, saying, “How should we deal with regions that might be isolated as well as medical relief operations in times of disaster? I want to assess and address such issues in advance.”
(Originally published on October 1, 2025)
The five lawmakers of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) who are vying for election as party leader responded to a joint interview organized by 11 regional newspaper companies throughout Japan, including the Chugoku Shimbun. Herein are introduced the candidates’ responses on such issues as nuclear policy and the future of local railways.
Nuclear policy
All five candidates exhibited a cautious stance regarding the signing, ratification, and participation as an observer in the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), which is scheduled to hold its first review conference in November next year. As a reason for their stance regarding this issue, the candidates all cited the seriousness of the national security environment and the reality that nuclear-armed nations such as the United States and Russia have not joined the treaty.
Yoshimasa Hayashi, current Chief Cabinet Secretary who is the only candidate from the Chugoku Region (representing Yamaguchi’s 3rd district), offered his assessment of the TPNW when he said, “It is an extremely important treaty for providing the world with an offramp for achieving a world without nuclear weapons,” referring to the same language as that used by the Kishida and Ishiba administrations. Moreover, Mr. Hayashi mentioned that nuclear disarmament under the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) framework provided “the best option,” given that the world’s nuclear powers had also joined the NPT.
As for the possibility of Japan’s participation in the TPNW as an observer, Mr. Hayashi was skeptical, saying of the treaty, “It is not desirable for promoting nuclear disarmament.” He mentioned the reason for his stance as being that the Japanese government had investigated past cases of member nations participating with observer status when considering whether it should participate and concluded that “the status did not necessarily result in consistent progress toward joining the treaty.”
Both the Kishida and Ishiba administrations have promoted a nuclear policy grounded in the NPT framework. Sanae Takaichi, former Minister of State for Economic Security, also asserted, “It is difficult to make progress on the treaty without the involvement of the nuclear nations. The NPT is the only universal framework that both the nuclear nations and non-nuclear nations have joined.”
The three other candidates also made mention of the deterrence provided by the U.S. “nuclear umbrella.” Shinjiro Koizumi, Minister of Agriculture, said, “Including the extended nuclear deterrence provided by the United States, the efforts to both ensure Japan’s national security and to realize a world without nuclear weapons are not inconsistent.” Takayuki Kobayashi, former Minister of State for Economic Security, said, “The foundation is the promotion of realistic and effective measures. In what manner the nuclear deterrence capability should be maintained and enhanced is extremely important.”
Toshimitsu Motegi, former LDP Secretary-General, insisted, “As the only nation in the world to have suffered atomic bombings in war, Japan has a mission to strive for a world without nuclear weapons.” On the other hand, Mr. Motegi added, “It is also true that Japan’s national security is maintained by nuclear deterrence. We should involve ourselves in the TPNW cautiously and seek a realistic path for nuclear disarmament.”
Proposal for establishing disaster management agency
Regarding Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s idea of establishing a disaster management agency in fiscal 2026, all five candidates expressed their idea to carry on the proposal. Mr. Hayashi spoke of the significance of the plan, saying, “Intangible know-how will also be accumulated to ensure that things can work efficiently from the beginning [of any disaster occurrence].” Mr. Koizumi said, “It is necessary to have a comprehensive command-and-control function that covers pre-disaster preparedness and disaster response through recovery and reconstruction.”
Mr. Motegi said, “Disaster-prevention measures will be implemented from the perspective of affected residents through close collaboration between the national government and local municipalities.” Mr. Kobayashi was opposed to the idea of establishing such an agency last year when the idea was first proposed, but in the interview he said, “The points of concern have been addressed. I think the initiative to establish the agency should be continued.”
Ms. Takaichi offered her critique of issues concerning such an agency, saying, “How should we deal with regions that might be isolated as well as medical relief operations in times of disaster? I want to assess and address such issues in advance.”
(Originally published on October 1, 2025)
